Naples - whats it like ?

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foxsasha

1,416 posts

134 months

Monday 28th August 2017
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Another thumbs up for Sorrento and the Almalfi coast, fantastic.

What other Italian destination recommendations would the PH collective make?


lucido grigio

44,044 posts

162 months

Monday 28th August 2017
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foxsasha said:
What other Italian destination recommendations would the PH collective make?
Lucca ,lovely city ,near Pisa ,not a million miles from Florence ,near the Med coast ,which I really enjoyed driving down.

hyphen

26,262 posts

89 months

Monday 28th August 2017
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foxsasha said:
.

What other Italian destination recommendations would the PH collective make?
Siena is lovely place to spend a day in, Rome and other more well known places I imagine you know.

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 28th August 2017
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lucido grigio said:
foxsasha said:
What other Italian destination recommendations would the PH collective make?
Lucca ,lovely city ,near Pisa ,not a million miles from Florence ,near the Med coast ,which I really enjoyed driving down.
Another fan of Lucca here, lovely town.

Coxey

407 posts

106 months

Tuesday 29th August 2017
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Just got back from Sorrento last week, first time in the area, went to Pompeii and the town of Sorrento absolutely loved it and will definitely go back.

gtidriver

3,335 posts

186 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
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We drove to Naples at the beginning of the month, I drove my car through the centre to where the cruise ships dock. Absolutely the worse place in Italy. I am surprised my car wasn't damaged. No lane disapline at all, red light mean just carry on, family's on scooters with no helmets on, 7people in a knackered old Punto. Was glad to get out of Naples in one piece, as already stated it a st hole.
Mind you the rest of Italy is a bit crap as well.

Gareth1974

3,408 posts

138 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
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foxsasha said:
Another thumbs up for Sorrento and the Almalfi coast, fantastic.

What other Italian destination recommendations would the PH collective make?
I've been to:

Venice - Well worth going to, but very busy
Rome - Glad I went to see the key sites, but don't have a burning desire to go back
Lake Garda - Very nice, lots of lovely lakeside towns to visit
Verona - Pleasant city, good day out if you're in the area for Garda
Lake Como - Slightly different 'vibe' to Lake Garda, I think I marginally prefer it of the two. Again, lots of nice places to visit around the lake.
Cinque Terre - Went I went it was outrageously crowded. If you go at a quiet time, you might get a different impression, but I'm not fussed about going back
Milan - Only went on a day trip, so I didn't see everything, but what I did see felt quite 'grubby'. The Duomo is impressive.

Register1

2,130 posts

93 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
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gtidriver said:
We drove to Naples at the beginning of the month, I drove my car through the centre to where the cruise ships dock. Absolutely the worse place in Italy. I am surprised my car wasn't damaged. No lane disapline at all, red light mean just carry on, family's on scooters with no helmets on, 7people in a knackered old Punto. Was glad to get out of Naples in one piece, as already stated it a st hole.
Mind you the rest of Italy is a bit crap as well.
We also did the driving, pulling a caravan.
I am surprised the caravan survived the railway tracks and the cobble streets,
Absolutely crap roads around there.
Felt very "gangsterish"
Wading hanging every where,
Suspicious looking people just hanging around, quite scary actually.
Glad to get out of there to be honest.

R1

mikef

4,826 posts

250 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
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Register1 said:
Felt very "gangsterish"
Suspicious looking people just hanging around, quite scary actually.
Surely you just greet them with a friendly "tutto a posto?" like in the Gomorrah TV series

Then drive around with your windows open singing "Nuje vulimme 'na speranza"

Turn7

Original Poster:

23,502 posts

220 months

Thursday 21st September 2017
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Ok, thanks for all the above.
Now looking for somewhere to stay in Sorrento.

Any Must see's on a four night trip ?
Im reading Herculaneum is actually a better visit than Pompeii ?

What would you consider as crucial ?

gazapc

1,319 posts

159 months

Thursday 21st September 2017
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Just come back from 10 days in Italy. We flew into Naples and would agree that it is not an attractive place.

We stayed in a place called Cava De Terrini for the first 2 nights. Turned out to be a lovely town with loads of good restaurants. The main high street was buzzing all evening. Easy access onto the autostrada.

Did Pompeii, we spent 6 hours there and got a good look around although you could easily spend more. We also drove up Vesuvius although couldn't walk to the rim due to being too late.

Further south is an amazing Greek temple at Paestum. We spent 2 more nights on the Cilento coast which was far less busy.

My main impression of that part of the world is it takes bloody ages to drive anywhere due to the roads and traffic.

Maxf

8,402 posts

240 months

Friday 22nd September 2017
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The best thing about Naples is that you can get the ferry to Capri. Naples is an utter dump - it felt dangerous and was definitely very dirty without that much to see - you could do the sights in a day easily. However, I'd gladly go back to Capri!

Puggit

48,355 posts

247 months

Friday 22nd September 2017
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Turn7 said:
Ok, thanks for all the above.
Now looking for somewhere to stay in Sorrento.

Any Must see's on a four night trip ?
Im reading Herculaneum is actually a better visit than Pompeii ?

What would you consider as crucial ?
Both Herculaneum and Pompeii are worth a trip. Pompeii is huge and sprawling, but not very well preserved. There are pockets of interesting places. Herculaneum is much, much smaller, but far, far better preserved. So they are both interesting, but remarkably different.

Paestum is stunning, but on a 4 day trip that might be too much.

Capri is a must, Amalfi is a must, Ravello is a must, and Campi Flegrei (the mouth of Hell/Hades from Roman mythology). Vesuvious too.

What I'm saying is that 4 days means you'll be sight-seeing non-stop wink

SlidingSideways

1,345 posts

231 months

Friday 22nd September 2017
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Puggit said:
Capri is a must, Amalfi is a must, Ravello is a must, and Campi Flegrei (the mouth of Hell/Hades from Roman mythology). Vesuvious too.
Positano is well worth a wander round if you have a free afternoon.
The "queue" for the funicular on Capri is interesting. Don't be all polite and British or you'll be there all day!
There's a lovely circular walk around the clifftops once you're up there, but take some water with you as it's quite a trek and bloody warm!

And as the others say, Naples is a hole.

TwigtheWonderkid

43,248 posts

149 months

Friday 22nd September 2017
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gtidriver said:
No lane disapline at all, red light mean just carry on, family's on scooters with no helmets on, 7people in a knackered old Punto.
Those are some of the things I like about it. It's like any other big city, good and bad. It has a great vibe, some fabulous cheap eateries. Get to the football if Napoli are playing, the fans are bonkers. I liked it, a lot. Sorrento is lovely too. Pompeii is too big to cope with, Herculaneum is far better.

TwigtheWonderkid

43,248 posts

149 months

Friday 22nd September 2017
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gtidriver said:
Mind you the rest of Italy is a bit crap as well.
Yeah, Tuscany, Florence, Venice, Milan, Rome, utter hellholes. rolleyes

Patch1875

4,893 posts

131 months

Saturday 23rd September 2017
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We usually stay in Amalfi one of my favourite places in the world, Naples I really like never had any issues as long as you try not to look to much like a tourist you will be fine.

AlexC1981

4,904 posts

216 months

Saturday 23rd September 2017
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There are some Hyacinth Bucket's in this thread! This is what I wrote in a thread earlier in the year:

AlexC1981 said:
I liked Naples, went there last year. It is rough around the edges, but that's all part of the charm of exploring a fascinating and ancient city.

There's plenty to occupy you for a few days, but if you are staying for a week or more, it's also a good place to base yourself to visit Vesuvius, Herculaneum, Pompeii, Sorrento and the Amalfi coast.

The catacombs are like something out of Skyrim! You half expect to see a zombie stepping out from an alcove hehe I also enjoyed the candle lit walk through the underground passages.

The sculptures in the Cappella Sansevero are not to be missed, particularly The Veiled Christ, which is almost unbelievably fine. The exhibits of the National Archaeological Museum are also magnificent.
if you are over 50 or are taking your mother with you, base yourself in Sorrento. If you have a little more energy, go to Naples.

Pompeii is much more impressive than Herculaneum as you have the amphitheatre and the bigger, more impressive ruins. It's a city compared to a village. If you can only do one, do Pompeii.


Edited by AlexC1981 on Saturday 23 September 14:18

Hedgeman

661 posts

230 months

Saturday 23rd September 2017
quotequote all
AlexC1981 said:
There are some Hyacinth Bucket's in this thread! This is what I wrote in a thread earlier in the year:

AlexC1981 said:
I liked Naples, went there last year. It is rough around the edges, but that's all part of the charm of exploring a fascinating and ancient city.

There's plenty to occupy you for a few days, but if you are staying for a week or more, it's also a good place to base yourself to visit Vesuvius, Herculaneum, Pompeii, Sorrento and the Amalfi coast.

The catacombs are like something out of Skyrim! You half expect to see a zombie stepping out from an alcove hehe I also enjoyed the candle lit walk through the underground passages.

The sculptures in the Cappella Sansevero are not to be missed, particularly The Veiled Christ, which is almost unbelievably fine. The exhibits of the National Archaeological Museum are also magnificent.
if you are over 50 or are taking your mother with you, base yourself in Sorrento. If you have a little more energy, go to Naples.

Pompeii is much more impressive than Herculaneum as you have the amphitheatre and the bigger, more impressive ruins. It's a city compared to a village. If you can only do one, do Pompeii.


Edited by AlexC1981 on Saturday 23 September 14:18
I think it really depends what you are looking for in a city. The city has a generally squalid feel to it. Lots of graffiti, trash lying in the streets, every single car you see has damage to it. I stayed in what was supposed to be one of the best hotels in the old town area - had a great view from my balcony of the building opposite whose roof had fallen in.

People say it's unsafe. It never really felt unsafe to me - even out on the streets in the early hours - but it's definitely a bit on the "edgy" side. I just think there are better places that do "edgy". To me it's too far towards st hole.

Pompeii was good though.

oyster

12,577 posts

247 months

Monday 25th September 2017
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CrutyRammers said:
Trains? Is this PH? Hire a crappy little car and drive everywhere, enjoying the insanity of it all. Be sure to get up early and do the amalfi drive, superb fun.
One word answer - wine