morgannalefey

We're flying into Naples and arriving around 11AM on a Wednesday. I'm sure we'll be hungry. We were talking about the possibility of getting some pizza (in the place where it was invented!) for lunch while there and trying to figure out logistics for how we could make that work. We will be catching bus Carreri at the airport to get to Sorrento, then Sita bus from there to Praiano. We don't have any fixed schedule that day other than just getting to the hotel. BTW, there is no way we would ever be mistaken for anything but tourists.

So I'm wondering about these things:
Where we could store our baggage (at least one large suitcase) safely at the airport.
How we could get to a place that has decent pizza.
How paranoid we need to be about pickpockets, theft, and distraction scams (as in, should we just not leave the airport because this is our first time in Italy).
Where is there good pizza (not just slap dash tourist pizza) near the airport.
Whether or not it's possible to get decent Neapolitan pizza on the Amalfi Coast and just skipping finding a place in Naples for it.

So I'd really welcome comments, tips, suggestions, observations, and even considerations about things I haven't thought of.

Marija

You won't have trouble finding "decent" pizza on the Amalfi coast. I am a fan of Naples but I think trying to make a quick pizza stop is just too much hassle.

Sassafrass

If you are going to take the bus, it leaves directly from in front of the terminal. I would really not bother to take a bus down town just to get pizza, especially considering the two bus trips ahead of you that afternoon. Nothing to do with safety - I walk all aver Naples and feel perfectly safe around the airport, a bit less so in the train terminal. Just logistically, it doesn't make sense - is not worth it.

There are some places around the airport, but I've not had pizza at any of them. I'm never hungry after a flight, but if I were, I'd just get a bite at the airport. If you must have the pizza, then you might as well take the train since you will be close to the station. I found pizza to be pretty similar on the AC, so you are not missing anything to rave about, IMHO.

salina5

"Paranoid" you do not need to be; very, very careful you DO need to be. Do not wear or even bring expensive watches or jewelry; do not ever buy anything displayed on a blanket or cloth on the street/ground; DO get a zippered waist pack to wear UNDER your clothes for sure (can get them online - they wash easily); keep your hand on your cell phone (newest targets to filch) and camera at all times. Yelling at gypsies, no matter their age, is ok. You do not want them around you AT ALL. If you normally carry a purse on your shoulder, see if you can find one with metal inside the straps and try a cross-body one. If you are out exploring beautiful Napoli, do be aware that the drivers do not give heed to pedestrians or traffic signals most of the time (btw, driving there for non-Italians is very, very risky and, because of the accident rates, very expensive, too - don't do it). The movie "Eat, Pray, Love" has the most fabled pizza place in Naples in it, but my experience has been that almost every pizza you will have there will be scrumptious, even if it isn't one of the DOC places! If blood oranges/juice are available, be sure to order. So good! (It is unwise to ask for butter for your bread - put olive oil on it). Enjoy!

morgannalefey

Thank you! Grazie! We sorta figured it wouldn't be worth the hassle, especially coming in off an overnight flight.

I ask about crime because travel guides keep warning us about tucking away our wallets, and stuff.

A_Brit_In_Ischia

There's at least member of the AVPN on the Amalfi Coast, in Positano....

http://www.pizzanapoletana.org/showr...php?r=Campania

Peter

morgannalefey

I don't know if we could order an under clothing pouch thing in time. Anyone have links? I can probably search.

kybourbon

There is luggage storage at the airport and you could take the Alibus from the airport into Naples. There is also luggage storage at the Naples train station. I wouldn't bother with going into Naples for pizza.

morgannalefey

We've decided that we'll go into Positano at some point during our week there (probably more than once 'cos that's where all the 'stuff' is ;D ) where there's an AVPN pizzeria. We'll be going into Positano to just look around and maybe do a bit of shopping, so it makes sense.

Now I just hope that we can find people still selling lemon ices while we're there. We're arriving the Wed after everything seems to shut down for the season.

aguamineral

I'm not sure you should make a project of getting pizza in Naples if you are not a dedicated food tourist -- although it isn't hard at all if you park your luggage at the train station -- but you should know, just for the record, that the pizza made in Naples in not the same as the pizza you will get on the Amalfi coast or in neighboring towns. Tourists may find other pizza delicious, and I myself don't care for Neopolitan pizza as I do Sicilian pizza or Roman pizza or even New York pizza. But Neopolitan pizza is its own animal, and if you want to taste Neopolitan pizza, you have to eat it Napoli. Period.

Sassafrass

It should take only a couple of days to get a pouch through the mail, but your local Target, Walmart or luggage store should also have them.

Weadles

There's plenty of good pizzerias up and down the Amalfi Coast, so don't worry! I agree with the others that I wouldn't make a special stop in Naples for it. We did go to the famous pizzeria there- the birthplace of pizza- but honestly it didn't do much for me, anyway. Check out a place called LUNA in Sorrento if it's still there. They had excellent pizzas of all kinds when we visited a couple years ago. And when you go to Capri, check out a small restaurant by the dock called LO ZODIACO, which had unbelievable pizzas and handmade pastas. Have fun!

aguamineral

I simply have to add that people are confusing pizza they personally enjoy with Neapolitan pizza. You can't recommend to somebody that they sample Neapolitan pizza outside of Naples, or predict that they will or won't like Neapolitan pizza if they taste it. Pizza in Naples is a unique preparation.

A dedicated food tourist would be curious enough about the real deal to want to taste it for himself or herself, and discover the difference, and get an understanding about how far pizza evolved from its roots in Naples to produce something like a New York pizza (or even one from Salerno or Sorrento or Capri).

It's like an Italian going to America and wanting to eat a bagel. Sure, bagels are everywhere in America. Plenty of people enjoy eating bagels that are fluffy, huge and have lots with toppings and fillers. But a classic Jewish bagel is only sold in a very few places in the US.

A_Brit_In_Ischia

If you'd care to come over and repeat a few of those comments to the AVPN member whose pizzeria is across the street from us here in Ischia, I'm certain he'd be glad to put you right!

Or, for that matter, to the one run by Gaetano Fazio, whose apprentices have walked away with PizzaFest prizes on several occasions:

http://www.pizzadagaetano.it/

.... and who's also on the Association's board, despite living beyond the city boundary:

http://www.pizzanapoletana.org/direttivo.php

Both their places have been heaving over summer, making pizza for the island's hundreds of thousands of Italian visitors - whose take on what is and what isn't good Neapolitan pizza might be more reliable than that of some contributors to this discussion?

Peter

aguamineral

Ask him yourself, since you are closer (I'm in Lisbon!). I'm not saying his pizza isn't good or isn't a crowd pleaser. A lot of Italians don't like Neapolitan pizza. But it is not an export item.

Dr_DoGood

Bookmarking

A_Brit_In_Ischia

A little late now, but overseas members of the AVPN can be found using...

http://www.pizzanapoletana.org/eng_associati.php

Peter