Road Trip Through Southern Italy – Naples, Campania
The last few days or even weeks, it’s been incredibly hot in Innsbruck. So I thought, why not think back to a time when it was even hotter? Of course, I’m talking about the half year I spent in Italy last year. While staying in Perugia, one of my closest friends was staying in Rome, so when the Easter holidays approached, it was obvious we would spend some time together. As one of my roommates was from a city close to Naples, we took our chance of having a local show us around the beautiful city.
I might start with the most important fact – no, Naples is not particularly safe regarding pickpockets and getting robbed. Also, I wouldn’t recommend driving in the city, as I did and even though I was used to the Italian way of driving, it was the most horrible experience you can imagine. Rules simply did not exist on the streets. But I guess that’s what makes Naples unique.
After picking up my friend and her boyfriend in Rome, after two hours of driving, it took us not even another full 2 hours until we arrived in Naples. We started our full day of sightseeing right away. The most famous street for tourists in Naples has to be the Via dei Tribunali. Here you find lots of important monuments and of course – a lot of Pizzerias! Naples is world-famous for its Pizza Napoletana, and the world’s best Pizzaiolos work in the city. Of course, my first meal in the city was a Pizza, and I can highly recommend you one speciality: Pizza Fritta, which is fried pizza dough, that then gets topped with tomato sauce and some other ingredients. I know it might sound weird, but we absolutely loved it, and luckily, my roommate made them for me afterwards a few more times.
When walking the Via dei Tribunali, do not forget to look at the little narrow alleys that are on the right and left, as some of the cutest shops are located there. One small lane is particularly famous for its little crib figures. But while you now think ‘meh, I don’t care about boring little figures’, you should definitely take a closer look as these are in no way ordinary. You can find every kind of workers, even pizzaiolos at work (even moving and putting the pizza into the oven), the pope or even football players or famous musicians and actresses. I was honestly amazed!
We then walked past some street musicians and arrived at the famous Quartieri Spagnoli, a place in Naples where lots of people live, and that is most famous for its alleys decorated with lots of hearts and love quotes. This is definitely not a quarter you should enter, but it’s nice taking a picture in front of all the hearts.
Do you know the world-famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan? Well, there is one, equally as pretty twin in Naples, called Galleria Umberto I. Just as in Milan, here are some luxury shops located and if you walk right through it, you’ll get to the Piazza del Plebiscito. As on every main Italian square, it is located right in front of a Church, and it was built by the King of Naples as a tribute to his brother-in-law Napoleon.
When staying in Naples, we decided to rent an apartment, and ours was located at the Lungomare Mergellina. Therefore, it was not quite in the city centre, but it took us only a few minutes with the subway to get there, we had lots of excellent restaurants close by, and we were just next to the sea, and therefore, got to enjoy the most beautiful sunset you can imagine. None of the pictures of the sunset is edited, and I can guarantee it looked even prettier in real-life. From the distance, we were even able to see the Vesuvio.
I hope you liked this little start into my road trip, and I can’t wait to tell you even more about it in the following weeks. The following days we visited Pompeii, Ischia, Bari, Giovinazzo, Monopoli, Lecce, Alberobello and Matera, so be prepared for lots of Italian-related content!
