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Archological Museum, Naples
On the Naples funicular
We arrive in Naples by ferry at 7:00am in late May and plan to continue on to Rome by train. If we go to the train station and check our luggage would it be worthwhile to spend several hours in Naples? If we were to check the luggage by 8:30am and needed to be back at the train station by 3:00pm to get the train to Rome, it would give us approximately 6.5 hours to do some exploring. Would it be worth the effort and how would you suggest we spend the 6 hours?
For sure check out the Museo Archeologico Nazionale (National Archeology Museum) It has many of the treasures from Pompeii and Herculanium, and is one of the best archeological museums in the world.
6.5 hours would give you time for a quick visit to either Pompeii or Herculaneum. Or, in Naples, there's the Archaelogical Museum, or the Capidimonte Museum, also the Capella Sanservero.
Hello, here are some suggestions for 6 hours to spare for exploring Naples.
Take a taxi to Piazza del Plebiscito. There you can see Palazzo Reale. Then you could walk to Piazza Trieste E Trento and see Chiesa di San Ferdinando.
From there you could go and have a cappuccino at the famous Caffé Gambrinus. Then you could either walk to Galleria Umberto and do some shopping or head toward the bay walking past Palazzo Reale to the seawall. There you could stroll the seawall to Via Partenope where you can see Castel Dell'Ovo and the monument La Fontana dell'Immacolatella.
Then take a taxi back to Castle Nuovo and explore it. From there you can stroll north to Via Medina and have a great pizza at Trattoria Medina. Then take a taxi back to Piazza Garibaldi to the train station. Enjoy your trip!
As a previous member has already suggested you could go to Pompeii. If you haven't already been there it would be worth going, even if it were for just a couple of hours. At the Naples train station simply go to the lower part of the station and take the Circumvensia commuter train to Pompei. Be sure to take the train headed in the direction of Sorrento. They leave about every twenty to thirty minutes and it would take about 35 minutes to get to the Pompei Scavi stop which is where the ruins are. From the Pompei Scavi station its a 3 minute walk to the entrance. You could fit in at 2 1/2 to 3 hours in Pompei and still make it back in plenty of time. Factor in a hour each way, with the bonus being you end up back at the same station from where your next train will be leaving. Another fun option is to walk from the Train Station down Corso Umberto to Castle Nuovo, which is about a twenty five minute walk, but you will see all the sights and sounds of busy Naples along the way, lots of interesting shops! From Castle Nuovo, your right by Plaza de Plebicto and just across the street from the Galleria Umberto which is similiar design to the world famous one in Milan. Again all of that could be easily done in a five hours. I would only recommend the taxi if your going to the Nationzale Archeological Museum. I've found its actually faster to walk down Corso Umberto to Plaza de Plebicto than taking a taxi or bus because the traffic is atrocious. Anyway hope that helps!
Wander the streets of the Centro Historico and look at the beautiful buildings. This is the Guglia at Piazza del Gesu', which dates from 1750. Apparently, these obelisks were erected after times of plague or disease.
Herculaneum was a smaller town close to the city of Pompeii. Its main industry was fishing. When Vesuvius erupted in August of 79 AD, Herculaneum was buried under nearly 60 feet of superhot mud. When the mud cooled, it set nearly as hard as concrete. This makes excavations very difficult, but scientists continue their work to learn about the people and the town of Herculaneum.
Tiny place not far from the University, where traditional Napoli recipes are prepared. They tell their preparations are at least 2-century old, but I can tell you it was worth waiting: such a long time of testing led to excellent results.
It's necessary to book, because there are no more than 20 places available. Wonderful artichokes and potato soup. Great stockfish with potatoes, very very interesting "salsiccia" stuffed with mozzarella and many other worth tasting recipes.
Wines: no risks to make any mistake.
If you walk in front of the sea you see the castle from every place. Inside there are lot of brides (the picture in the castle is a "must" of the photo album of the wedding day). The entrance is free and you can go around the stairs and the rooms of the castle. The sight is amazing. A young boy told me the story of that place: somewere in the castle there is an egg (ovo, as the name of the castle) and if this egg will be broken, Naples will fall down and disappear. Around the castle there are lot of restaurants and bar and in the evening the young neapolitans use to come here.
If you 've reached Naples, you probably wont miss Pompei, the ancient city, destroyed by its neighbour, volcano Vesuvio. I think its last noteworthy eruption was in early 50-ies of the former century so it is safe for you (probably) to go and pay your respect to the (still smoking some sulphur) volcano. Many tourist buses come and you can admire tourist princesses climbing up in totally totally unapropriate high heels being on the edge of seriously damaging not only their shoes but also break their legs. Small rocks are crumbling down as you walk. Very unique. I am terribly afraid of height, so I didnt have the courrage looking inside Vesuvio. But my boyfriend told me, what is lying on the bottom: old tyres. So that information can spare you from looking into it, if you are afraid as me.
Pompei:
Most of the city is still lying under tons of volcano ash. The last second of its citizens were probably full of coughing - if they even had time to do this. But there is plenty uncovered for you to explore. You will probably be fascintated by everything you see there. The houses are left empty though. There are some paintings to see (even the erotic ones). Pieces of things that were found in the houses are in museums (like National museum in Napoli). You well see some burnt, 'frozen in time' people. As for my experience in unbearably hot August I must tell you the first thing I saw there lying on ancient plazza was a death of a modern overweight turist (probably heart attack). I was so confused by this I just wondered off and didnt visit nearby museum. So - remember to take a lot of fluids with you, wear a hat or umbrella or dont go there in the peak summer, if you have problems with your heart.
But the city is worth of your attention: you can observe beautiful spas, renovated gardens, pavements and streets of stone, liquor selling shops, long and straight avenues ... You can have lunch in the centre of the Pompei. You can choose between ordering (very expensive) or self servise lunch (bearable).
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