My wife & I are visiting Napoli for the first time this July. We plan to stay at Bella Capri which is on via christoph columbius (opposite boat terminal). Does anybody know this hotel or stayed there? Is it walking distance from bars and restaurants etc? is that street area okay? Also we plan to visit a place called Scario in Cilento (aprox 150km south of Napoli), anybody been there?

Check it out in www.itwg.com (pictures, maps and all). Via Colombo is very noisy, but the hotel looks to be about 50 metres away on a side street. Piazza Municipio is 100 metres away, and Piazza Trento e Trieste (Bar Gambrinus) 500 metres.

I just got back from southern Italy...I would not stay in Naples..consider staying in Sorrento with a day trip to Naples. I just never felt that safe in Naples. In addition, Sorrento offers day trips to other parts of Italy. Just a thought.

Why are you planning to stay near the boat terminal--it's in a fairly characterless part of town, close to the business section. If you have'nt already book it, you should stay in the Santa Lucia/Via Partenope section right on the lungomare and you don't have to book a 5* hotel to do it. On my first trip to Napoli last year, I stayed in the Hotel Miramare, with a beautiful roof terrace which overlooked the bay and Mt. Vesuvius. You can see my comments in the Hotel Rants & Raves section. I think that where you stay in Naples determines your impression of the place, because the different neighborhoods vary from disgusting to enchanting. I myself fell in love with this marvelous city, and can't wait to get back.

Hi<BR>there were some great Naples threads a few months ago about some proud Naples fans and what they liked about the city.<BR>You might want to do a search here on Naples.

Naples is a DUMP!

Yes, some areas of Naples are seedy. And a few are not too safe. But I found Naples to be vibrant and dynamic, and the people to be among the most friendly in the world. If Naples is on your "wish list", I say go for it, and revel in what you find in this fascinating city.

Linda or GAC: Can you recommend a hotel with a decent single room, 2 or 3 star, in the old center of town, assuming that's a safe area to stay?

All the people that come across Naples to get to Capri, Pompei or other sights in that area get generally a very bad impression of the city, that's because its suburbs are among the most disgusting in Italy, it has a big industrial port far from being attractive, and the residential and business districts along the seaside are cleaner but generally lack the charm one expects from italian cities. Nothing tells you that there is anything to see that might be worth it... However, it's a big mistake, the people who are not turned off by first impressions and get to know the hidden and surprisingly big historical center, discover as Linda said a vibrant, dynamic and fascinating city, in my opinion among the most beautifull in Italy, where you get the best Pizzas and the best expressos ever and the people are extremely nice in an eptic and electrical way (lots of screaming and emotional excitment)... I would definitely not miss it

I don't know of any 2*s in Naples that I'd recommend. However, for 3*s you could stay at the Hotel Canada, in Mergelina (081 682 018) I've never stayed there, but good friends have and they said it is good value for money. And the hotel is in a ood area to walk around in, especially.

ttt

Thanks, Linda. As far as location, is the Canada an easy walk to the center of town, or would I have to figure out the bus system?

The headline news Monday was sadly familiar for most Italians -- a high speed car chase in southern Italy ends in a deadly shootout between rival Mafia families. But these were not the usual suspects.<BR>The gun-toting clan leaders Sunday night were 50-something Italian mamas and teenage girls, police said.<BR><BR>"Obviously things are changing even in these feuds," the Corriere della Sera newspaper wrote Monday.<BR><BR>The protagonists in Sunday's bloodbath were the wives and granddaughters of Camorra gangster families, the Mafia organization that operates in and around the southern Italian city of Naples.<BR><BR>One car full of Cava family women and another car with Camorra boss Salvatore Graziano, his granddaughters and their mother showered each other with bullets in the prolonged shootout in Lauro, a town east of Naples. Two middle-aged mothers and a 16-year-old girl were killed.<BR><BR>"Yesterday's incident shows that not only bosses and their 'soldiers' have the duty to eliminate members of rival families; now the women, the bosses' wives and even the daughters participate," Corriere wrote.<BR><BR>Mafia women, especially in Sicily's "Cosa Nostra," are traditionally not allowed to get mixed up in men's business. Instead, the black-skirted women shuttle between the kitchen and the church, selflessly grieving for their fallen loved ones.<BR><BR>But in Naples, the battle of the sexes has taken on new meaning with the "madrina," or godmother, muscling in on territory of the traditional godfather.<BR><BR>One woman even allegedly ran one of Naples' most powerful criminal families while her brother was in prison.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>

I lived in Naples for a year and highly reccommend it as a tourist destination. Yes, watch your wallet and surroundings, but I would advise that in any large city. If you go to Naples looking for the charm of Tuscany, you will be disappointed. If you go to Naples with the hope to get a deeper understanding of what this diverse country is like, you will be rewarded. <BR><BR>I advise that you study up on the history of the city before you go-- knowing some of the fascinating details of what this city has survived (volcano eruptions, war, and foreign occupation to name a few) will make your trip more memorable.<BR><BR>Don't leave the city without trying the spaghetti alle vongole. Mmmmmmm. <BR><BR>National Geographic Mag did a GREAT article on the city some years ago. Try to get your hands on that. <BR><BR>Terra

Sorry folks, but we could not wait to leave this dirty, crime ridden area and move on to our next city. Don't spend to much time in Naples. And, BEWARE!

Naples is just plain NASTY!!!! I had a kid stick his arm in my husbands window and try to grab the camera bag off the floor, my husband grabbed this kids arm and threatened to drive off with him running along side the car. I told him to let the kid go he did only after moving the vehicle a few feet... I would not stay in this town nor walk around it ,it has the justly deserved reputation as being unsafe and it is. Plenty of other nice places to go in Italy why this place?

I walked all over Naples by myself and had no problems with safety. <BR><BR>The area is very interesting, and well worth exploring. Just use the same safety precautions you would use in any urban area. <BR><BR>My only other suggestion is to buy a good map when you arrive. Naples is very easy to get lost in (the streets are a maze). The map my hotel gave me was useless, and I kept having to stop people to ask directions. Everyone I stopped was very nice, but it would have been helpful to also have a decent map.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>

I've now lived in Naples since my marriage (ofcourse to a Neapolitan!) and I can safely say that I would rather live here than in my original city - London. I can get out on the weekends - I can go to Capri, Sorrento, Positano, Ravello etc. we have lakes, mountains and beautiful beaches all round us! The city itself is "difficult" - in other words - a heaving mass! People and cars all over the place - and yes you must look after your wallet or your car - but it's not dangerous. In all these years I have never seen any danger - yes of course there are "shoot outs" like the one previously mentioned - but good riddance to them - sorry but I don't favour clans and "families"!! There's a lot of goodness and kindness in the people here. My daughter was sea sick going to Capri last weekend, and people fell over each other trying to help her. In fact a woman held her hand and stroked her forehead the whole journey. Where else would this happen? Just walk along Via Carraciolo and see the beautiful views. Climb up to the top of Vesuvius, visit Pompeii and Ravello is my all time favourite. Enjoy!!

Mels, no one is saying that the towns out of Naples are not safe and worth seeing. You have not read the post properly. The post is describing Naples!!! My husbands family is from this god-forsaken dump, so we have to go there every two years to visit them. Even my husband hates Naples, and he was born there. It is filthy, full of prostitutes, homosexuals, drugs, theft, fist fights, stabbings, and nasty grudge-holding people. If you feel comfortable in this environment, then by all means go.

We were first time visitors in Naples 5 years ago. We were driving and the outskirts looked fairly run down. We got terribly lost and asked for directions to our hotel by showing the hotel brochure. Lots of hand waving and shouting about "galleria". So I proceeded to look for a shopping mall. We kept going through a tunnel and then turning back. Finally found the hotel and discovered "galleria" IS tunnel.