Naples, Italy- talk to me

I will be in Naples, Italy for a few days in early June for a trade show. If I have any free time (debatable), I’d love to see the local sights/sounds/ruins as it’s my first time here. Also, any good small hole-in-the-wall local places to eat or shop for food? Most of my meals are already organized but in case I have some free time I’d love to do something local. I don’t need the Michelin stars, just a little trattoria with good food and a nice wine list.

I’m staying a few blocks from the Castell dell’Ovo.
Thanks! [thankyou.gif]

We were there for the nights of March 29-April 1, stayed at Costantinopoli 104 in the old part of town, not far from the archaeological museum. If you have any interest in ancient Rome, don’t miss the archaeological museum–we spent five hours in that wonderful place. We also visited Pompeii and Herculaneum (hired a driver and guide–pricey, but worth it, we thought), which don’t need a plug from me. Had a wonderful meal at Palazzo Petrucci, which has a Michelin star, a great pizza at Gino Sorbillo, and splendid gelato at Fantasia Gelati. We also had a decent fish dinner at a randomly selected spot called Osteria il Basilio that had a nice little list. We found Naples to be quite engaging despite it’s somewhat sketchy reputation.

Scratch below the grimy surface and Naples is a great place to visit, full of history and interest, with great food.

The Naples Archeological Museum is in the best 3-4 archeological museums in the world, packed full of all of the finds from Pompeii, Herculaneum etc. Capodimonte is a great art museum of renaissance and baroque art. If you like art, and want to see something unique see the Veiled Christ at Cappella Sansevero - it’s amazing.

I recommend a restaurant in this thread: Rome, Naples, Sicily restaurant suggestions - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers It’s not Michelin starred or anything but it is a nice, typical local place. Also the hole in the wall pizza places in places like Spaccanopli serve pizza that IMO is not replicated anywhere else in the world. Sorbillo on via Tribunali is historic and very good. Look for the longest queues of locals.

You can get a day tour to Pompeii and Herculaneum but you get there by train easily enough (both are near their train stations). You can do both in a day but Pompeii is huge so I’d just go there if you only go to one.

Hopefully you get some spare time there!

Cheers, Howard

Pompeii is very impressive. If you buy a guide at the door they will take you on a very informative 1-2 hour tour depending on your time and will let you skip the line for tickets. Well with the money spent.

The guides are part of the historical society they are not scammers or anything.

George

Agreed. We had an excellent guide last summer, which really made the experience.

Also heading to Naples this Fall. Using it as a starting point to head south along the Amalfi coast and Capri. Any out of the way places (Pompeii is already on our list) or must eat/drink suggestions would be appreciated.

PIZZA!!! We went into a pizza joint where the wood burning oven had been burning for 100+ years! 24/7. My wife and I shared a giant pie and then we noticed all of the skinny people around us all had 1 whole pie each! We quickly ordered another. Delicious. Our driver took us there I have no idea where it was and the neighborhood was sketchy.
Enjoy!

Right near you is Rossopompadore on the roundabout. Pizza is amazing, service is questionable. Very casual.

Make sure to take your evening walk on Via Chiaia with all the locals, they love their evening strolls.

We eat very casual like this place

Ristorante Il Gobbetto
Via Sergente Maggiore, 8, 80132 Napoli, Italy
http://goo.gl/maps/X0kM0

There are many “hole in the wall” family restaurants around the area on the side streets.

Michael
For me Ravello is the jewel of the coast - the best views and utterly relaxing, but a right royal pain if you want to do lots of venturing out to Paestum. Pompeii, Capri, Herculaneum, Positano etc.

If you want an apartment, the local travel/estate agency “L’Altracostiera” have plenty of apartments listed by locals. They give you the chance to immerse a little more than staying in a hotel. Daftly, they don’t list prices so you have to email them.

A’Paranza in Atrani is a very decent seafood-focused restaurant in an easily missed and unusual village. *Cumpa Cosimo in Ravello ought to be a tourist trap. Sleb photos adorn the walls, but this has remained simple trattoria done really well (and priced fairly - expensive for a trattoria, but the food is better than ‘normal’). I don’t know if Netta is still alive, but she ran the restaurant with charm/warmth. The sons took over a good few years ago, but she was often still seen there.

In general, do try to hit the fish/seafood more than pasta/pizza. It really is a speciality along the coast and very good.

Andrea Pansa do stunning cakes in Amalfi - again the location should make it a lazy tourist trap, but the quality remains awfully high. Sadly the wonderful hidden wine bar ‘Cantina San Nicola’ morphed into a restaurant - though early reports were it still retained a good wine list, good food and the wonderful setting… I have a vague recollection of hearing a negative report later on though. It is hidden up some steep steps on the left as you head up towards the Paper Mill museum in Amalfi, not far from L’Altracostiera.

The walking is great there, and I’d recommend putting aside plans to take a long day trip every day, in favour of exploring the paths on foot. My favourites include the valley of the Mills, during which we must have gone well over an hour without seeing or hearing another soul. There is a lovely walk as well out the top of Ravello into the woodland, with very few steps. The ‘bible’ for walking there is a little pocket book by Julian Tippett - a wonderful little resource.

Salerno is a decent functional city, should you feel it’s all a bit too ‘nice’ on the Amalfi Coast.

Cetara is noted for it’s seafood restaurants, but we’ve not been.

regards
Ian

  • I vividly recall a meal there in 1990. I was there on holiday with some friends, two couples and myself and another single lady. We’d eaten there earlier in the week, and Netta had done her usual (intentional) ‘forgetting’ of a few items on the bill. However this night the couples had a modest disagreement and the girls had stormed off (only half seriously). We arranged to meet them at the restaurant. We arrived after them and clearly had been talking about earlier, as when the bills came, Netta turned to the girls and said “Just the main course each”. She then turned to the boys and said “You had the starter, the main, the dessert AND the wine”. We paid with a smile - we knew we’d been rumbled.

Some great advice in here but most of this is awfully far from Naples for a quick jaunt (for most places on the Amalfi Coast, more than an hour by car each way). In any event, to build on the thread drift, if you’re on the Amalfi Coast or have some time for a visit, a Ravello is great – we stayed at the Palazzo Sasso/Avino last summer and adored it – and so is Cumpa Cosima, where as recently as last summer Netta was still manning the dining room with great charm. The restaurants at Palazzo Avino are great too, especially the more casual terrace restaurant and bar.

Ryan
Agreed - my post was directed at Michael’s follow-up request, rather than Michel’s original. For Michel’s request, with potentially just a few hours free, I’d be looking at just the Archaeological museum in Naples.
regards
Ian

Awesome Ian, thank you. [cheers.gif]

Pizza from Naples has not been successfully replicated anywhere else in my (somewhat limited) experience.

That’s a fair statement. Can’t be in Napoli and not try a pie.

Michael, how far east do you plan to go? How much time do you have? If you are going to visit Capri, I’m guessing you’ll visit Sorrento, and probably Positano. But many of the places Ian suggested are east of there.

If you do venture toward Amalfi and Ravello, I can recommend some places as well. A small, family-run place, Dona Rosa, is “above” Positano in Montepertusso. I’d try to eat there.

Michael, I suggest Sorrento as a base to explore the Amalfi coast.

Massalubrense and Sant’Agata a few kms from Sorrento have superb restaurants. The pick of them is probably Don Alfonso 1890 (http://www.donalfonso.com). 20,000 bottles in the cellar, 2 Michelin stars, expecting the third.

There is no shortage of things to do in Amalfi coast area. Highlights for me are:

  • On Capri, Axel Munte’s Villa San Michelle and the ruin of Tiberius’s Villa Jovis (beware, a steep climb). With lunch, that’s a day trip. Much better IMO than the touristy blue grotto.

  • Positano, a special place just to walk around and along the beach.

  • The Amalfitano Duomo.

  • Villas Cimbrone and Rufolo and the Duomo in Ravello, all very special places.

Please LMK if you want any more details on any of this.

Best, Howard

Now I’m wishing I had more time to visit the surrounding area! But thanks for the city recommendations, I’m already pinning them on Google Maps and can’t wait to wander through the streets.

Any good food shops around where I am?

Add to this that whilst a bus from Positano makes sense going up to Montepertuso, it is a great walk down, as the steepness means you can see your destination for most of the walk. About 45 mins down from recollection.

I should have been a little clearer. Our lodging is already set so the towns are locked and loaded.
We’ll start in Naples just based on landing there. Then head off to Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri, Amalfi, Ravello, Agerola and finally Positano.

You will have a lovely trip. I’ll reply again with recs for Ravello and Amalfi. I’m guessing you are ferrying fron Capri to Amalfi, or nearby. If it is early enough in autumn the sea should still be smooth enough that the ferries will be running. And autumn will also mean that you won’t have to park on the road to Positano (if you are renting a car); you’ll find parking in the town itself.