Three girls in Naples
 

My two best friends and I are considering a trip to Naples/Amalfi coast next April. One of their friends says she has been to Naples several times and does not recommend because of safety concerns. We would arrive through Naples airport, and spend one full day/2 nights exploring the city before heading towards Amalfi. Thoughts? I think we are fine, want to assure them it is though. I've been to Sorrento area in 2008, but did not stop in Naples. Thanks!

Objectively, Naples is no more or less safe than Rome. Psychologically, you need to deal with your companions' comfort zone when it comes to perceptions of "safety". Since you know your travel companions (and we don't), we can only share -- as you say -- "thoughts".

Please believe me when I say that if tourist women of any age were routinely assaulted in Naples (or even occasionally assaulted in Naples ), you would have heard about it -- plenty! It doesn't happen unless you go wandering in dark alleys at 4am dressed in underwear. That said, Naples has a very "public" culture, so attractive young-ish women dressed in figure-revealing clothing are likely to get some very public expressions of -- ummm -- lust? Will that unnerve your group?

As for robbery, many places in Naples have a lot of dark, blind alleys which are actually quite safe but make most travelers -- especially femals -- incredibly nervous. They look like precisely the kind of alleys your mother told you never to walk in! How easy will it be for your friends to stay cool?

Lastly, Naples has a lot of highly visible poverty, and a lot of African and Middle eastern immigrants. In many other cities in the "developed" world (especially America), seeing a lot of obvious poverty + dark skin is a strong signal to white people that "this is not safe." In Naples, it is a false alarm. How comfortable will your group be in getting past a false alarm?

Something to consider if you are trying to push your travel companions into traveling outside their comfort zone is that if you have an actual bad experience, then you are likely to get blamed for not listening to your friends' warnings and pushing them into danger.

Bottom line is that this is less about Naples -- like I said, objectively it is as safe as Rome (or Paris or London, and 6,000 times safer than Washington DC or Los Angeles) -- than it is about you and your friends having a happy trip together without requiring one or more of you to undergo a personality transplant.

If your friends can't handle surprises and a complicated cityscape, so be it. But if they are open to hearing that Naples is as safe or safer than Rome, Barcelona, London or Glagow or Lisbon, then keep talking with them, and work out a realistic plan for keeping your valuables secure and being alert to questionable situations, and how to communicate to each other about your concerns while together (anywhere while traveling, actually).

Except for the "6000 times safer than Washington, DC and LA", this is an intelligent discussion of the issues.

By "girls" you do mean "young women", don't you? In some parts of the Midwest, women in their fifties seem to go on "girls' weekends."

LOL I say girls, we are all turning 40 next year. :) Thanks for your response. This will be there first visit to continental Europe and I have been to most of the main cities in Italy except Naples and Milan. I missed Capri last time so that is why we thought this would be great place for all of us to visit. Eh, lots of places to see in Europe if this doesn't work out!

You might be interested in this: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ely-naples.cfm

I would visit Naples as a solo female traveler in a heartbeat ... if I could ever tear myself away from Positano and the AC!

I love Naples! I was careful there about safety just as I am in any big city. I was just there this past April for the 2nd time and it was filled with school groups touring. I agree with the comments sandralist made except the "6,000 times safer than Washington DC or Los Angeles"

Check out this thread on Naples posted today http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ely-naples.cfm

I would strongly disagree with the majority of Sandralist's overly alarmist and incorrect post.
#1 - dark alleys. There are people in these so-called 'dark alleys'. People going about their business, doing their shopping, going to school and work. It's not a twilight zone or portal to Dante's Seventh Circle of Hell. Take a walk. Nothing will happen.

# 2 - they cliche of young women getting attention? All women get attention in Naples - enjoy it!

# 3 - highly visible poverty. Where? I am in Naples every couple of months and simply haven't seen this 'highly visible poverty' anywhere tourists would go. Unless you plan to visit the shanty-town areas on the outskirts, visit Secondigliano or hang out around the Central station you will see nothing of the sort. Via Chiaia, Via Toledo, the Spanish Quarter,Santa Lucia, the Lungomare, Vomero, Mergellina. All are beautiful neighbourhoods filled with history. They are not dens of squalor.

Where were you planning to stay? There are some great hotels, particularly along Via Partenope that have magnificent views of the bay. There are also lots of choices in the historic centre.

Enjoy your stay and ignore the negativity.

What a load of rosy-eyed BS from blue-eyed-cod. It must be lovely to live in a bubble where Naples appalling poverty just doesn't grab attention like a pastry does.

It is absolutely laughable that someone who is claims to be such a big lover of Naples has never been in its alleys, and just sticks to the cruise ship shoreline with the tourists.

Like Blueeyedcod, you may not encounter crude and overt sexual comments from men in Naples. Or you might. Blue-eyed-cod apparently thinks that there is only one experience of Naples -- or Italy -- or travel -- and everything that he or she hasn't found surely doesn't exist!

I live in Italy, love it, I visit Naples often and think it is a fantastic international destination. I just don't lie about it, and I go everywhere and look at everything. Don't be surprised if you get to Naples and you see despearately poor people (tragically poor people), even in the tourist quarters, dirt, chaos, the worst sides of globalization, harassment of women (I saw one punched in the face), addicts, beggars, criminals -- and yes, dark blind alleys in the heart of the city.

Or you could put on your blinders and stick the sanitized for the guidebook spots of Naples. Start with the Galleria and try not to go too far from there.

Blueeyedcod,

Not everybody can igore the poverty of Naples. It's not having a negative attitude. It's caring about Italy, not tourism.

<<It is absolutely laughable that someone who is claims to be such a big lover of Naples has never been in its alleys, and just sticks to the cruise ship shoreline with the tourists.>>

It's absolutely laughable that you make assumptions without any evidence. What led you to that conclusion? Please explain?

Of course I've been in the historic centre, where my work actually takes me. Nice that you presume to be the pontificating all-knowing seer on everything Italian. Must be a very comfortable position up on that perch.

OP - Sandralist cannot cope with anyone who disagrees with her. Because she lives in Italy she proclaims to know the length, breadth and depth of a nation of 60 million people and anyone else's opinions are to be dismissed with a wave of her royal hand.

You will see beggars in Naples but I can assure you it is NOT Somalia - as she makes it sound. There are also beggars in Rome. There are beggars in Florence. There are poor people who hang around Santa Maria in Trastevere but we don't blow that all out of proportion. Naples is no more or less overrun with poverty than any other city and I can assure you I am there often enough to make this accurate assertion.

Oh yea! She's open to going so all is well.

If anyone has hotel recs (triple room) and restaurant ideas, we would love them.

Hotel recs depend on your budget but there are half a dozen or so that I love. All of these are within the tourist areas, walking distance to just about everything a tourist would need - metro and the port - and some fantastic restaurants.
- Il Convento in the Spanish Quarter
http://www.hotelilconvento.it/
- The Decumane
http://www.decumani.com/en/
- Hotel Piazza Bellini
http://www.hotelpiazzabellini.com/en
- the Partenope Relais
http://www.partenoperelais.it/en/
- The Mecure in Piazza Municipo

These are all mid budget. High end hotels such as the Excelsior and the Grand Hotel Parkers are on the waterfront and are a bit of a splurge. In terms of restaurants, I love Neapolitan pizza so tend to spend time at Sorbillo and Di Matteo on Via Tribunali. I also love the trattoria Nenella in the Spanish Quarter - very much a Neapolitan experience.

I (female) visited Naples alone in 2007 and had NO troubles. Yes, I paid attention to my surroundings and took the same precautions I would take anywhere.

I loved Naples -- I found it energetic and dynamic and fascinating and vibrant (and no, Blueeyedcod, that does NOT mean it has no quiet areas -- some of the quiet areas are, IMO, incredibly vibrant -- in some lights, the intense colors of the coast and the city were vibrantly stunning).

Enjoy!

Thanks I'll ck these hotels.

I already told my friends not to laugh but I WILL have pizza and gelato every day. My husband and I did every day on our last trip to Italy, you just cannot get the same here in the States.

I agree with Ackislander- It should be 7000 times safer! Blueeyedcod is the realist here. There are things in Naples that one can see and do nowhere else on earth. I've been going to Naples every year for more than forty years, and I have never had a negative experience, and no one else should have a negative experience unless they look for it or set themselves up for one.

Het Ackislander-- How many shootings took place in Naples last year, last month, last week yesterday?

blueeyedcod--

I read Sandra's first comment as supporting the idea of going there, as long as the OP's travelling companions could handle some apparent poverty, male attention, etc.

I did not read it as negative at all. Just realistic.

I was trying to think of a place where the OP's friends could go if they're spooked by the idea of going to Naples, but could not, because every place has its own problems. Paris, maybe, as long as they stay fairly close to the Seine and as long as hordes of tourists don't turn them off.

mku4440--either you like crumbly dirty old cities (Cairo, Istanbul, Naples, etc.) or you don't. My spouse and I love them and we love Naples.

Should have added New Orleans to my list of crumbly dirty old cities.

@dwdvagamundo - read my response. Then read her personal attack accusing me of being a tourist who doesn't venture past Piazza Municipio - actually that's too far according to her. Lol. Her original post was overly negative and alarmist (dark alleys, large scale poverty) and then it morphed into something else again (seeing someone get punched in the face...making it appear as though street violence toward women is commonplace in Naples - it categorically is not).
I have no blinkers on - I see it as I see it - a rich, vibrant, 3000 year old city full of beautiful people who will go out of their way to help you. As I said, I do not deny there are poor people and beggars but realistically I see just as many in other Italian cities.

Anyway the OP has decided they will go and I wish them well.

OP - if it fits in with your schedule, Naples' HoHo buses are good value. One line takes you on a route that encompasses the views over the bay without navigating the tricky local bus timetables. They depart from Castel Nuovo and a ticket is valid 24 hours. Some information is here:
http://www.city-sightseeing.com/tours/italy/naples.htm

Thanks Blueeyedcod! I appreciate the info. My friend and I (us '40-something-girls') are going to Italy this Fall, most likely Naples too. I've been to many cities all over the world, and it's always smart to be aware of your surroundings especially as a woman. Your advice was wise and helpful but not presumptious. Ignore those nay-sayers.