First Time in Naples

Old Feb 27th, 2011, 02:35 AM
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First Time in Naples

Well, not quite the first, we went to the Musei Archeologico and Capodimonte years ago, but did not see anything of the city.

I have booked 3 nights in a hotel on the Piazza Dante, thinking centro storico is best for the full Naples experience, although the views from via Partenope are very enticing. I am sure some of you know Naples well but I cannot find much in the forum, help please on things we must see (apart from the obvious, like Santa Chiara, etc) and food we MUST eat. My husband is less enthusiastic about this jaunt than I am, so being well organised is essential.
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Old Feb 27th, 2011, 03:06 AM
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Naples lots to do not touristic sort of dodgy

Prefer Sorrento nearby great deals for me on scenic

Amalfi hotels there.

Recently picked up www.hoteldelfino.it for $60 nt Otel.com
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Old Feb 27th, 2011, 03:07 AM
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www.hoteldelfino.com sorry bad link
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Old Feb 27th, 2011, 05:36 AM
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We live in the area, and visit Naples fairly often... for shopping, all sorts of bureacratic stuff, when travelling - and just for the fun of it, so hopefully you'll find some of these of interest...

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/mainlynaples

We very rarely stay in the city but for a vacation visit I'd certainly be a lot more tempted by the Via Partenope - particularly in summer - and wouldn't mind being a short walk or taxi ride away from where the city centre's sights and sites begin! Perhaps you'll have recognised the area, with the Castel dell'Ovo, in those pictures?

And we usually eat at one or another of the places round the marina there, although the most memorable meal we've had was at 'La Vela' - mentioned by Rick Stein in one of his series, which my wife had wanted to try. It's a short way out of town (and in fact that HoHo tour passed quite nearby), in the pretty Marechiaro area... hard to explain, and we took a taxi both ways!

There are several restaurants there - Al Faro, Marechiaro and the somewhat grander and more famous 'La Fenestella'..

No website that I can see, but it's:
Hosteria La Vela, Calata ponticello a marechiaro 37 - 80100 - Napoli (NA)

And I've found two phone numbers being shown - so it's either (+39) 081 769 2313 or 081 575 1095

Or just Google for..... "osteria La Vela" napoli

.....................................

For some background stuff that may be useful, you'll hopefully not mind me just dropping these in....

- Lots of Naples "what's on" information (and the answers to a host of "How do I...?" questions) in the 'Qui Napoli' magazine which the tourism people bring out every two months. Mostly it's in bilingual English/Italian - and a PDF version is available by clicking on the word "download" here....
http://www.inaples.it/eng/quinapoli.htm

(Don't think they do a Feb/Mar edition - but Nov/Dec is still there, and hopefully they'll be back in April)
.
Open-top buses in Naples?
http://www.napoli.city-sightseeing.it/eng/index.htm

Their current leaflet is usually here:
http://www.napoli.city-sightseeing.it/depliant_na.pdf
.
Some handy maps showing the various public transport options in the "Maps" section here:
http://www.unicocampania.it/index.php?lang=en
.
For museums and archaelogical sites etc, there's the Campania Artecard. Several versions, so you'll have to find which one best fits your needs...
http://www.campaniartecard.it/
.
If visiting any of the Vesuvian archaeological sites - Pompei etc - the new official website's English pages start here...
http://www.pompeiviva.it/pv/en/homepv.htm
.
And for a bit more about the towns and villages around Vesuvius, a 100+ page leaflet "Discovering Vesuvius" can be downloaded using....

http://www.costadelvesuvio.com/brocure.pdf

(That was created in January 2009, so do crosscheck specific details, and watch out for outdated references... such as to “Vesuviana Mobilità", the former operators of buses to Mount Vesuvius, and to old route numbers once used by the Metro del Mare!)

It's also available from:
http://discoveringvesuvius.com/brocure.pdf
........................

For more of Campania, try here...
http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/tele

I can't imagine you being short of things to see and do!

Peter
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Old Feb 27th, 2011, 08:18 AM
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I go to Naples very often- here are some suggestions. From Piazza Garibaldi (that's the only way I know, take a bus to VIA PETRARC. Go about three or four bus stops once you get to the Via, it doesn't matter, and get off the bus. There you will see the most amazing panorama on earth, the Bay of Naples, with Vesuvio as a backdrop. It really is unbelievable to see this first hand. There are many pictures of this view, but to see it in person is breathless. Every time I go, it's like the first time, and I go very frequently. NUMBER TWO- This one seems really strange, but I discovered this on my own. At Piazza Dante, there is a McDonald's (really)!. Go in there and buy a coffee or something, and go upstairs to the second floor of the restaurant and find a table by the large window wall there. You will be looking down at Piazza Dante and all the furious activity there, including all the students milling around the University. It is quite a picture of Naples in the raw. I think you will love it. NUMBER THREE- Go to Piazza Plebicito and walk down towards the water as far as possible. There is a lovely park at the end, where you can sit on clean stone benches, and view the sea and boats coming in and out of the port, and see Capri as a background. Quite a view. NUMBER FOUR- this is a private one. From the large statue of Guiseppe Garibaldi at Piazza Garibaldi, this is on Via Garibaldi, look down towards the water. Walk down that way until you get to Piazza Nolana. You will see a large arch there. Walk towards the arch, but before you get to tha arch, take the street closest to the arch, and walk left. Keep going a short way, making notice of second story signs. You will see "Pizza Tutino". This is the absolute BEST pizza in the world. Go up to the second floor, and if you see the owner (he will be easy to spot), tell him you are American. He really loves Americans. He was orphaned during WWII, and was taken in by four GI's and raised by them while they were stationed in Naples. He speaks English with a strange Italian and Alabama accent. He considers those GI's as his fathers, and two of them were from Alabama. He picked up their accent. It's a ball hearing him speak. When I go there, frequently, he yells out "L'Americano e venuto" The American has come. I get treated like a king. This is a neighborhood place and it doesn't get the publicity that other fine pizzerias get, but it's the best of all.
I have many other stories about Naples, but my fingers are getting tired. I'll leave at these.
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Old Feb 27th, 2011, 08:38 AM
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bookmarking
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Old Feb 27th, 2011, 09:35 AM
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These are great suggestions, just what I wanted. Will definitely look for Pizza Tutino - can I resurrect my Montgomery accent after so many years? I can skip McDonald's as my hotel on Piazza Dante appears to have the same view.

Am I making a big mistake staying in Piazza Dante rather than the seafront?
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Old Feb 27th, 2011, 09:59 AM
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I would definitely stay at Piazza Dante rather than the seafront. Here's what we did during a week in Naples:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-and-paris.cfm
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Old Feb 27th, 2011, 11:35 AM
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To Marija- Just read your article concerning your week in Naples. I gotta say, it's the best one I've ever read on Naples. I wish people would read this and realize that Naples, in spite of all its warts, is a treasure. Reading your article sort of sends chills up my spine, because the places you mention are so familiar, and bring back memories. I've been going to Naples at least once a year for the past twenty years, and I have yet to eat at Michele's. I think the Trianon is great, but Tutino's is better. As I mentioned in my previous input, I visit Piazza Plebecito often. I also like to hang around Cafe Gambrinus for the good espresso and pastries. I have to mention this before I close. I go to the Galleria often, since it's in the same area as Piazza Plebecito. There's a story connected to it. Here goes, it's a beauty. The Galleria took a couple of years to build. It's distinctive roof and buildings within are pretty ornate and required lots of labor. While it was being built, there was NOT ONE ACCIDENT which occured while constructing. The day it was completed and open to the public, the architect was examining the glass roof, and guess what happened? the poor guy fell through one of the glass panes and fell to his death. What a bummer! Have lots of tidbits about Napoli. I'll be going there in May, staying till I get homesick for Maryland.
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Old Feb 27th, 2011, 12:03 PM
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Am I making a big mistake staying in Piazza Dante rather than the seafront?

We also stayed in the historical center (in the same place Marija did, I think) and were very happy we did. This is from about six years ago, but here is how we spent three days/nights (not enough time, by the way) in Naples:

http://www.onelittleworld.com/campania_7.html
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Old Feb 28th, 2011, 01:45 AM
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I love a good story about Naples, and you'll find many on the web pages of this resident American...

http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~jmatthew/naples/newAN.html

However one building he doesn't mention is the Liberty-style Palazzina Rocco - built in 1909 by Emmanuele Rocco (1 or 2 Ms as you please, or so it seems), already famous for the Galleria Umberto which had opened 20 years earlier, who subsequently worked on what was to become the Circumvesuviana railway.

But I'm sure, if only he lived in Milan, he wouldn't have overlooked the story of that city's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II - the architect of which, Giuseppe Mengoni, died in a fall from its roof...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Mengoni

http://www.turismo.milano.it/wps/por...opere/opera103

The 19th century may have seen a plague of falling architects, but perhaps that tale has had just a little Neapolitan embellishment?

Peter
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Old Feb 28th, 2011, 03:45 AM
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Am I making a big mistake staying in Piazza Dante rather than the seafront?

Not at all - The seafront is last area I would want to stay.

Here is another hotel option to consider, right around the corner from Santa Chiara. Very nice rooms, very central, and very inexpensive - http://www.decumani.com/en/
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Old Feb 28th, 2011, 04:31 AM
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We spent a week in Naples in 2006, loved it so much and found so much to see in the city we still didn't make it to Pompeii and Herculaneum - had to go back last year for another 3 nights to do those. Piazza Dante is a great place to stay, within walking distance of lots of bars & restaurant and almost everything you'll want to visit, and near good bus routes for the slightly further out sights like the Catacombs of San Gennaro (to us the most exciting sight). I wouldn't want to stay at the seafront where the grand hotels are, to me it's rather removed from the interesting area - we stayed on the edge of the historic centre the first time and right in the middle of it the second time. There are brief-ish notes on our first visit in my trip report here - http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...alfi-coast.cfm.
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Old Feb 28th, 2011, 09:06 AM
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This is vastly reassuring.

I have booked the Megaron (90 euro bed and breakfast for what looks a very nice space) in Piazza Dante figuring that we want to be in the thick of it, not a taxi ride away. Some years ago I took a group of art lovers to the Amalfi coast and stayed in Sorrento - pleasant but not at all what I am looking for this time. My husband doesn't have quite my taste for decay and dereliction, hence my previous worries.

Your trip reports are all inspiring; I am adding pastries I have never heard of to my food and drink list (and Bellinis!)

Thanks all.
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Old Feb 28th, 2011, 09:54 AM
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I love Napoli! Have spent quite a bit of time there over the years, and totally agree with Waldo that 'Naples, in spite of all its warts, is a treasure'. Hadn't intended to get there again this year, but after reading all these great comments, how can I resist?!

If your husband needs a break and change of pace, and the weather is fine, you can get a ferry to Procida. Marina Grande is still a real fishing port, a bit gritty, like Naples: http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p29493155.html
http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p38377415.html and
http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p48541447.html

And a short walk over the hill brings you to Coricella with its colorful houses built one upon another, climbing up the side of the cliff from the small port:
http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p29493142.html

Lunch in the sunshine on fish straight from the boats, looking out to one of the best panoramas in Italy:
http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p38265198.html
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 07:49 AM
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Julia - how funny, you've my picture!

Can't do anything about the bald spot, but clearly I must learn to sit up straight....

Peter
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 08:50 AM
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Peter, that is indeed funny! Which one?! Is it Ischia or Procida, both of them my very favorite places to visit when I get a few days.
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 09:11 AM
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As long as you promise to tell no one...

You caught me here - sitting outside our favourite restaurant, down in Ischia Ponte. My wife roared with laughter when she saw it as she'd know that pate anywhere!

Peter
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 10:22 AM
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Just got back from 6 nights in Naples. We loved it. It was gritty, frenetic, crumbling...but very real, authentic. Despite the chaos, there was an underlying laid-back feeling to the entire place. People were friendly, prices were reasonable. We'd go back in a heartbeat.

We stayed at the Bellini 67 B&B, right off Piazza Bellini and Dante: www.Bellini67.com. 60E/night with breakfast. We loved that it was in the heart of all the restaurants and cafes, near via Toledo, the archaeology museum and bus stop. We walked everywhere (including the train station) except for Museo Capodimonte and San Gennaro catacombs. We used Naples as a base to take daytrips to Pompeii, Herculaneum, Paestum and Oplontis.

FYI -- Waldo's McDonalds is now closed. It's the first McDonald's I've ever seen that's been closed.

We loved having a beer outside (in January!) at Piazza Bellini. Coffee at Cafe Mexico and other places, eating pizza everyday -- our favorite was at Starita (a 10-minute walk north of the archaeology museum), exploring all the shops down the Via Constantinpoli and San Sebastiano, walking through the historic area at night and the Spanish neighborhood, too. There was so much to see...

We never felt threatened or unsafe, despite all the warnings we read. No one attempted to pickpocket us or rip us off. The streets were lively at night. They're dark (simply because they don't have glaring street lights), so that probably makes people assume they're unsafe. Maybe they are, but that wasn't our experience.

It's a shame Naples gets such a bum rap. If you're looking for a sterilized and scrubbed version of a Disney-land type European town, it's not for you. But if you want and authentic place with the friendliest people we met in Italy, then go.
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 03:36 PM
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To NanBug- AMEN!!!!!
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