Need Advice on Short Stop in Naples!

I would say u do not have any xtra time beyond museum and pizza. Take a taxi to museum (hold on for a crazy ride) and ask museum staff for a authentic pizza place nrby. Naples is very gritty and confusing to put mildly. Beware of your personal safety and belongings at all times. That said i love Naples but it is definTely a place to be wary of. Train station is gritty with pic pocket types. Just be careful and have a plan. Better to be warned than surprised. But the museum is one of the best in the world.!!! I would not miss it.

Use this luggage right inside the station.

http://www.napolicentrale.it/en/service/detail/left-luggage

Taxi or metro to the Museum.

For Pizza, as you walk outside the arch museum, cross the street, go to the first "street" ( more of an alley) to the left, of the A. Museum turn right thru Galleria Principi the into Piazza Bellini. Restaurant Bellini is on the far SW corner. Or, Walk down Via dei Tribunali. Several famous pizza shops about 3-4 blocks away.
Sorbillo, Decumani, Moro, da Michele and Presidente.

Then take cab or metro back to station.

The area around the Naples train station is quite gritty, but we have never had a problem there. We spent a week in Naples last year and loved it. If you’re going to Pompei, try to visit the Archeological Museum in Naples first, if possible.

At the end of May, we had to wait almost an hour for our names to be called for a pizza lunch at Gino Sorbillo. For an Italian lunch, the pizza was pretty fast, but they are so busy, you can't make the meal a fast one.

FYI, the train from Naples to Sorrento has no reservations, and is a commuter-line kind of train, a glorified Metro or S-Bahn, but hot, crowded and noisy. The real problem is handling your luggage in an overcrowded rail car. I trust you understand that the fast train to Rome is a ticket for one departure only, no-change, no-refund.

Since you are in a hurry, I wonder if the exterior architecture of Naples, some shops, and a few walk-in bakeries might be enough. I'm a museum guy, but if you're going to Pompeii while sleeping in Sorrento, you could skip the Archeological Museum. That would make time for Pizza. Alas, many visitors to Pompeii don't realize that the sculptures and most of the frescoes are reproductions, and the originals are in Naples!

We walked over a mile, with our luggage, from our overnight hotel to the train station. That gives me authority to say that reports of Naples' urban dangers are greatly overstated. (Have you watched an episode of "Breaking Bad"? Do you know what crime is like in rural sections of the U.S.?) We always have Rick Steves-approved money belt pouches inside our pants, but we were never in a scary situation in Naples. OTOH, a rental car in Naples? THAT would be scary!

We stayed three days in Naples, walked the streets even at night. I felt safer than in most American cities however crossing the streets is dangerous. I would never drive in Naples. On the way from our hotel to the Harbor we got in an accident. Not our driver fault.

I would hit Naples on your way in, sounds like you’ll arrive in time for lunch! My brief visit to Naples was similar, with maybe four hours to squeeze everything in. You can definitely get a little taste of the city in that time. I would suggest taking a taxi (a taxi in Naples is its own experience) to the Archeological Museum, then walk back towards the train station down Spaccanapoli. The famed Gino Sobrillo’s is on this route. I accidentally went to “Sobrillo’s” next door and that pizza was awesome too, so I don’t know how important it is to hit the famous places for pizza in that town. Capella San Servo is also nearby and definitely worth seeing (it’s quick.) The Archeological Museum is actually quite manageable, you can breeze through it in an hour or so.

Generally, I feel like the seediness thing is overblown. Naples has rough edges, but that’s a great part of its charm. It is just packed with people and there’s action everywhere. Of course, watch your valuables, but don’t be afraid. Also, be sure to treat yourself to some pastries! They are unbelievably delicious. No one does pastry like they do in this region.

If you do go to Capella Sansevero, there is a good pastericia a block away. Pay first then order a flakey ricotta filled Sofogliatella.

The Veiled Christ is the one stop I would make in Naples if I could only do one thing besides pizza. It's in a hard to find small private church/museum. It's so breathtaking it made me tear up and get misty eyed. Also, pay for a private guide in the National Museum if you go and tell the guide your time frame and ask them to show and explain the highlights. We did that and it saved us so much time nd increased the joy factor of the experience. Naples is rough and tumble in many ways so just watch your surroundings.

Thank you all so much for your very helpful info. Tentatively we will visit Naples on our way to Sorrento. It probably will be lunch time when we get there from Florence. So we need to find some place to eat before visiting the Arch Museum. I would like to taste some good pizza but don't want to spend long time waiting. So any decent pizza shop will be OK for us.

I would really appreciate it if you can recommend some decent pizza shops either near the train station or near the museum. I don't want to go out of the way to find the best pizza shop since we don't have time.

Thanks!

The Archeological Museum in Napoli is one of Italy's great museums - do not miss this! You definitely do not need to pay a guide since it's not a huge place and the information in Rick's book is great, and free! Yes, take a taxi from the station; you could walk
but that will take up too much time since you're on a tight schedule. Besides all the things from Pompeii the Arch museum has a fabulous ancient Egypt collection. As for Capella Sansevero, I was totally unimpressed. Yes, the Veiled Christ is lovely but that's the only thing in the tiny chapel worth seeing IMO. The rest is a bunch of overblown over-Baroque carved stuff which doesn't compare in quality to even the most inferior Baroque church in Rome. Sorry to offer such a harsh judgement, but since your time is limited, focus on the Arch museum and walking the interesting streets. Do not miss eating sfogliatella when you're there!

Here is a map for Restaurant Bellini that I mentioned in my first reply.
You can sit outside, but they also have an inside upstairs area. Good if it's cold or hot outside.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/40.8536,14.25053/40.84953,14.25208/@40.8514829,14.2508621,16z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e2

I prefer this one compared to a lot of the more famous ones