69. Naples, Italy. Top things to see and do in Naples, Italy. Travel from Rome to Naples, Italy.
As promised this week, we are doing something Intrepid.
Actually, this week’s episode is the first part of a 7 day tour we did from Rome to Amalfi with Intrepid Travel.
We start today in Rome – visiting the Roman Baths before we meet the other members of our tour and our Italian guide – Luca to get all the info on our tour and have our first dinner together.
Next morning, we take the fast train from Rome to Naples.
Naples was a real eye opener – and we tell you all about the edgy Spanish Quarter with all its decorations and street art which is everywhere. Then we talk about the most famous Napoli football player of all time who is everywhere you turn in Naples and why the whole city was covered in blue and white decorations – literally!
We walk through the streets, visit the stunning veiled Christ statue, and it was incredible. Next we visit the massive 23,000 square metre plaza, walk along the Bay of Naples to the famous castle that is supposedly held up by an egg. Next, we have lunch and eat the famous Neapolitan pizza. We tell you about the unique toilet paper for sale around the old city area and we finish in a gorgeous little outdoor bar right in the heart of the Spanish quarter.
Lastly, we take you to the metro station, so far underground I thought we would never reach the bottom before we board another train on our way to our next destination – that is for next week’s episode.
show notes and pictures below
Our Intrepid Travel Tour - Rome to Amalfi - started of course, in Rome. You can see the tour we did here - Rome to Amalfi.
Intrepid Travel’s mission is to create positive change through the joy of travel. They offer over 1,000 tours to 100 countries. The tours cover all levels from basic to premium, and walking tours to cruising. The best thing though is they are B Corp certified, so they focus on responsible travel which is better for the traveller and the local communities. You can check out Intrepid Travel here.
The tour began in Rome, and as we were already in the city, we arrived early to our hotel and decided we had time to check out the Roman Baths and museum that were only a short walk away from our accommodation before we met up with the tour group. I would certainly recommend arriving in Rome early if possible and seeing some of the stunning history and architecture. Check out our earlier podcasts about Rome here Episode 65 - The Vatican, Episode 66 - History of Rome (The Colosseum and Roman Forum), Episode 67 - Romantic Rome including Trevi Fountain, Borghese Gardens and Spanish Steps and Episode 68 - Rome at Night.
The Roman Baths complex was huge and had three main bath areas. One was cold, one warm and the other hot. The complex also had sauna rooms, changing rooms, areas to read poetry and many other areas to socialise. Children were not allowed in and men and women were segregated.
The Romans didn’t use soap, they washed with oil, and then scraped it off with a bone utensil. The water wasn’t chemically treated but was supplied with fresh water by an aqueduct and drained through lead pipes. You can see the pipes today and walk on the tiled floor of one of the baths.
After exploring the Roman Baths we met up with our tour guide Luca and met our friends we were travelling with as well as the other four people on the tour. There were eight of us in total, plus Luca the local guide. Our tour was Lyle and I, our friends Anne and Wayne, our new friends Kristy and Mandy from Australia and Lynne and Cassia, a mother and daughter from the UK.
We enjoyed dinner together and had an early night ready for our big day travelling to Naples. The next morning we walked the 450m to the train station and boarded a fast train to Naples.
After arriving in Naples we left our luggage at a secure lock up at the train station and started our orientation walk through the old city. The first thing you notice is just how different Naples is to the other major cities in Italy. It used to be the poorest city in Italy and had major problems with crime. Now it is becoming a city that is on the tourist trail. It is an edgy city that is covered in street art and funky little shops and stalls everywhere you turn.
We walked to the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary which was located in the Spanish Quarter. The church has two aisles, divided by 27 antique columns that form a large, separate part of the cathedral. Remember to cover shoulders and knees as you might be refused entry if you don’t.
Next stop on our walking orientation tour with Luca and the gang was to Capella Sansevero (Mason Chapel). This little chapel contains work of Rococo and artwork from some of Italian’s leading artists of the 18th century. The most famous work though takes centre place in the Chapel - is the 1753 “Christ Veiled Under a Shroud” by Guiseppe Sammartino. This was groundbreaking in its day with the rendering of the transparent veil and is still considered one of the world’s most remarkable statues.
One of the things you can’t help but notice as soon as you arrive in Naples are the gorgeous narrow labyrinth of cobblestone streets. These streets are lined with windows with washing hanging out, decorated balconies, shops, restaurants, stalls, all of which are full of colour and life.
The day we arrrived the streets of the city were even more decorated than usual. Everywhere you looked there was blue and white bunting, signs, football shirts, street art, people dressed in football outfits - all for the local team SSC Napoli who had just won the Italian Football league for the first time in 33 years.
Maradona’s picture and football shirt was all over the city. He was their greatest footballer in their peak time when Napoli won two titles when Maradona was playing. He is considered a patron saint by the football mad city.
Naples is the place where pizza was invented, so of course we had to have a Neapolitan pizza before we all had free time to explore on our own. The pizza was as delicious as you can imagine, especially with a ice cold local beer on a hot summer’s day.
After lunch we went exploring more of the city. We started in Piazza Plebiscito which is massive - 23,000 square metres. It is bounded by the Royal Palace and gardens and is only half a block from the ocean in the Bay of Naples.
We walked along the waterfront away from the old city to the more upmarket area of the marina and Castello Dell Ovo - or egg castle. Legend has it that the poet and sorcerer Virgil, buried an egg to support the castle’s foundations.
There are many restaurants and bars along this part of the bay and is certainly a beautiful part of the city.
We finished our day exploring Naples back in the Spanish quarter in a little outdoor bar. It was the perfect place to rest our legs, rehydrate and enjoy the bustling atmosphere of this unique Italian city.
I think Naples needs more than a day to explore, but we certainly covered a lot of ground and it was a great second day of our tour.
We met back up with the rest of our group, swapped stories of our afternoon and then went deep underground to the metro to catch a train back to collect our luggage and hop on the next train to Pompeii. That is coming up in the next episode, but if you want to check out the rest of our Italian episodes then click the button below.
If you want all the stories that we only share in the podcast - then click one of the players on this page - or download episode 69 of the Beach Travel wine podcast on your favourite podcast player.