To visit Naples in Italy? Good thinking, congratulations! The city is marvellous and the surrounding Campania of unique beauty.
You’ll find The city of Naples set around large sea bay. It offers beautiful views, has plenty of particular points of interest, is rich in food and history. Extraordinary population makes it even more special. Local music, espresso, volcano of Vesuvius, the undergrounds, …
It is ideal spot for the explosion of your senses, and the reason. Add to the experience the surrounding Campania, where the landscape is of unique beauty, you’ll think like greatest people of all the times, that something, of similar beauty doesn’t exist.
The landscape of the Surrounding Campania with islands of Capri and Procida is special for mild climate and vegetation. Lemon gardens and beautiful panoramas again, excellent food, history, legends, … everything add its part to unique experience.
Many other elements like Limoncello, Pompeii, buffalos and mozzarella, … make part of the play that will maybe drive you crazy and to feel that there is probably no such a place under the sun.
Here you are some quotes that proof what I’ve written so far.
Here you are some quotes that proof what I’ve written so far:
“Now I can forgive anyone for going off his head about Naples …“,
Goethe 1778
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“Either you were mad before, or you are mad now.”
Goethe after a visit to Naples in 1778
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“… proverb says “See Naples and die” but I say, see Naples and live; for there seems a great deal worth living for.”
Arthur John Strutt
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“Naples and Paris: the two only capitals.”
Stendhal
You can read more quotes on Naples here >>
Unique scenery around the bay of Naples with volcano of Vesuvius in the background
Tom and Jerry in far 1954 approached the city with a ferry. This way it will appear you as set in a theatre, in fact, it is set in the semi crashed volcanic crater.
During your stay, as you move around, it appears different. From the seafront were you stroll the Borgo Marinaro and Santa Lucia you face palaces, Castel dell’Ovo, between pine-trees you see Vesuvius and across the fishing harbour cap Posillipo with villas, parks and palaces.
Cable takes you from monumental Plebiscito area to the upper part where the city appears different. As you proceed to the edge the Castle dell’Elmo’s terrace, a large panorama unfolds to show you entire city and the bay of Naples with Vesuvius.
Another special area is Cap Posillipo, where most of Neapolitans dream to live. Parks, palaces and villas offer unique views across the bay of Naples to reach on the other side the city of Naples, Vesuvius and the island of Capri.
Food of Naples with pizza, pasta, limoncello, espresso and mozzarella is another reason for your visit
Dedicate part of your life to Neapolitan culinary. You will be inspired and repaid with insight. Many world most known delicacies originate in Naples and are still today prepared locally with the perfection.
Pizzas and different forms of pasta like spaghetti and pacheri, mozzarella and limoncello; or the way espresso is prepared, tomato is grown, to mention some of them.
Culinary is much more than cooking and eating. Through the prism of food you can perfectly see the history, economics, the land and climate, the segmentation of the society …
You’ll experience the original pizza world. Traditional marinara and margherita are perfect symphonies, while with newborn modern pizzas young Neapolitans will show you how they combine the tradition with modernity.
Maccheroni, spaghetti and pacheri are produced in the area to supply the most demanding Italian pasta lovers. The world of pasta is well-endowed with ideas and talents and pasta dishes that you’ll eat in Naples will enrich your imagination.
In cheap eateries like osteria you will eat traditional pasta dishes with cheap ingredients like tomato, sausages, clamps etc. while in priced restaurants where middle class people come you will eat delicious pasta dishes with shrimps, gamberi, zucchini blooms, etc.
Other special aliments originate in Naples and are still prepared in the best way. Limoncello and mozzarella are probably the most famous examples, but also espresso, traditional bread, friarielli and regional bakery products are done with perfection.
So, let Neapolitans inspire you with the foodie experiences, go across the senses, try to see the destination through the food.
Points of interest are of particular kind
Usually travellers look for monuments, palaces, commercial streets, fountains, churches and similar stuff. You’ll find all of them in Naples in grand numbers some of extreme beauty like Castel Nuovo or the archeological museum, but especially you’ll find points of interest of different, particular kind. They are again in great numbers and unique to Naples.
Many of them show the different, unbelievable history, the ingenuity of the population, their rich fantasy, love for Naples, for the arts. Across three millennia Naples has accumulated everything from underground garages, cemeteries and houses, to mysterious beings, saints, urban castles, thousands of votive statues, shops with stuff for superstition, …
Masters of nativity scenes workout products in their workshops, alive Neapolitan markets serve local population with goods, cable cars connect the upper and bottom town and together with elevators, bridges, underground passages make the experience of the physiognomy unique. ,
I mean, all this in just the city of Naples.
In the surroundings and on islands on the other hand…
The surrounding Campania with the islands is amazing for the landscape with volcanoes, beautiful sea, fishing towns, lemon gardens, parks, panoramic roads, buffalo farms,… and also archeology sites like Pompeii, Paestum, Pozzuoli,… Solfatara is an alive volcano that host even a camping site inside the crater.
You see, your idea to go to Naples, is a good idea.
Observe an extraordinary population
Naples is kept alive by locals. Their lives are like a show, public performance. You see them strolling or walking fast, selling and buying goods on streets and markets, talking, driving cars and scooters in local way …
To talk they like so much, to express themselves in words. You can ask them many things and you will be surprised of their answers.
The population of Naples is the result rich history lasting three millennia. The place attracted all kinds of special people from emperors, dancers, poems, popes, philosophers, singers, musiciens, … I mean, more than any other place under the sky. And they come from various places in Mediterranean and Europe bringing variety.
So it is normal if they are extraordinary. When you get in touch with them you will discover endless aspects of their lives like music, work, supertistion, food, belonging to the family, their humanity, values and also ignorance …
Something similar as the population of Naples you can’t experience in any other place and it is worth to. It is worth to, because they will influence you with ideas, ingeniosity, with their life philosophy in general.
History, legends and music
You come to Naples and surroundings to personally see the circumstances in which so important history took place, to convince yourself about it. Legendary history here started immediately after the war of Troy. Legendary Sirens came in area to sing and one of them devoted the newborn city to the music.
What is beautiful in the history of Naples is, that it is not the history of wars, of power, of governance like in other places, but it is the history of being in the position of cultural leadership.
I mean, while in other places wars were planned, policy was played, Naples was the place to supply the world with achievements in the field of culture.
Obvious, how could somebody plan a war in such a beautiful and inspirational location? They rather wrote songs like O’sole mio, Santa Lucia, …
Espresso and the undergrounds
Taking Espresso in Naples is a cult and espresso is treated as a sacred thing. It involves locals few times a day. The ritual never happens exactly in same circumstances, I mean vary the taste, density, people involved …
The concept of Espresso shows the perfection of making a coffee. Baristas, who work at coffee machine in Naples are – nobody says that – like a priests.
While you taste espresso and thing about in an neapolitan bar, you couldn’t even imagine that some forty meters below there is another city, the negative form of the upper town. To much interesting story that I spare you and let you be surprised when we’ll meet in Naples.
Landscape, islands, volcanoes, the sea and Amalfi coast
Island of Capri, Procida and Ischia are like guards that keep watch of Campania, for ancient Romans Campania felix, meaning “Happy countryside”, the land of happiness. In Campania volcanoes rise from and fall back into the sea. Some are alive, others are volcanic lakes and some even inhabited.
Amalfi Coast is a perfect place for vacation. You’ll find beautiful villages, lemon gardens, towns of Positano and Amalfi. Let the boat take you beneath the step coast, sail the sea that sometimes in colour seems to be petrol-blue. From the boat you can admire villas, monasteries, terraces and it is unique to land in Positano for a lunch.
Become a bird, fly as a seagull and scan the region of Campania. Admire what is of unique beauty, forget details. And when you’d like to see the imperfections, in Naples and surroundings they don’t hide them, they are just the result of recent history.
Lemon tree gardens, legends, limoncello, buffalos and mozzarella, ...
Lemon and pine trees, legendary Sirens or legends like Nureyev and Maradona they all love special living conditions. You will feel that the location is special. Stroll lemon tree gardens, and drink limoncello liquor, the elixir made from lemon fruits. It contains the essence of the territory.
Where waters from the Apennine mountains approach the sea, in marshes, buffalos produce precious milk that cheesemakers transform in Mozzarella, one of the world most famous cheeses. It is succulent, that dimension other cheeses don’t have. It is glorious when tasted at the place of origin, in marshes of Campania.
Limoncello and lemons, neapolitan pizza and pasta, mozzarella and now wines are becoming legends that incorporate the territory, I mean the landscape and its people. Now they are on the way to stay on the same pedestal as Odysseus, Sirenes, Maradona, …
Energy for facing problems
Recent history, I mean last 150 years brought many problems to Naples and Campania. It seems like somebody want to choke it. Local mafia, garbage, lack of urban planning, ignorance, … emerged. The city and its population fight the problems and show to possess energy and courage.
Now the city seems to reborn, to become again the pearl of the Mediterranean. Anyway, I like it as it is now, because changes that are coming will change, I guess, everything.
