Napoli in 3 days • Italy

Castel Sant’Elmo • Galery Umberto I • Pompei • (and almost Vesuvio)

Day 01 • Castel Sant’elmo and Galery Umberto I

We arrived in Naples around 2 pm after taking a train from Rome Termini in the morning, (the journey from Rome to Naples is about 3h by train). Despite encountering some difficulty locating our Airbnb, the kindness of the locals prevailed as we sought assistance from a passerby. (Say what you want, but to me, Italians are truly kind—this wasn’t the first time they offered to help us.) It’s worth noting that the street names can be quite similar and clustered in the same area.

Our next destination was Castel Sant’Elmo. Brace yourself; the route isn’t the easiest, but there’s a convenient alternative—just take the bus. However, we opted for adventure. The journey involves ascending the Pedamentina stairs, a lengthy climb that winds its way up the hill. Despite the physical exertion, the stairs are charming, resembling small streets, with houses all along. (Though it must be inconvenient to live on a stairway-like street… 😵). The payoff for your efforts is a breathtaking panoramic view of Naples, the coast, and Mount Vesuvius in the background. While Sant’Elmo Castle can be visited, the view from afar was sufficient for our enjoyment.

Then we headed down toward the Galery Umberto I, which is a really nice surprise to find this kind of beautiful building inside Naples. The galery is basically a small mall, but make it Italian and voila… beautiful architecture and mosaic all over the floor.

Day 02 • Pompei and vesuvio

(at least that what we had planned)

Once again, we woke up really early. However, due to Covid, we needed to book our tickets (I recommend booking in advance anyway, better safe than sorry).

We took the train from Napoli-Garibaldi station to Pompeii (using Trenitalia to buy our train tickets). Once we arrived at Pompeii train station, it was easy to get to the entrance of the ruins. Just follow the signs, and you’ll be fine. Note that there are different entrances; make sure you go to the right one. Our entrance was the Piazza Anfiteatro.

⚠️ A lot of buses will try to accost you, telling you that you’re going the wrong way. Don’t listen to them. We didn’t, and we were able to access the site. Make sure you book on the official websites. We used pompeisites.org.

The ruins are awesome! Take your time and consider that everything around you existed around 2000 years ago. 😵 You can also explore some well-preserved houses.

Now, for the downside… Unfortunately, we weren’t able to visit Vesuvius.

Due to Covid-19, we needed to book in advance. However, since the website was down, we couldn’t make a reservation. We considered going anyway and trying to buy tickets at the entrance, as there weren’t many tourists at that time.
Apparently, the bus timelines are approximate. Taking a taxi was way beyond our budget for this trip.
Due to Covid, I’ve read numerous negative reviews about tourists being treated like money bags. There were stories about taxis angrily insisting that you can’t walk to the entrance when, in fact, you can.
As we truly enjoyed the Pompeii ruins, we ran out of time.

For all these reasons, we preferred to take our time and enjoy what we could. Besides, from Napoli, you still have a good view of Vesuvius.

Day 03 • Napoli the other side of the city.

Since we needed to catch a boat in the evening for our next adventure in Sicily 😛 (stay tuned), we decided to stroll around Napoli. We arrived in the Santa Lucia and Chiaia Districts. We were pleasantly surprised by this side of Napoli, which was quieter and more reflective of the Dolce Vita than the Vasto and Centro Storico districts.

To conclude

I must admit I was a bit disappointed by Napoli. I had expected it to be more authentic than Rome, but, in reality, I found myself preferring Rome. Napoli seemed less tourist-friendly and more ‘tourist trappy.’ It left me feeling a bit sad because this city is undeniably beautiful and has great potential.