Dear SEP,here is some advice from Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at Cambridge, and an absolutely lovely lady:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/mar/11/naples-italy-city-guide
More info:
1)
Crossing the road: Forget bungee jumping, crossing the road in Naples can seem like the scariest adventure sport of the lot. The best advice is to do what the locals do: don't try and get around the traffic, let the traffic get around you. Just hold your nerve and walk across the road - it sounds insane, but the drivers will (generally) see you and avoid you. It takes some bottle the first time, but you get used to it surprisingly quickly. Obviously use common sense, i.e. don't walk out in front of a speeding car - but Naples traffic seems to feature the horn more than the accelerator, the congestion being what it is. Just watch out for ten-year-olds on Vespas...
2)
The Duomo: This isn’t the most impressive of buildings from the outside – it looks rather squashed between the current day buildings – but inside it is very gorgeous indeed. The main part of the cathedral is viewable in the usual way, but there is also an ‘archaeological area’ which you pay to enter, where you can see layers of building from the Greek and Roman periods as well as the middle ages.
The Duomo also contains two phials said to hold the solidified blood of San Gennaro which nevertheless miraculously turns back to liquid twice a year. If it fails to do so then a disaster is imminent.
3)
Galleria Umberto: A large, marble-floored, glass-roofed space, impressive as a piece of 19th century architecture in itself, that now houses various shops, cafes and restaurants. It's a little expensive to eat and drink here, but the surroundings somewhat compensate - just wander around and take a few photos if you don't need nourishment. You're also likely to find performances of various kinds going on, but beware the usual hawkers trying to sell you stuff.
Via San Carlo; www.italyguides.it/us/napoli/umbe.htm
4)
The Markets of Naples: Running away from the Piazza Garibaldi down to the Piazza del Mercato are Naples' markets. In keeping with the city's general atmosphere, they're a noisy, chaotic affair. Watching the fish market at Porta Nolana - and every other specimen of market stall imaginable scattered across the area - is an essential Naples experience in and of itself.
To the west/southwest of Piazza Garibaldi
5)
San Martino museum and Saint Elmo Castle: A fine museum at the very top of the Vomero Hill (take one of the funicular railways from the city centre). After taking in the fabulous view visit the museum and monastery. Here you'll find the museum of the history of Naples. There are also some spectacular 'presepi' (nativities) from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
6)
Whatever you do, don't miss the monastery of Santa Chiara. It's breathtaking.
Scarturchio's café has some of the best pastries and coffee in Italy.
Did you know that Naples used to be one of the largest cities in early modern Europe? Some population figures from the sixteenth century for comparison:
Cologne 35,000
Florence 50,000
Genoa 50,000
London 60,000
Venice 100,000
Naples 100,000
Paris 200,000
Constantinople 500,000
Keep your wits about you and you'll be fine.
Have fun,
AnnaSue
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. Plus we ate the best meal from a restaurant just outside the ruins - but that was 10 years ago so I am not sure its still there. I am trying to think of which places we visited that were close but I think we just kept to the Amalfi Coast then - Capri, Amalfi and such.
