Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - 48 hours in Naples

Right before any trip we get very nervous thinking we picked all the wrong places to stay. Going to Naples only escalated our worries—reading about the grittiness, garbage, crime, traffic and noise only made us even more nervous than normal.

We arrived in the Naples airport at 9:30 PM on Sunday evening. The airport was small but bustling—really no different than any other airport on a Sunday evening. We managed to get our luggage and find the taxi queue without any problems—we certainly did not get mugged or robbed or even solicited by baggage handlers!

We got a taxi in short order and weaved our way through a chaotic ocean of cars passing some rather grim looking buildings—things were not looking good. Is this the time I made areal mistake? And yes there were some piles of garbage and lots of graffiti.

After we caught our breath from the frenetic traffic we started a conversation with our taxi driver who was a native of Naples. He seemed very proud of his city—he starting pointing out various historical sites and interesting landmarks as we got closer to our hotel—maybe things are not that bad after all.

Our hotel, MH Design Hotel www.MHhotel.it was in an upscale area on a street blocked to traffic (Via Chiaia near Piazza Plebiscito) and the room was very pleasant. Even though there were no cars on the street the city noise was quite loud—fortunately the windows were sound-proofed and the AC worked well. We would highly recommend the hotel especially for its central location, very nice rooms and helpful staff.

It is now about 10:30 Sunday night and we are starving and needed a glass of wine—we asked the hotel staff if there were any restaurants open at his hour? They looked at us in a funny way and said ‘of course’—and recommended a place a few doors down. They were also very gracious in helping us practice our Italian with the directions and--just to be sure we understood their italian--they walked us half way to the restaurant which turns out was the famous Antica Pizzeria Brandi where supposedly the pizza margherita was invented in the late 1800s. The restaurant was off just off Via Chiaia in an cobblestone alleyway and it had a great atmosphere—there were Italian musicians playing and some of the staff joined in singing—not in a touristy way but they really were having fun—and the pizza, wine and pasta were superb! We finished around midnight and the restaurant was still busy and the street back to the hotel still was active—looks like Naples might be a good choice!

The next day and evening we explored the Piazza Plebiscito area, Via Chiaia, the waterfront, some palazzos and churches, walked up Toledo Ave and then across Spaccanapoli. We covered a lot of ground, and especially enjoyed the nativity merchants in the area of San Gregorio Armeno. Aside from a few large piles of garbage the historical and shopping districts were very clean and very pleasant. The Neapolitans we encountered were very nice—the waiters were all a little stand-offish but not impolite.

Overall we liked Naples and wished we could have stayed another day or so to visit Vomero via the funicular, underground Naples and other areas using the hop-on hop-off buses. But the next morning came quickly and it was time for our next adventure. We checked out and walked to the docks (a rather easy walk from the hotel even with luggage) looking for a ferry bound for Capri. (Capri to be continued)