do we need a car in naples

It would be ill-advised to drive in Naples, as well as unnecessary. With only two days, it is easy to stay close to the things you wish to see.

I’ve yet to find a decent sized European city where a car is needed. No car needed.

There’s a game we were taught in Naples. Count three consecutive cars that don’t have a major scrape or dent in them. It can’t be done.

Having personally observed the driving standards in Naples, the last thing you need there is a car!

Ian

Driving in cities can be problematic, Limited Traffic Zones [ZTLs] that are camera controlled, incursions resulting in heavy fines. However Naples is on a whole different level. One taxi ride will confirm this.

The answer to "do we need a car in Naples?" is no, for two reasons, one general and one specific.

The general answer is that Europe does not have cities like Houston and Phoenix - cities that developed around driving, and where a car is a near-necessity for even short term visitors. Europe has cities like Boston and New York, where a car is an huge headache that does not make things more accessible, just more complicated and expensive.

The specific answer is that, even for people who do drive in European cities, Naples is a whole other level of crazy driving!

That's not to say you will walk everywhere in Naples. The city is large, so even if you stay in the center, you'll be taking buses, metros, funiculars, and/or taxis to get to some places.

Two questions here.
1. Do we need a car in Naples. That is a definite NO.
2. Find a place that is easy to walk around. Take a look at the area around Piazza Bellini / Piaza Garibaldi / Porta Alba. That area is in walking distance to many attractions like the Antiquities Museum, Veiled Christ statue, walk to the waterfront, about ten or fifteen euro cab ride from the central station.

In many cities people are employed to repair panel damage to cars. Not in Naples though, they see repairing panel damage as pointless.

Fixed today
Damaged again tomorrow.

You especially don't want a nice car in Naples for someone to break into and steal contents.