Naples: the biggest attractions - map, sightseeing plan, monuments, interesting facts
A city of contrasts
Naples is not an unambiguous city. It is neither beautiful nor ugly at first glance, although it can be both. And in fact it is! It is beautiful and ugly at the same time. You will meet a lot of delightful places here, but there will also be those that you will pass through at a faster pace. The paradox is that the first impression is not the one you remember. On my own example, I know that with time I am more willing to return with memories to photos and places that I did not immediately like. More willingly than to those that were undisputedly pretty or even very pretty.
There is something about Naples that visiting it lasts much longer than the stay itself. The sightseeing of Naples remains in your mind long after you return home.
I really think Naples should be visited twice. Your first visit should give you a chance to gather as many impressions as possible. This would create a huge baggage, a great mixture of memories, even those with which at first you will not know what to do with. Just collect as much as you can and take your time. How much? I don't know. You will feel it yourself. You will be amazed at how different your memories of Naples will become over time and how much you will start to miss this city. Because you will miss it for sure.
Then it's time for a second visit. A visit during which you will start to taste this city without surprise and unnecessary embarrassment. Who knows? Maybe, like many travelers who return here regularly, it will turn out that you just fell in love with Naples? Very likely!
Naples Travel Guide
But first, gather your impressions and do not regret anything. Walk, taste, look and enjoy Naples. The guide prepared by me will help you in this, where I tried to collect the essence of information necessary to get to know the city properly.
By the way, I would like to add that I worked on this text so that it would not become a boring historical lecture. Therefore, there will be no tiresome introductions and introductions, no developments and sad endings. There will be a whole lot of specifics and information that you will absolutely need.
I suggest you read the post in its entirety at least once. Thanks to this, in a few steps you will get to know the layout of the city and get an idea of how to visit it. I know that at the beginning there are always many questions, but after reading this text, a lot will clear up and you will gain enough knowledge to start planning your own trip.
Of course, I also prepared my own sightseeing plan, ready to be used immediately during the trip. You will most likely like my proposal, although it is clear that there is no such thing as one best itinerary. So don't be afraid to introduce your own ideas and modify the proposed plan. In this post you will find all the necessary data to realize your own dream trip to Naples.
A step-by-step itinerary for visiting Naples
The beginning is always the hardest. So, instead of bombarding you with a list of dozens of attractions that won't tell you anything for now, let's try to do it in smaller but very logical steps:
– first, we will get to know the general layout of the city and attractions, so that we can figure out what we are dealing with at all. I will also show you how to logically divide the city into areas that can be easily visited.
– in the next step, I will post detailed maps for each of the separated areas, containing the location of all attractions and a sightseeing route that will combine everything into a complete trip
– in the last part you will find short descriptions of each attraction marked on the map, along with a set of necessary data: curiosities, practical information, links to buy tickets, opening hours, GPS coordinates for navigation, etc.
Note that each of the attractions I have described has its own unique number. You can find attraction numbers in several places. They are on the maps, in the table of contents, in the headings of the following paragraphs. Thanks to this, navigating the entry will be much easier and you will quickly reach the information you need.
There is a semi-transparent up arrow in the lower right corner of the screen. Pressing it will take you to the very top of the text (to the table of contents). This way you can easily navigate through all the text.
Use GPS coordinates
I provide precise GPS coordinates for each attraction. This may not seem particularly useful at first glance, but in practice, the exact opposite is true. Thanks to these coordinates, you do not have to stick to a specific sightseeing path. You can explore the city basically as you like.
How to use GPS coordinates in practice? Just click on the link next to them. Then the navigation will open in your phone and it will automatically determine the path to the destination, but ... you don't have to follow this path! Walk as you like, wherever you feel like, and treat the indication on your phone only as information whether you are approaching your goal or maybe you have already taken the wrong direction.
After all, visiting a city is not about walking the shortest route, but about enjoying its atmosphere. Thanks to GPS coordinates, you don't have to worry about getting lost, and at the same time you have unlimited freedom to explore.
In short: click the coordinates, walk around and check from time to time if you are moving in the right direction. Without nerves, without stress, with pleasure. Simple and devilishly effective!
I assure you that you will quickly appreciate the GPS coordinates posted here.
Tickets to attractions
The weakest point of any sightseeing plan are … ticketsand, in fact, queues to the ticket offices. You can have the best plan in the world, and the dust will fall apart at the first ticket office. When there is a queue in front of it for an hour of standing, and at the window it turns out that the nearest free entrance is in another hour or two ... what then?
Will you buy a ticket and wait? Then there is no chance to see everything that was planned that day.
Will you resign from entering and proceed as planned? Then you won't see the attraction you cared about, for which you traveled hundreds or even thousands of kilometers. Most often, long queues are in the most interesting places. The ones you come to town for. Finding yourself in such a situation is not pleasant, but fortunately there is a way to avoid it. Banal and effective!
Many venues allow you to purchase tickets in advance online. If there is such a possibility, I always use it. I buy a ticket for a specific day, and if it is necessary to choose the time of entry, I choose the one that is most convenient for me and fits my schedule. On the day of sightseeing, I skip the entire line and enter the previously purchased ticket. Often, for the holders of such previously purchased tickets, there are even separate skip-the-line entries.
In this itinerary, next to the descriptions of the attractions, I will include links to the sale of admission tickets via the Internet. It is not possible everywhere and it is not necessary everywhere, but where it can be done, you will find the appropriate link in the description.
Naples city cards and ticket packages
A very interesting option is the possibility of purchasing tickets in form city cards – [click] or ticket packages, which include already purchased admission to selected facilities, and sometimes also transport. Often, you can also save some money, because from time to time packages are available at interesting promotions (even several dozen percent). The duration of the promotion is unknown, so you have to click and check.
Interesting examples city cards – [click] and ticket packages for attractions in and near Naples can be found below. I provide prices valid at the time of writing this text and I will not update these prices. They change often and it wouldn't make sense. Just click on the link to see the current price.
Package: Underground Naples + catacombs in San Gennaro – [click] (basic price without discounts: EUR 21) includes:
– guided tour through the underground of Naples
– guided tour of the catacombs and the Basilica of San Gennaro
– entry to the catacombs of San Gaudioso and the Basilica of Santa Maria della Sanita (valid for 12 months)
Package: Pompeii + Herculaneum – [click] (basic price without discounts: EUR 43) includes:
– entry ticket to Pompeii
– entrance ticket to Herculaneum
Package: Pompeii + Vesuvius – [click] basic price without discounts: EUR 42) includes:
– entry ticket to Pompeii
– entrance ticket to Mount Vesuvius
– 90-minute guided tour around the volcano
Check the prices available: city cards in Naples – [click]
Public transport in Naples
In the sightseeing plan I have developed, I have prepared the walking routes in such a way as to make your life as simple as possible. Walking around the city according to my proposal, you will not need many means of transport. All you need is the metro (the ticket costs 1,1 EUR).
WARNING! For EUR 4,5 you can buy a day ticket, which can be used as many times as you want on the metro, buses and cable cars.
W Neapolu metro ma tylko dwie linie (żółtą i niebieską), więc poruszanie się nim jest dziecinnie łatwe. Przy okazji rozkład stacji jest taki, że bez problemu wszystko da się nim załatwić. Położenie stacji i numery linii