FOOD & TRAVEL GUIDE FOR A WEEKEND IN NAPLES/ NAPOLI

My heart is full of beautiful moments from this weekend in Napoli and my belly full of (fried) pizza, pasta, spritz and gelato. After spending a long weekend in beautiful Napoli / Naples in bella Italia, I wanted to share all my favorite food & drink hotspots as well as the nicest areas to visit in the home of pizza and pasta with you. The trip was quite spontaneous and we didn’t plan to do anything in particular except to enjoy the delicious Italian food (what a dream come true for me!). So if you are also a big fan of the Italian food and want to experience an authentic & lively Italian città you can’t go wrong with a trip to Naples!

I was actually quite surprised how big Naples actually is. Did you know that it’s the third biggest city in Italy after Milan and Rome? The atmosphere and vibe is, however, quite different from the north and you should not expect like a fancy spotless city when coming to Naples. What you can look forward to, however, is to meet super friendly people (everyone was so helpful even though we could both not speak proper Italian and the people in Napoli often not proper English), delicious food, a lively vibe (we learned that the bars and restaurants always have more places outside than inside as you just always meet outside) and many different cool corners to visit (all the quarters and areas are quite different from each other).

Of course, a lot of people are combining a trip to Naples with the Amalfi coast and/ or Capri in summer. As we went to Napoli in March and just stayed for a weekend we did “only” stay in Napoli and did a day trip Salerno (which was unexpectedly beautiful, read more down below). I do, however, want to return in summer and also explore the surroundings of Napoli, but only after spending some more time in this beautiful city!

Have you ever been to Naples?
I hope you are enjoying my travel recommendations which are of course, as always, my personal tips and not sponsored or paid by any of the spots.

Lots of love,
Magda

Getting around Napoli

It’s pretty easy to visit the main sights and places in Napoli by foot depending on the location of your accommodation. If you do want to go by public transport, I can only recommend taking the subway, which is super easy and cheap. Also the old funicolare are a nice experience and take you up to the hills where you can overlook the city and visit the castello. Otherwise, there are of course taxis available to take you home after a longer night.

We also really enjoyed taking the train outside of Napoli to Salerno, which is just a ~30 minute ride from Napoli Centrale. If you also like to do a day trip to Salerno (I will not write an own blog post about it as we just stayed for an afternoon), I can really recommend you to visit the Giardino della Minerva. You can find the hidden treasure via taking the Ascensore Pubblico Fusandola as the garden is located on top of the city. There you can walk through the beautiful giardino (entrance is 3€) or go directly to the café and herbal tea shop. We really enjoyed the freshly squeezed orange juice and the beautiful view over Salerno and the sea.

Where to stay in Napoli

We decided to stay close to the centro storico as we wanted to walk everywhere while also being not in the middle of the busy (and dark!) streets of the old town. We booked this airbnb here mainly because of the huge terrace, which was really nice for enjoying a relaxed time in the sun. The airbnb host was also really helpful and the apartment also offered a well-equipped kitchen (even though probably nobody cooks when being on holiday in Napoli haha). The only thing to mention is that the apartment was on the fifth floor without any elevator so it might be something to consider (but also good after so much pasta and pizza haha).

Areas to visit in Napoli:

Centro storico
This area was my favorite quarters of the city as you could get lost so easily in the pretty alleys while always spotting more and more delicious food and aperitivo places. Our favorite spot in the centro storico definitely was Piazza Bellini which gets pretty busy for aperitivo (Spazio Nea, Caffè Letterario Intra Moenia) but also after dinner as there are some places selling Spritz for just 2€. Also make sure to walk along the Via dei Tribunali which is filled with many different food hotspots (Di Matteo, Sorbillo, etc.) and some nice piazzas.

Quartieri Spagnoli
This quarter is one of the most authentic neighborhoods in Naples with small alleys, high houses, shuttered windows and fresh laundry hanging from the windows. Just get lost in the many small streets and if you like to visit local markets you should also walk through Via Pignasecca where you can find a lot of fresh fish, vegetable and fruit stands.

Vomero
After you took one of the funicular up to this enjoyable neighborhood you can explore beautiful houses, nice coffee spots in the sun and the view overlooking Naples. The area seems a bit more elegant with some more expensive shops, while there are also really charming coffee places and authentic food places.

Santa Lucia
Located next to the sea you can enjoy the beautiful view on the Mediterranean ocean while taking a walk on the sea promenade. There is also the Castel dell’Ovo with some restaurants specialised in seafood located directly next to the water.

Favorite brunch, lunch and dinner places in Napoli

• Trattoria Da Pasqualino Di Cappella Salvatore
  Hidden small trattoria which we visited directly after arriving in Napoli. The choice of pasta and secondi piatti is massive, still they asked us what we like best and then created our very own special pasta dishes! It was super delicious and cheap, we paid only 20€ for two pasta dishes, half a liter of white wine and due espressi. Would really recommend visiting this trattoria for lunch or dinner if you are in Napoli!

• L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele
  The place to go for authentic Neapolitan pizza. I would recommend coming not at the peak dinner time as it can get packed. Still, you can get a waiting number and grab a drink around the area in case you need to wait a bit - it’s worth it for sure!

• Pizzeria e Trattoria Portico
  As the line for Sorbillo was too long for us we decided to try this pizzeria around the corner and we were not disappointed! I guess you can get excellent Neapolitan pizza actually anywhere haha but still I would recommend the place for pizza for sure!

• Tandem Ragù
  Very nice trattoria specialised in ragù with homemade pasta. They (even) offer vegan ragù which was absolutely delicious! The place can get pretty busy so either come early (for Italians haha) or reserve a table beforehand. You will not regret it!

• Cisterna Bistrot
  Finding a brunch place in Napoli which is serving “not only” cornetto and espresso was actually quite difficult. However, Cisterna is serving “classic” brunch combinations as well as pancakes and french toast for a really decent price. I really enjoyed the french toast and the cappuccino!

• Antica Friggitoria La Masardona dal 1945
  We got this place recommended by a friend and probably were the only tourists haha. The restaurant, with only outside seating, is specialised in fried pizza and offers a wide variety of big and small fried pizze. There are also many vegetarian and vegan options available.

Best aperitivo spots in Napoli

• Spazio Nea
  Super nice aperitivo place serving all kind of Spritz (I tried one with rhubarb and it was really nice!). They also offer some small plates (the bruschette were really tasty and vegetarian as well!) and the location is just really nice as it is located in an art gallery on the pretty piazza Bellini.

• Caffè Letterario Intra Moenia
  Another really cool place directly on of my favorite spots in Naples, piazza Bellini. I was quite sceptic as the reviews were not sooo good, but the place was really pleasant for an aperitivo with a cool atmosphere. We did not try any food though.

• Caffè dell'Epoca
  Also located on Piazza Bellini, the caffè is one of the hotspots for all the young people around town (not as young as around Cammarota Spritz, where the average age was around 15 and we thus did not feel so comfortable haha). You can just grab an aperol spritz for 2€ and enjoy it outside at a table or in the crowd as the piazza gets pretty busy when it gets late.

• Libreria Berisio
  Really cool cocktail bar located in the centro storico with a large selection of classic and also lesser known cocktails. The vibe is really unique as the bar is actually also a bookshop for second hand books! We really like the place and atmosphere, so make sure to visit when you’re in Napoli!

Other foodie hotspots in Napoli

• Mennella Il Gelato
  Best authentic Italian gelato in Napoli. There are several branches around town so just check out which one is closest to you when you are craving a delicious ice cream/ gelato. My favourite was of course pistachio, as always.

• Bruno's Food Drink & Coffee
  The coffee spot was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise as we were craving cappuccino (after lunch, sorry for all the Italians haha) and found this place when we walked around the centro storico. The coffee was really good (with a cute bear barista foam!) and the spot super sunny - perfect for a short break when exploring the centro storico.

• Cuori di Sfogliatella
  One of the local Neapoletan specialities (of course fried haha) you really need to try. The place offers a wide selection of sweet and salty sfolgiatelle, we had the margarita one which was really filling and tasty!

• Di Matteo
  Wide selection of fried dishes such as crocche or arancine (they others are mostly with meat). They also offer fried pizza which you can enjoy directly there or take away and eat it at a nearby piazza.

• Vomero Fried Food
  Another Friggitoria, which was recommended to us prior to our trip. We could, however, not eat more fried food on that day which is why I can not say how delicious it really is.