Trying to decide where to go in Italy was more a question of “where not to go?”. There are so many amazing places to visit in Italy, and we finally had to decide about Naples. When looking into things to do in Naples and speaking with people who had been, we got really mixed results. We started thinking, is Naples worth the visit? We decided to spend half a day there as we were passing through to get from Rome to Amalfi. Find out things to do in Naples and if it ended up being worth the visit…
Things To Do In Naples
Here are some of the things we did in Naples with our half day trip…
A Coffee & Frappe at Caffe Mexico
I had the Frappe Ciocolata and it was one of the best drinks I have ever tasted. Highly recommend you try this in Naples.
Eat Pizza
Naples is famous for its pizza, which is a different style than what you may have tried in Rome. So of course, we were on a mission to try as much pizza as we could in half a day :) We tried pizza fritta, which is deep fried pizza. And my favourite was just a simple Margherita pizza from Pizzeria Giuliano.
Explore The Streets
The streets of Naples are gritty, a little bit dirty and real. It’s not a city that feels like it’s been dressed up for tourism, or like it’s pretending to be something that it’s not. And I mean that in the best way possible.
Have Gelato
Because why not? And yes it was delicious! We had ours at Gay-Odin.
Try La Sfogliatella
This is a famous pastry in Naples which has lots of little folds and a filling.
Said Hello To The Animals
Cats and dogs roaming the streets and just felt like they had a Naples attitude.
Discovering The Churches Of Naples
We had a look inside Santa Chiara, one of Naples largest and most important churches. It has beautiful stained glass windows.
Stored Our Luggage
This was perhaps one of the most important things we did on our day trip… stored our luggage at the train station. We did this as we stopped by Naples on our way to Pompeii and Sorrento, so we had our luggage with us. This made it so easy to explore Naples and continue on our way.
And Some More Things To Do In Naples…
Here are some other things to do in Naples that we didn’t have time to try:
- Go for a walk along the seafront promenade, Lungomare.
- Visit the many art galleries & Museums
- Tour Naples Underground
- Castle Nuovo
- Castle Dell’Ovo
Is Naples Worth The Visit?
So is Naples worth the visit?
The reason we tossed up going there was because we didn’t want an insanely rushed trip, but we decided to go mainly to explore the streets and try the food.
I really enjoyed my little amount of time in Naples. I loved the food and the ‘rough around the edges’ streets. If you’re going to Sorrento or Pompeii, I’d definitely recommend stopping in for a day trip. But it really depends on what’s important to you. As much as I enjoyed our little day trip, and I would go back again, I don’t know if it’s a place that I can’t wait to go back to. Having said that, I think the longer you stay in a place the more you grow to love it or at least understand it.
So going to Naples is definitely worth it, although I think different people would react differently to it. In the end, it’s not about whether or not it’s worth it, but if it’s something that interests you enough to spend time there. And that’s a question only you can answer :)