Naples

I spent a week in Naples in Feb/Mar 2023 and didn't have time to see everything on my list. Mind you, my sightseeing lists are comprehensive, because I want to know about ALL the options. I suggest digging into a guidebook and making a list of your must-sees and want-to-sees. I will point out that Naples is a hilly city, so it can take more time than expected to navigate from Sight A to Sight B.

Rick's top sightseeing tips for Naples can be found here: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/naples. Click on At a Glance. There are additional sights, of course.

If you spend much time in Naples, one of the Campania ArteCards might pay off for you. The one I wanted (an annual card for the Campania region) wasn't widely available. After abortive attempts to buy it at two locations in Naples, I bought the electronic version from the ArteCard app, which was very easy. I had one or two problems when I arrived at ticket counters and the app would not open (thick stone walls in museums, perhaps). It turned out very fortunate that I had written down the two numbers that appeared as I purchased the card. With that information I easily gained admission even when the app wouldn't load. I believe at least one of the other cards (the shortest one for Naples) is sold at many of the participating sights.

We have 6 nights booked for April. At first I thought it might be too long, but after I started researching the city, I realized it will be fine.

We spent 4 days in Naples in late November in 2018. We loved it. Yes it is busy and ‘gritty’ but it is also filled with the friendliest people who are proud of their heritage, great food, and a range of sights to see. We hoped to return for a longer visit but a health issue meant we cancelled in 2022; we hope to reschedule in the future.

You don’t mention how long you’ll be in Naples … or the larger area of Campania? Or southern Italy? How does your Naples time fit with your travel planning? The museum that you did not get into, was that the Anthropology museum? That is not the only museum in Naples.

Art and history! So presumably the Anthropology Museum in Naples and Pompeii … perhaps Herculaneum are on your list. That should all be 1-1/2 days. The Museo del Palazzo Reale will give you more history and art. And of course churches will give you more art and history, yet. The Duomo, its Treasury and the Gesu Nuevo Church were highlights for us in that department. Unfortunately we missed Capella Sanservo because we did not realize that it closed as early as it did.

If seeing paintings by Caravaggio is on your list, there are three sites to visit. see this visit Naples link Unfortunately, the one we visited, Museo Di Capodimonte, had its Caravaggio out on loan.

We got many great suggestions of where to go in and near Naples - more than we could visit in our 6 days in Campania, see https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/naples-and-environs-suggestions-per-favore. Acraven had many suggestions there for art and history in Naples - more than we could take in. So, to answer your question about how much time to spend in Naples, I would suggest that our four nights and two days (including a half day in Pompeii) was not enough.

We did manage to take in the well-preserved Greek ruins at Paestum, two nights on the Cilento coast at the delightful Hotel Marulivo, a buffalo mozerella cheese farm (Tenuta Vannulo), and a day trip from Naples to the island of Ischia as part of our 6 nights/5 full days in Campania. Our TR is at https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/southern-italy-30-days-three-ways-to-travel and it also covers the 11 days we spent on Puglia.

One final comment: we had 1-1/2 rainy days and just one warm and sunny day in our five days in Campania at the end of April.

Hope this helps.

I think a full day (2 nights) is solid on most itineraries, but add on if you want to use Naples as a base to see Pompeii, Herculaneum, Vesuvius or even Capri. If you get on with Rome, I think Naples is a natural next step. Just exploring around Spaccanapoli is fun, aside from the city sights. Capidomonte Museum has some fine paintings if you want to dig a little deeper, and is a good excuse to experience a madcap taxi ride through Naples’ tangle. Naples is more fun when you lean into the edgy feel and roll with the flow.