Wondering if anyone has recently visited the underground sites in Naples, and whether the tours are suitable for a non-athletic person with mild claustrophobic tendencies.

I've taken the Vatican Scavi tour with no problems-- maybe because the group was small and the air spaces were so controlled. Toured Font de Gaume and other caves with only the mildest anxiety. But I had to back out of one of the pyramids at Chichen Itza (scary-narrow passages and lots of people).

If the ceiling/roof is high, it is easier. I would have a hard time staying underground for more than an hour.

Also lots of stairs are a problem, especially if I'm in the middle of a youthful crowd dashing to the top-- would not attempt the towers of Notre Dame today, for example.

There are a number of tours of Naples Underground-- can anyone report on the physical demands of any of them? I would really like to see some of it, especially the more ancient parts even if I don't make it all the way down to the very bottom (which is where the war-time shelters are, correct?).

Thanks for your help.

The best known (or at least most actively promoted) one is Napoli Sotterranea.

It's not particularly difficult physically (I'm 65 and substantially overweight) though what you mean by "non-athletic" may be different from what I mean. There's one stretch - not where the WW2 shelters are, or even particularly old by European standards - where you have to squeeze for about 50-100 yards through a very narrow and very low tunnel. One claustrophobic on our tour found that bit too much, but there was an undisruptive work-round available for her: she simply had to wait (with a companion and in the light) till we'd looked at the gallery concerned (which was worth the scramble), and the tour carried on. I thought the wartime shelters were about the most boring things underneath Naples, though the ancient Greek bits of Napoli Sotterranea were absolutely riveting.

The ticket office seemed pretty sensible about explaining the problems, and the guides pretty used to dealing with people who found it worse than they expected. Party sizes are quite well controlled (this is the EU, not Mexico)

A number of other buildings and archaeological sites in and around Naples involved underground bits we didn't necessarily expect. I didn't find one that caused any more challenges than Napoli Sotterranea.

Unless you're VERY "non-athletic", you'd be missing the best bits if you let worries about this stop you from taking them. To my mind, the most important things about the Bay of Naples are its 3,000 year seamless thread of human habitation, how much of it is still accessible - and how the amount of accessible subterranean antiquities keeps on growing.

The part we saw--the old Roman market--had no sections where it was particularly narrow.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...57627058744325

But clearly it is not the same tour that flanneruk took.

There are dozens of different buried bits of antiquity in and around Naples, visible in all kinds of ways, from just looking at Metro stations to walking through a trapdoor in a till-recently private flat or walking down into a church crypt.

Michael's photo and description is of what lies under San Lorenzo Maggiore in Via Tribunali. Napoli Sotterranea, the most aggressively promoted underground site, is a couple of hundred yards away, accessible through a ticket office in Piazza San Gaetano.

The best known accessible underground sites around the historic centre are described (with sample photos) at http://www.naplesnapoliguide.com/Nap...ndergroundtour. But more seem to get unearthed all the time.

Thanks very much, Flanner and Michael. You encourage me. Glad to know the tour organizers are used to dealing with questions like mine. I'm looking forward to seeing some of this.

ps My definition of "non-athletic" is pretty close to yours, though I'm not worried about getting physically stuck in a tunnel. More about an MRI-type "Help, I'm in a tube" panicky feeling.