Naples is loud, layered and gloriously alive, a Greek-Roman-Baroque city sprawled beneath a smoking volcano and pressed against one of the world's great bays. Forget the tidy order of Florence or Venice; Napoli runs on its own frenetic energy, scooters weaving through the vicoli of the Centro Storico, laundry strung between palazzi, shrines glowing on every corner. The way to love it is to surrender to the chaos and eat: this is the birthplace of pizza, of the sfogliatella and the babà, of a coffee culture so serious that a stranger may buy you a caffe sospeso. Walk the ruler-straight Spaccanapoli that cleaves the old town, go underground into ancient aqueducts and catacombs, and use Naples as a base for the finest day trips in Italy, Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast and Capri all within reach. Keep your wits and your bag close, embrace the theatre of it all, and let the city, and the pizza, win you over.
A full, walkable day in Naples, free for everyone. Set your pace and start time.
Go early when it opens; the Pompeii frescoes, the Alexander mosaic and the Secret Cabinet make far more sense before you visit the ruins themselves.
Follow the dead-straight street past churches and the presepe artisans of Via San Gregorio Armeno; grab a fried pizza or cuoppo on the way.
Book a timed slot in advance; the chapel is tiny and sells out, and photos are not allowed inside.
The aqueduct tour involves narrow, candle-lit passages and steps, so wear flat shoes and skip it if you are very claustrophobic.
Free to enter; do not miss the older Santa Restituta basilica and the early Christian baptistery tucked to one side.
Take your espresso standing at the bar like a local; the frescoed rooms by Piazza del Plebiscito are a fine place to rest your feet.
In the Spanish Quarters; the singing waiters and lap-tossed fruit dessert are part of the fun, and it is cash-friendly and cheap.
One of the world's great antiquities museums, holding the finest mosaics and frescoes rescued from Pompeii and Herculaneum plus the Farnese marbles; visit before Pompeii itself to make sense of the ruins.
The 1870 shrine of Neapolitan pizza that serves only marinara and margherita, blistered and folded, to a crowd clutching queue numbers on the pavement.
The dead-straight ancient street that splits the old town in two, lined with churches, palazzi, presepe workshops on Via San Gregorio Armeno and street-food stalls; walk it end to end.
A tiny Baroque chapel home to the astonishing Veiled Christ, marble carved to look like translucent cloth; entry is timed and popular, so book a slot in advance.
The eerie network of Greek-Roman aqueducts and cisterns 40 metres beneath the city, later used as WWII air-raid shelters; guided tours squeeze through candle-lit tunnels, so wear flat shoes.
The cathedral guarding the blood of San Gennaro, the city's patron, whose thrice-yearly liquefaction transfixes Naples; step into the older Santa Restituta basilica and its early Christian baptistery.
The ancient seafront castle on its little islet at Borgo Marinari, wrapped in the legend of Virgil's egg; free to climb for a sweeping panorama of the bay and Vesuvius.
The most talked-about pizzeria on Via dei Tribunali, where a Sorbillo bakes puffy, cloud-rimmed pies; take a ticket, expect a wait and come hungry.
A Tribunali institution as loved for its fried pizza and crocche eaten on the hoof as for its classic wood-fired margherita.
A riotous, theatrical trattoria in the Spanish Quarters where waiters sing, dessert is fruit tossed into your lap, and the ragu and pasta e patate are the real deal.
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Italy