Naples Walking Tour: Discover the City's Authentic Soul

Highlights

• Expert Official Guide
• The City's Beating Heart

What's included

Itinerary

1. 1

   Centro Storico

   Pass by

   The heart of the historic center of Naples — a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995 — is revealed in all its complexity along Spaccanapoli, the decumanus that cuts through the city like an arrow. Baroque churches, craft shops, votive shrines and hidden courtyards tell three thousand years of history layered in a few square meters. We will guide you through the details that escape the distracted eye: Latin inscriptions, Bourbon symbols, noble palaces with secret courts.

2. 2

   Spaccanapoli

   Pass by

   The lower decumanus, commonly called Spaccanapoli, is an artery of the ancient center of Naples and is one of the most important streets of the city. It is together with the major decumanus and the upper decumanus (decumani of Naples), one of the three main streets of the urban layout designed in Greek times and which crossed the entire length of the ancient Neapolis. The street is also called "Spaccanapoli" as it clearly divides, with its perfect linearity, the ancient city between north and south.

3. 3

   Piazza del Gesu Nuovo

   Pass by

   In this square there is another obelisk in Rococo style, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, built in the eighteenth century by Bottiglieri and Pagano and commissioned by the Society of Jesus. You can notice the very unusual appearance of the Church of the New Jesus, because it has diamond-shaped stones. This shape is typical of Renaissance architecture, such as the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara.

4. 4

   Quartieri Spagnoli

   Pass by

   The Spanish Quarters are the most vivid and contradictory soul of Naples. A labyrinth of narrow alleys where life takes place outdoors, between clothes hanging, children playing and altars dedicated to the saints and Diego Armando Maradona, who has become a sacred icon here. Walking here means entering a dimension that mass tourism has not yet scratched, and understanding what the word community really means

5. 5

   Piazza del Plebiscito

   Pass by

   Via Toledo leads to Piazza del Plebiscito, the largest square in Naples, dominated by the Basilica of San Francesco di Paola and the Royal Palace — a monumental setting that opens onto the sea and Mount Vesuvius in one fell swoop. A few steps away is the Galleria Umberto I: a nineteenth-century iron and glass cathedral, with its cross vault and geometric marble floor, where elegant Naples and popular Naples meet every day under the same light.

6. 6

   Via Toledo

   Pass by

   Three places, a single tale of greatness and everyday life. Via Toledo is one of the most lively and fascinating streets in Italy: one and a half kilometers of shops, churches, historic buildings and uninterrupted human flow.

7. 7

   Lungomare Caracciolo

   Pass by

   From the chaos of the centre to the open light of the sea: the Lungomare Caracciolo is one of the most beautiful in Europe, with Mount Vesuvius in the background and Castel dell'Ovo reflected in the waters of the Gulf. Walking towards Chiaia, the elegant district of Naples, the urban landscape changes, shops change, the rhythm changes. A contrast that tells the complexity and richness of this city.

Before you go

Location