DON’T MISS
As fascinating as Naples is on foot, take a ride on the new branch of the city’s Metropolitana underground train. Stations have been embellished with more than 200 works by 100 artists and designers. The transit authority arranges tours.
DAYTRIPPING
Pompeii and Herculaneum may top every visitor’s list of must-sees, but for a tourist-free immersion in archeology, head to Pozzuoli, Cuma and Baia in the Phlegraean Fields just west of Naples. All are accessible by public transport.
GETTING THERE
Frequent high-speed trains from Rome take around an hour and 10 minutes. For timetables and bookings within Italy visit italotreno.it
STAY
In a renovated 16th-century palace, complete with a sculpture-filled interior courtyard, this three-star hotel in a central and busy nightlife district offers Old World architecture with modern accents. Rooms are sparse but comfortable, and noise from the bars outside is mostly muffled by the stone walls and courtyard. Via Santa Maria di Costantinopoli, 101
This five-star hotel designed by Tokyo-based architect Paul Tange balances luxury and contemporary design, which includes a vast spa, fitness centre and a ground-floor sushi restaurant. There are sweeping views from the Gulf of Naples to Vesuvius and the islands from the rooftop pool, its Michelin-starred Il Comandante restaurant, and most of the 83 rooms. Via Cristoforo Colombo, 45
DRINK
Spaccanapoli, the nickname for the street slicing through central Naples, has more than a few bars and cafés, but this new arrival is a cut above, serving Anhelo bistro’s fine coffee, cakes, panini and local wines and beers. Via San Biagio dei Librai, 19
DO
Digs beneath the cloister and Gothic church of San Lorenzo Maggiore have revealed the Greco-Roman settlement of Neapolis, and medieval Naples. Descend beneath the modern city and stroll through the shops of an ancient marketplace. Via dei Tribunali, 316
Via Pignasecca
Just off Via Toledo, Via Pignasecca is home to a chaotic daily street market. Vendors selling seasonal produce fill the pavement between stalls specialising in organs and cheap cuts for taverns and butchers such as Le Zendraglie (Via Pignasecca, 14), which has been serving trotters and tripe since 1927.
SHOP
Caseari Cautero
Salvatore Cautero is the city’s foremost purveyor of fine southern Italian food and wine. His gastronomia is unrivalled in Naples for quality goods sourced from small producers throughout Campania and environs. Look for caciocavallo made with Podolica cow’s milk, buffalo ricotta and salami made from the local nero Casertano pig. Piazzetta Pontecorvo.
EAT
Chef Gianluca D’Agostino serves refined Neapolitan dishes that don’t veer too far into contemporary that they lose their sense of territory. Pair dishes, such as cavatelli with beans, broadtail shortfin squid, and cured pork and mullet with braised fennel, with bottles from the local craft beer list. Corso Vittorio Emanuele, 141
Sorbillo
After this family-owned pizzeria was damaged in a fire in 2012, the Sorbillo clan rebuilt and returned to their carefully honed task of making some of the finest thick-rimmed pizze in Naples’ historic centre. Via dei Tribunali, 38, (not to be confused with Gino Sorbillo’s larger pizzeria at Via dei Tribunali, 32).
At Michelin-starred Sud in the working-class neighbourhood of Quarto, chef Marianna Vitale teases Naples’ decisive flavours into new forms, such as beef tongue with marinated fish and caper powder. The excellent wine list features natural producers from the south. Via S Pietro e S Paolo, 8
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