Our visits to Naples

[CruiseIreland]

This is taken from a trip report from July 2915 and previous land trip. Naples is one of my favourite cities and we have never felt threatened but take sensible precautions:

 

Naples

I had unfinished business as I had been unwell the last time we had stopped here on NCL Epic. Courtesy of a poster on Cruise Critic, we had an itinerary that covered three worthwhile attractions: Pio Monte della Misericordia http://www.piomontedellamisericordia.it/, Capella Sansevero http://www.museosansevero.it/it/ and Palazzos Zevallos Stigliano http://www.gallerieditalia.com/en/palazzi/palazzo-zevallos-stigliano.

 

I had, with the help of posters on Cruise Critic, established that the new metro stop at the port, Municipio, would be a starting point. The station is situated across the building works directly in front of the terminal building, beside Castel Nuovo, http://www.comune.napoli.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/EN/IDPagina/1372. From here the line goes 2 stops, Universita’ and Garibaldi, the main train station. We bought the all day integrated ticket, valid for metro, bus and trams within the city, but not Pompei or Herculaneum at €4.50 each.

 

Exiting Garibaldi, and using a combination of tourist map and the position of the sun, I got us lost and we ended up asking for directions from 3 people we met. They were very helpful and we found Via dei Tribunali. This is a surprisingly narrow street, cobbled and one way to traffic. We found our first target, Pio Monte, as it closes at 14.30. This is a beautiful church and gallery which houses a Caravaggio and many church treasures.

 

Walking further along Tribunali and across the junction with Via Duomo, look out for signs to Capella Sansevero. The left turn is near a tall, red brick, tower. There are some signs indicating the direction. The street is Calata S. Severo Pietrasanta, follow this to turn left onto Via de Sanctis Franceso.

The ticket office is in the building adjacent to the Capella and across an alleyway. Entering the chapel, we were struck by the richness of the sculpture and ornamentation. There are no photos allowed – there are guards on duty to enforce this - but there are plenty on the net. The main attraction is the sculpture of the Veiled Christ. This is incredible.

Downstairs are two skeletons on which the blood circulatory system has been remarkably preserved or modeled – no one is quite sure which it is.

 

Leaving Capella Sansevero, we walked back to Tribunali and turned left, walked a short distance and through Port’Alba and out into Piazza Dante.

Turned left here and walked down Via Toledo towards our third target, Palazzos Zevallos Stigliano. This is a long walk but downhill and easy. However, when we reached the gallery, the heat was taking its toll on feet and body, so we skipped the gallery, leaving it for next visit.

 

We walked on towards Galleria Umberto. This is a magnificent shopping arcade but there was a lot of scaffolding inside when we visited.

 

Leaving the galleria we walked towards Piazza del Plebiscito and from there around the seafront to the ship.

 

Naples was very hot but otherwise tourist friendly. We never felt threatened and people we asked were very helpful. Of course, don’t wear ostentatious jewellery and handbags/shoulder bags. Watch out on transport and busy streets. Keep a hand on your phone/wallet.

 

Archaelogical Museum

This is one of Naples’s finest treasures. The best relics from Pompei and many great Renaissance artworks are housed here. This visit was on a previous land trip when we stayed in Sorrento.

 

We got off at Stazione Garibaldi so we could get the metro to the museum. The signposting in the station does not seem great to me. There were directions to the Metro but no maps so you can figure out the direction or stops. A helpful shopkeeper told me platform 4 second stop and sold me the tickets. You have to validate your tickets on the train or bus, (but on the platform of the Circumvesuviana.) We got off at the second stop which is ‘Cavour’. On exiting the station it is not clear where the museum is. I asked a lady who was examining the tourist map and she pointed us up hill to the museum. There is a closer stop called ‘Museo’ but that is not easily accessible from Garibaldi. What threw me is that the museum is uphill from Cavour metro and this is counterintuitive if, like me, you do not know Naples.

 

This is a map of the metro that I did not have at the time http://napoliunplugged.com/pdfFiles/mappa_trasporti_rotary_2011[1].pdf .

 

After we visited the museum, we walked downhill and then took a right onto Umberto I, one of the main streets in Naples, and continued walking towards the port of Beverello. It’s about 40 minutes walk and quite easy. There are signs to the port and the walk is all downhill.

 

This is a handy map of Naples: http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/web/Maps/Map-Naples-_-Napoli-Italy?strLocid=31NDFrMDQxMGNOREF1T0RRd01qYz1jTVRRdU1qVXhPVFE9 .

 

The streets were quite grubby with rubbish spilling out of skips. However, we never felt threatened.

 

Pompeii

We decided to visit Pompeii http://www.pompeiisites.org/index.jsp?idProgetto=5&idLinguaSito=2 -

 

In Naples, the Circumvesuviana starts at Porta Nolana station, near Garibaldi. Fare may be different now. Fare(from Sorrento to Pompeii) was €4.20 return per person. After getting off the train we felt too hungry to tackle the site without food so we stopped at the nearest bar/restaurant. It was fairly tatty and the attitude of the younger guy serving left a bit to be desired but we had paninis, chips, a beer and wine for about €20 so it did the trick. The restaurant toilets had an elderly lady sitting outside guarding a pile of toilet rolls and paper towels, contribution expected. Into the site itself, about 100 yards from the station and paid €11(2011) per person. It’s free for under 18 and over 65s. EU citizens from age 18 – 24 and teachers from the EU get half price admission on proof of ID etc. Pompeii was fantastic and I can’t do justice to it in a short review. Go see it for yourself.

[KirkNC]

Did you get to see the mosaics in the museum? Sometimes they are open, sometimes not but they are really good.

[CruiseIreland]

Did you get to see the mosaics in the museum? Sometimes they are open, sometimes not but they are really good.

Yes, in particular the Alexander the Great mosaic. Also, the original bronze from the House of the Fawn and many others including the Farnese Bull. Outstanding museum!

[doncarlos]

nice report ,,thanks