risab

Situation: We'd like to do a family vacation with our college age daughter during the Christmas week because this is the only time we can all have off at the same time. We want a more southern European location for a "milder" winter climate.

We've been to Italy alot (and love Italy) but only spent a day in Naples. We all have a real interest to spend the week in Naples because we know there is so much to see in the area and we love the food. We are adventurous travellers, live in NYC and so the idea of gritty and chaotic is not so major to us - but we do want to make sure that we don't have to always be on guard. I've read great reviews and really negative reviews saying "stay in Sorrento"...
So, here's my Naples questions:
- Would Naples be a good place to be based for a week?
- Does anyone know an apartment rental agency in Naples (similar to the Rome agencies?)
- Where are the best neighborhoods to stay?
- Should we break up the week with a few days in Naples and a few in another town on the Amalfi Coast?...what would be the best town during winter?
- Is it possible to travel to Capri or Ischia during the winter? Are the seas usually rough?
- We have been to Rome alot - how does Naples "really" differ from Rome?

zeppole

First of all, if you all have a real interest, you should chase it. However, please be aware that during Christmastime this year, it lightly snowed for a day in Naples and some ferries to and from islands were cancelled because of storms. So it is 'milder' than New York City snows and winters, but it is not the Costa Rica, and a snow would limit your activities for a day or two.

For that reason, I would not split the trip between Napoli and the coast. You could get quite stuck on the coast (as some people did on Capri who were booked for longer stays than day tripping.)

Ferries running, you should be able to visit Ischia as well as Capri. Seas are rough when it is windy - which can happen in summer too. But the ferry schedule is lighter in winter.

Napoli is a much more dynamic, crowded, unmodernized and ungentrified place compared to Rome. If you have been to Trastevere, and can imagine 10 times the people packed into, 60 percent on motorcycles and under 15, that begins to come close. It is much more flamboyant artistically -- and has a much deeper history (literally) going back to its Greek colonies. It's a real sensory overload everywhere you look, everything you taste, hear and smell. There are some refined areas of the city -- chiefly the via Chiaia district -- that are much calmer, and the Vomero district. The area around the train station (like Rome) is not a nice place for a hotel base, even if you plan day trips to Pompeii or Sorrento. Some people like the areas close to the Archeological museum . You probably don't want the Spaccanapoli -- the densest warren of alleys in the city -- for a 6 night stay.

I don't know if Fodor's is going to settle the issue for you about always being "on guard." There are several posters here who will swear to you that Naples isn't safe, but no one ever reports having experienced any trouble or danger there. There is a lot of visible poverty and very dark skinned people i -- two things that make many Americans "on guard" by habit when they are in unfamiliar places, and worry they shouldn't be there. The reality is that people in Napoli aren't carrying weapons, are not looking to assault anybody, and the biggest threat you face is from artful pickpocketers dressed like lawyers and clergy to fool you.

Yet I have seen people on Fodor's swear that having noticed dentists have security buzzers to buzz through their patients, that proves Napoli is no place for the American tourists. I take it your New York dentist also buzzes you in and that won't freak you out.

But the sheer numbers of people, the whizzing traffic, the strangeness of Napoli, the inability to decipher the chaos, and some ingrained wariness about alleys you can't see to the end of, and teenagers with tattos and swagger, is likely to keep you on guard a lot of the time. I think you quickly sort out what's prudent and what isn't, and if you walk through Rome's termini station without fearing for your life, you'll take Napoli in stride -- even its train station.

I woudn't hesitate to go -- in fact, I hope to go again soon. It's a fabulous place, especially at Christmas, when it really puts on a show. And the food is much better than Rome! And I also like it that tourists are only a very small part of the city, so you are out of the tourist bubble.

I've noticed many people who post on Frommer's have been to Napoli and they have all different sorts of sensibilities. You might ask for a take over there as well.

Can't help you with an apartment recommendation, but hope the rest helps.

risab

That was a great response! No Termini doesn't scare me in the least...I actually traveled through Italy, France & Spain by myself at age 20 over 30 years ago - so I am not much of a worry traveller. But some of the trip reports and responses to Naples inquiries really give some hairy details of crime and robberies. Frommers is certainly more positive and often written by Europeans - less Americans.

...we're also considering Lisbon (we've never been there)

Zerlina

There are some perfectly nice places in Spaccanapoli. Costantinopoli 104 has a private garden.

Zeppole will also tell you not to listen to anyone at SlowTravel. However, one regular poster stayed in Naples in February and reviewed an apartment on via Toledo.

zeppole

risab,

I forgot to add that you want to consider how short the hours will be in January when picking a neighborhood, and that you might also consider the theatre/opera area. It will be dark by 5pm -- even earlier -- and I would want lots of brightly lit storefronts, bars, cafes. I would feel that way in Rome too.

Can't help you on Lisbon, never been there (but they did have worse storms this winter than Napoli. I hope this was a freak winter in Europe).

Zerlina, yoo-hoo?

That's not true what you posted. I just told a Fodor's poster the other day to ask her questions on Slow Travel because I thought she would get better help over there with her questions. The poster's name was etonmymind (I think!) and she was asking about a "loose itinerary." Click on my name and look it up!

Also, please read what I wrote this thread. I never said there weren't nice places in Spaccanapoli. I said I didn't think risab would want that area's dense warren of alleys for a 6 day stay. I trust I don't have to explain the difference to her. (A garden in December wouldn't be a draw for me in Italy.) I didn't offer her apartment help. I told her I didn't know of anything. I can't be blamed for not reading every apartment review on the internet! But it's true I think there are reasons to mistrust ones posted on Slow Travel, so I never refer people there for those kinds of questions. My sense of responsibility.

risab

I actually used Slow Travel to review apartments that I was considering renting in Rome and found the reviews helpful. I was trying to find apartments in Naples last night on slow travel and had a hard time ...do you have a link?

Are there any agencies for rentals like in Rome...? Maybe I'll check VRBO?

In Rome I am fine for off the beaten track apartments because I have been there a lot and studies there- in Naples I would want a "brighter area."

Waldo

The only people, it seems to me, that knock Naples, are people who have never been there. Naples beats Rome and Paris as a place to visit. There's more to see and do in Naples than there is in the two aforementioned places. When you visit Naples, you go as a resident, not a tourist.

Zerlina

Here's a link to the Via Toledo apartment review:
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/vr/review.asp?n=4473
It's a very level-headed review, and I would trust it.

A garden is not at its best in December, but it's a respite from the "dense warren of streets."

There are no apartment-rental agencies for Naples that I know of, but ellens, the Via Toledo reviewer, may have discussed pre-trip how she went about finding the apartment in the Italy forum.

zeppole

risab,

If you check out Specialty Lodging for Naples on Tripadvisor, you can find some apartments along with other non-hotels, and they have independent reviews.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g1...ia-Hotels.html

You can also find a few with reviews under vacation rentals, but most are out of the city.

Waldo

Look at the Feb. 24 input from me in the "Naples and Amalfi Guide" in this forum.

zeppole

risab, one additional thought:

I simply don't know if Christmas makes various hotel rates go up or down in Napoli, but I sometimes see great winter deals for marvelous hotels there with views of the bay (which might be nice in the shorter-sun days). And my experience of Italy is that many hotel owners will work with you on price for an extended stay.

I'm agnostic about whether an apartment or hotel is best for you, but I do know for me, I wouldn't use a kitchen much in Napoli. Even breakfast in Napoli is worth getting from a Neopolitan cook or pastry maker fresh.

Hotels can seldom beat any apartment rental rate for a 6-day stay, but sometimes good hotels in Napoli are attractively cheap.

risab

...we tend to prefer hotels because we like to have extra room to lounge about in and not feel cramped - especially since it is three of us - two adults and adult daughter.

but...we might be open to hotels if the price was right...
Any suggestions that might have a suite?

zeppole

risab,

You might check out these places:

http://www.casecosi.it/index.asp

http://www.fiorentiniresidence.it/index_en.htm

I'm unclear about this hotel's neighborhood. I'd ask around before I booked:

http://www.residenzaechia.it/eng/appartamenti.php

I found those by doing google searches for "residence hotel" or "apartment hotel" plus "naples italy".

For more traditional hotels, you could roller skate around the room in this hotel, and have fab views, but the rooms are very spare in decor. They have quads.

http://www.locandadelmare.it/photogallery.php

The Palazzo Turchini has family rooms and suites and promotions for long stays

http://www.palazzoturchini.it/turchi...ageen-121.html

You'd have to check tripadvisor or venere for reviews, and it may be that Christmas week is a bump up, not down, in price unless you can find a true business/residence hotel.

A dedicated bunch of Chowhound posters go to Napoli and while there is a strict policy over there about asking about anything but food, you could probably learn a lot about whether a neighborhood or piazza near a lodging that appeals to you is lively at night with caffes and restaurants by asking a questions framed about the nighttime availability of food, coffee and pastry nearby, or even just using their search features;

But you have a lot of time to look -- and maybe you're going to Lisbon!

zeppole

PS: You should also do google searches for "quadruple rooms hotels naples italy" to see what's on offer.

risab

Zeppole: your info is great and I appreciate the time you took to gather it!

If we don't do Naples this coming December we are going to go the following year so I am saving all of this. Our daughter is going to study for her junior year in Florence first & then Sicily so she wants us to go to Naples before we head to Sicily. Maybe it's the Brooklyn-ite in me...we can't wait to go to both places - ricotta cheese cake, sfogliatelle & pizza, wine, lemoncello, olives... it will be food heaven.

zeppole

It will so much better than anything you have ever tasted by the same name in Brooklyn, it will be a complete revelation. (That said, I happen to like Roman pizza best.

I'm always plotting a return trip to Naples, so I'm saving some of these apartment links for myself!

risab

...we keep going back and forth on Naples now.

...We really liked the look fo the locandadelmare

...Zeppole: Can you recommend places that you have stayed that might be good for a week - nice hotel with refrigerator in room. If we go the route of hotel then we'd like to get a seperate room for our daughter so we'd like a place that is not too expensive.

zeppole

Alas, risab, but I didn't like my last hotel stay in Napoli, which is one reason I've taken such an interest in scouting out locations for you (I'm secretly doing it for myself.)

I have traveled as a group of three adults, and I do think the combo of a one-bedroom suite plus a single room is a good way to go -- especially since that guarantees you two bathrooms, plus a little more privacy as needed for everybody. Most hotels will have a refrigerator.

I liked the look of the locanda del mare too because I'd like a view of open sky and sea because of the shorter days. I like to know what the weather when I get up in the morning is by looking out the window, not always easy in Napoli!

if you want more options, two helpful ways to search are to use the Venere webiste, because you can search by neighborhood via maps, plus get user reviews.

http://www.venere.com/bandb/naples/#...ms=2&mz=566746

Another way to search is to use an address in Napoli that you like and plug it into Google and add the words "b&b naples italy" or "hotel naples Italy" You will get a map pinpointing accommodations all around that area.

http://www.google.it/search?client=s...Kc_9_AbinZT8CQ

I think there are an abundance of choices and that Napoli is a very affordable Italian stay. A bargain in fact. And you can probably negotiate a price for two rooms for six nights. One thing you always have to watch out for in southern Italy for a winter stay is a guarantee of sufficient heat.

Buona fortuna!

zeppole

I think this place is a real charmer if it's in your budget:

http://www.bbleterrazze.org/index.html

It would probably better in summer than winter, and I would ask about heat since the place has a lot of glass and tile floors. However, being on the top floor helps keep a place warm.

I think I'll stay there next time I go!

zeppole

PS: Before I booked the above place, I would do a lot more research about its convenience to restaurants and the sights, especially the sights of Spaccanapoli if that is on your agenda.