View over Naples with the port, the bay and Vesuvius in the background
  1. Home
  2. Destinations
  3. Italy
  4. Naples
  5. 2 day itinerary

Naples in 2 days

  • 2 days
  • 6.8 km on foot
  • 17 stops
  • Audio guide

With two days you no longer have to choose between the streets and the museums. Day one pairs postcard Naples with the Archaeological Museum and the city beneath your feet; day two walks through twenty-five centuries of history, then rides the funicular up to the Vomero for a view of the whole bay. It's the ideal weekend plan: full-on in the mornings, gentler in the afternoons.

Day 1Mosaics, tunnels and restless souls

Set off early on “From Piazza Dante to the sea”: Via Toledo, the Galleria Umberto I, Piazza del Plebiscito and Castel dell'Ovo. Have a Neapolitan pizza for lunch at Da Michele or Port'Alba, then give the afternoon to the Archaeological Museum, one metro stop from Piazza Dante. Afterwards, wander down to Via dei Tribunali for underground Naples. At dusk, just around the corner, it's time for “Deals with the devil”: Palazzo Penne, the Sansevero Chapel and the skulls of Purgatorio ad Arco. For dinner, ten minutes' walk away, it's ragù napoletano at Tandem on Via Paladino.

  1. Morning

    From Piazza Dante to the sea: the Naples you can't miss

    Mixed · 2.7 km · 2 h 10 min

    1. Piazza DanteAn old market that Vanvitelli turned into a forum honouring King Charles of Bourbon.
    2. Via Toledo and the Spanish QuarterThe street a Spanish viceroy opened in 1536 and the maze of alleys his soldiers lived in.
    3. Galleria Umberto IA cathedral of iron and glass, built after the cholera of 1884 on top of one of the city's poorest districts.
    4. Piazza del PlebiscitoA vast square between a palace and a Roman-style temple, with a game almost nobody manages to win.
    5. Fontana del GiganteA Baroque fountain that has moved four times and is named after a statue that no longer exists.
    6. Castel dell'OvoThe oldest castle in Naples, on the islet where the city was born, and which, legend says, rests on an egg.

    Start the audio guide See the route

  2. Lunch

    Try Neapolitan pizza at L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele. Via Cesare Sersale, 1, Nápoles

  3. Afternoon

    National Archaeological Museum

    One of the world's great museums of antiquity: the Farnese collection of sculpture and the mosaics and frescoes of Pompeii and Herculaneum, including the Alexander Mosaic showing the Battle of Issus. Check the opening times; it usually closes on Tuesdays.

    Directions

    Underground Naples

    A guided tour some forty metres below the street, through cisterns dug from Greek times onwards and used as air-raid shelters during the Second World War. It also takes in remains of the Roman theatre. The entrance is on Piazza San Gaetano, right by the evening route.

    Directions

  4. Early evening

    Deals with the devil, alchemist princes and restless souls

    Mysteries & legends · 1.8 km · 1 h 40 min

    1. Palazzo PenneA palace from 1406 which, legend says, the devil built in a single night.
    2. Gesù NuovoA palace facade turned into a church, with mysterious marks carved into its diamond points.
    3. Sansevero ChapelThe chapel of an inventor and alchemist prince, home to the Veiled Christ and two skeletons with every vein in place.
    4. Statue of the NileAn Egyptian god that Neapolitans mistook for centuries for a mother nursing the city.
    5. Purgatorio ad ArcoThe church of the skulls, where Neapolitans adopted a lost soul in exchange for favours.
    6. Naples CathedralSan Gennaro's church, where three times a year the city waits for its patron saint's blood to liquefy.

    Start the audio guide See the route

  5. Dinner

    Try Ragù napoletano at Tandem Ragù. Via Giovanni Paladino, 51, Nápoles

Day 2Kings below, the bay above

Today is all about “From Greek Neapolis to the Bourbon court”. Start early at San Lorenzo Maggiore, follow Spaccanapoli to Santa Chiara and head down to Castel Nuovo and the Royal Palace. For lunch, head up to Via dei Tribunali for pizza fritta and frittatina at Di Matteo, eaten standing up; on the way back down Via Toledo, dessert is a sfogliatella from Pintauro. In the afternoon, take the Funicolare Centrale up to the Vomero, where the Certosa di San Martino and Castel Sant'Elmo give you the best view in Naples, with Vesuvius behind. Stay for the sunset.

  1. Morning

    From Greek Neapolis to the Bourbon court

    History · 2.3 km · 1 h 45 min

    1. San Lorenzo MaggioreA Gothic basilica built right on top of the market of the Roman city, which you can still walk through underground.
    2. Piazza San Domenico MaggioreThe square of the nobles, of the kings of Aragon and of a friar called Thomas Aquinas.
    3. Santa ChiaraThe great church of the Angevin kings, which burned for days in 1943 and was rebuilt stone by stone.
    4. Castel NuovoThe castle of the kings of Naples, with a Renaissance triumphal arch wedged between two medieval towers.
    5. Royal PalaceA palace built for a king who never came, guarded on its facade by eight stone monarchs.

    Start the audio guide See the route

  2. Lunch

    Try Pizza fritta and frittatina at Antica Pizzeria Di Matteo. Via dei Tribunali, 94, Nápoles

  3. Afternoon

    Certosa di San Martino

    A fourteenth-century Carthusian monastery turned Baroque jewel, now a museum holding one of the most famous Neapolitan nativity scenes, the Presepe Cuciniello. Its gardens and terraces look out over the rooftops of the centre and the bay.

    Directions

    Castel Sant'Elmo

    The star-shaped fortress that the Spanish viceroys built on top of the hill in the sixteenth century. From its ramparts you can see the whole city, the bay and Vesuvius. It's just a few steps from the Certosa.

    Directions

The map

Naples in 2 days, on the map

Each route’s stops are numbered in order; the stars are the extra sights.

Mixed Mysteries & legends History Extra sight

Loading the map…

Before you go

Tips for Naples in 2 days

  • Use the metro and funiculars to hop between areas: Toledo station on Line 1, one of the “art stations”, is worth the trip down on its own, and the Funicolare Centrale gets you up to the Vomero in minutes.
  • If you plan to visit several museums, look at the Campania Artecard, some versions of which include public transport and discounts; compare it with single tickets for what you actually want to see.
  • Book the Sansevero Chapel and Underground Naples ahead, and check which days the Archaeological Museum and the Certosa are closed before deciding the order of your days.

Questions

Naples in 2 days: your questions

Is two days enough for Naples?

For the city itself, yes: you'll see the old town, the seafront, the Vomero and Italy's finest archaeological museum. If you also want Pompeii, Vesuvius or the Amalfi Coast, you'll need at least one more day, as each of those trips takes up a full day.

How far will I walk in total?

The three routes add up to about 6.8 km over the two days. On top of that come the galleries of the Archaeological Museum and the Certosa, plus a few linking walks. The funicular saves you the toughest climb, the one up to the Vomero.

Is it safe to walk around the Spanish Quarter?

By day it's a lively, busy neighbourhood full of shops, bars and murals. As in any big city, keep an eye on your bag and phone, watch out for scooters in the narrow lanes and, at night, stick to the main streets.

Other itineraries for 2 days

Naples

More or less time?

1 day itinerary 3 day itinerary All about Naples