Second trip to Italy

We stayed in the Castel dell’ Oro area which is a pedestrian only area by the water. It is not by the train station, although you can walk to the train station.

Naples is quite hectic and we appreciated having some break from it.

The metro system is not comprehensive. We used it some but walked a lot. We took both bus and taxi to and from the airport (we arrived separately). I think trains outside of Naples are separate systems from those inside. The train system in Italy is much cheaper than the UK. We just buy tickets for day trips on the Trenitalia app.

The problem with buying things as I go is that I use an esim, without a number and my bank always asks to authenticate the transaction through text. Kind of hard without a number lol.

We have been to the Naples area twice and stayed in Sorrento. In my opinion, much better than staying in Naples.

For weekly tickets within Naples- this on the ANM (the city transit authority) website may begin to answer your questions- https://www.anm.it/s/biglietti-e-abbonamenti?language=it

I personally always start research with this website- https://urbanrail.net/eu/it/nap/napoli.htm

See also this map from the ANM site- https://anmspa.my.salesforce.com/sfc/p/#7Q000003PMpH/a/R2000007WHWL/gcVBWumo9Jivw7dZYzJ09GMY4ZE4VhbClN5vbwweZqI

I have also found this website- https://www.visitnaples.eu/en/tourist-information/how-to-use-public-transport-in-naples-while-saving-money

For hotels the Man in Seat 61 says this-
The Starhotel Terminus is just across the road from the station, gets great reviews and has a roof terrace with views over the Bay of Naples.
The Hotel Potenza is only a little further into the Piazza Garibaldi, cheaper, also with good reviews.
The Unahotel Napoli is highly recommended, on Piazza Mancini overlooking Piazza Garibaldi (the photo at the top of this page was taken from that hotel).
Also consider the Pit Stop Napoli Centrale.

For an Italian rail pass see the Eurail single country pass- https://www.eurail.com/en/eurail-passes/one-country-pass/italy

I stress that I know nothing about Naples, this is simply how I would research it if I was going there (or any other city such as Marseille and NYC both of which I have been researching in great depth this week for a possible transatlantic cruise). In NYC I would be on a genealogical trail so going far off the normal tourist routes.

How close to the station do you need to be? I don't think it is a dangerous area, but it isn't the most attractive. Is a 20-minute walk a dealbreaker? You could stay at Palazzo Caracciolo, which is about a 15-minute walk from Napoli Centrale. We liked it when we stayed there several years ago (check booking.com for current reviews), though in truth Naples has gotten so incredibly touristy and crowded over the past few years, that we too now choose to stay on the Lungomare or nearby in Santa Lucia--touristy but not as crowded.

We stayed in central Napoli at the Hotel Il Convento. It was excellent, not fancy but it had everything we needed. Centrally located in the Quartieri Spagnoli with lots of restaurants and sites nearby. The service was great, helpful and friendly. Breakfast was varied and delicious.

I would stay there again in a heartbeat.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/8RtvGGqML9mQowvj8?g_st=ipc

Note that Herculaneum Scavi is a 15-minute downhill walk from the Circumvesuviana station, unlike Pompeii, which is 200 level feet away from the train. These tickets are so cheap I would not focus on a weekly ticket if it seems hard to get. This board has reported seeing Tap and Go readers being installed (no personal confirmation... ) so that might include weekly capping or something.

To see Paestum from Naples, you would take the Trenitalia long distance company, not Circumvesuviana. Getting to Sicily from Naples is not a trivial matter. (No personal experience.)

Naples has a considerable amount of art and history, not just the Archaeology Museum. Don't overlook the Farnese Marbles at the museum. I would say that this area is an extreme case of "Italian Time." April may be better, but the Circumvesuviana is famous for crowding and hot cars.

Hi there,
Last September my friend and I stayed at two places within walking distance of Napoli Centrale and felt perfectly safe.
We wanted to be near the station for ease of onward travel.
It was my third visit to Naples so I was already aware of the area and was not bothered by anyone or anything.
At the beginning, we stayed two nights at a lovely Bed and Breakfast place called
Domus Deorum Deluxe.
i was there the first night alone as my friend arrived the next day.
It has many secure doors to enter and the owner was really nice and helpful.
Very clean, comfy beds and breakfast preordered and delivered each morning to your room.

After our trip to the south and for the last night, we stayed at Hotel Palazzo Firenze.
Clean big rooms, very secure, lovely breakfast up on the roof, and a rooftop pool which we didn't use.

Both are on booking.com, and I would definitely stay in either one again.
You can probably figure out my reviews for each on the site.

Naples public transit is a bit confusing. There are three systems.

1. Naples city public transit ANM: Buses in Naples, trams, subway/metro line 1, and the funiculars.

2. Trenitalia: Subway/metro line 2 (it's a regional heavy rail train that makes some local stops in Naples, it's like the RER in Paris if you've been there), other long distance heavy rail trains.

3. EAV: It's the Campania region commuter rail system, the Circumvesuviana train is what you'll use. Think of this like Metro North or LIRR in NYC as opposed to Amtrak.

My advice is not to overcomplicate things. For the AMN line 1 subway, and funiculars, you can use your credit card as a tap and go like on the London subway. That makes it easy and you don't need to buy tickets.

For subway line 2 or regional trips on Trenitalia, buy your ticket at the train/metro station and validate using the machine on the platform.

For Circumvesuviana, buy your ticket at Porta Nolana station and hold onto it because they sometimes collect your ticket on the way out.

isn31c - Thats a great map! Thanks for the links. Also if you need some tips on marseille you can pm me (if possible here) or leave a link to any posts and Ill help. I only spent a few days but its a great city. Actually it reminded me of Naples quite a bit , just "a la francais".

Elena - Naples will be my base for about 8 days for going around the Bay/vesuvius. Baiae/pozzuoli, Paestum, maybe Amalfi, Herculaneum and possibly pompeii again. Not to mention Naples itself. I only stopped quickly last time heading to and from pompeii and I regreted it instantly. Sure its rough and edgy but I kind of like that. So being near enough to walk is best since most days will be early.

Tim - 15 minutes is fine. The city is actually quite cool from what I saw and wouldnt mind walking around the area after seeing Herculaneum. I routinely do 20 to 30k steps a day on trips. Actually I have to break 40k to beat my buddies record so... lol. Ive done the Circumvesuviana once, and it was very cheap, but if I can get a weekly ticket to make seeing everything easier I wlll more than likely do so. I dont travel with a credit card so I wont be using the tap and go (unless there is an app like paris has, which worked very very well). Paestum is very straight forward. Baiae seems a bit tougher. However Im staying very close to the station heading that way (which I believe is the Napoli - Bagnoli - Pozzuoli - Torregaveta line)

Although not connected to your enquiry I am not now going to Marseille, on the narrowest of casting votes.

The trip has been postponed which is a huge shame, and I am deeply disappointed to have done so as it would have combined genealogy with a real wish of 4 decades and more to arrive into NY by sea, and at Manhattan terminal to boot, as opposed to Brooklyn or the NJ side.

A long time ago we employed a so called professional genealogist in the US to investigate that side of the tree. Even at the time the results were questionable, but more recently it has become evident how flawed the work was. I was making progress but we are having technical problems in Cumberland with accessing US information (no-one's fault except a useless County IT department, just one of those things). I can only ever do that sort of journey once, so it has to be done right. As it stands I am simply unable to establish how deep my New Jersey links are or were (having got new information of a corrected name before systems failed)- may now need at least part of a day at NJ archives in Trenton.
But I now also have strong reason to think that there could also be much stronger links to Newburyport, MA than anyone realised. I had that in as a very long day trip from NY with 7 hours there but now suspect I may need an overnight at least.

Postponing has also lost me the chance to be at a very important Church Service in Seattle on Advent Sunday, which is also very frustrating, to put it mildly.

It is what it is.

Getting to Sicily from Naples is not a trivial matter. (No personal
experience.)

Not that difficult. On Trenitalia, there is usually one train a day that leaves Naples--or Salerno in our case--that has no changes all the way to Villa San Giovanni at the southern tip of Calabria, where the train car is shunted onto a ferry that makes the 30-minute cruise across the Strait of Messina over to Sicily. Unique experience, very enjoyable. One can stay in the car or walk up on deck to enjoy the view.

Our trip this past April was Salerno to Taormina (Sicily), it took five plus hours total and first class was $38 Euro, discounted tickets bought 4 months in advance.