Three days is the comfortable amount for Naples: enough for the city itself plus a full day out to the ruins that made the region famous. The extra day buys you Pompeii and Vesuvius, an easy trip on the Circumvesuviana train that a two-day dash has to skip, and it is what turns a city break into the real Bay of Naples. Base yourself in the centro storico so the old-town sights, the pizzerias and the crib-makers' street stay on your doorstep for the two city days. The plan still hinges on one booking: reserve Cappella Sansevero and its Veiled Christ online days ahead, since walk-ups are turned away in season, and book a timed Vesuvius crater slot too. Day one works the historic centre, the underground and the museum; day two takes the Vomero view and the seafront; day three heads out to Pompeii and up Vesuvius. If ruins are not your thing, swap day three for Capri by ferry from Molo Beverello or the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento by train and coast road. Keep your bag zipped in the crowds and mind the traffic.
Duration
3 days
Base
Centro Storico
Mid budget
360 EUR
Best months
Apr · May · Jun
Picks sorted with our recommended base, Centro Storico, first. Book early: the good-value rooms go weeks ahead.
First visit€€Palazzo boutique · Centro Storico
A boutique hotel in a former cardinal's palace off Spaccanapoli, with a gilded Baroque ballroom for breakfast and high-ceilinged rooms around a courtyard. It puts the churches, the Veiled Christ and the pizzerias of the historic centre right outside the door.
from ~130 EUR/night
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Special occasions€€€Seafront grand hotel · Santa Lucia and the Lungomare
Naples' grand old hotel since 1882, on the Santa Lucia seafront looking across to Castel dell'Ovo and Vesuvius, long the choice of visiting royalty and Enrico Caruso, who died here. The Caruso rooftop restaurant takes in the whole bay, and the historic centre is a tram or 20-minute walk away.
from ~320 EUR/night
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Couples€€Belle Epoque charme · Chiaia
A warm, antique-furnished hotel in a former marquis's apartment on pedestrian Via Chiaia, a minute from Piazza del Plebiscito. It sits between the elegant Chiaia shopping streets and the seafront, on the safer, smarter side of the centre.
from ~120 EUR/night
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Budget€Design hostel · Vomero
A relaxed design hostel with a leafy courtyard on the slope below the Vomero, with private rooms as well as dorms. It is a short walk or metro hop from the archaeological museum and the historic centre, and one of the best-value beds in the city.
from ~30 EUR/night
Check pricesReal hotel photos · prices are indicative from-rates, not live quotes · booking links support the site at no extra cost
Day 1
Morning
Take your pre-booked slot at Cappella Sansevero first thing for the marble Veiled Christ, before the centre fills; no photos, quick visit, closed Tuesdays. Book this well ahead, as it is the one sight that sells out.
TipBook the timed ticket online well ahead, as this tiny chapel with Sanmartino's astonishing marble Veiled Christ sells out days in advance in season and walk-ups are usually turned away. No photos are allowed inside, visits are quick, and it closes on Tuesdays, so lock in a morning slot and build the rest of your centre walk around it.
Walk Spaccanapoli, the dead-straight old decumanus, east through the shrines and food stalls, stopping in the majolica cloister of Santa Chiara for a moment of quiet. Keep your bag zipped in the tight crowds.
TipWalk the dead-straight line of Spaccanapoli, the old Greek-Roman decumanus that splits the centre, from Piazza del Gesu east past the churches and shrines; it is free and best in the late morning when the food stalls are open. Duck into Santa Chiara's majolica-tiled cloister for a couple of euros to escape the noise, and keep your bag zipped and in front of you in the tight crowded lanes.
Afternoon
Lunch is the pizza pilgrimage: a numbered ticket at Da Michele or a table at Gino Sorbillo on Via dei Tribunali, where a margherita is only a few euros. Time it just after opening to cut the queue.
TipNaples is the birthplace of pizza, and the classic pilgrimage is L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele near the station, which serves only margherita and marinara, or Gino Sorbillo on Via dei Tribunali. Both draw long queues, so take a numbered ticket from the door and wait, or go at an off hour just after opening; a proper margherita still costs only a handful of euros.
Descend on a Napoli Sotterranea tour into the aqueduct tunnels and wartime shelters beneath the centre, running roughly hourly. Some passages are candle-lit and single-file, so skip it if tight spaces bother you.
TipThis guided tour drops you 40 metres under the centre into the Greek-Roman aqueduct tunnels and wartime shelters carved from the tuff, running roughly every hour in Italian and English. Some passages are narrow enough that you carry a candle single-file, so skip it if you are claustrophobic; wear closed shoes and bring a layer, as it stays cool underground year-round.
Visit the free Duomo and the Royal Chapel of San Gennaro, home to the patron's blood and its three miracle days. Come outside Mass times and cover shoulders and knees; add the Treasure Museum for the silver and jewels.
TipThe Duomo is free to enter and holds the Royal Chapel of San Gennaro, where the city's patron's dried blood is kept and expected to liquefy on the three miracle days, in early May, on 19 September and on 16 December. Come outside Mass times, cover shoulders and knees, and pay the small extra for the Treasure Museum next door if you want the jewels and the silver busts.
Evening
Walk Via San Gregorio Armeno as the workshops light up, the year-round street of the presepe crib-makers. It is free and best taken slowly, watching the artisans carve before dinner.
TipThis narrow lane in the centre is the year-round street of the presepe crib-makers, whose workshops carve nativity figures and cheeky caricatures of footballers and politicians alongside the shepherds. It is free to wander and busiest from November through Christmas, when it becomes shoulder to shoulder; come early in the day off-season to actually watch the artisans work.
Dinner deep in the centro storico on a back lane, through fried street food, pasta and local wine, then a warm sfogliatella from a pasticceria to finish. Early night, since tomorrow starts on the hill.
Day 2
Morning
Open at the National Archaeological Museum for the Pompeii mosaics, the Farnese marbles and the Secret Cabinet, the context for the ruins you see tomorrow. It closes on Tuesdays and needs two to three hours.
TipThe MANN holds what Pompeii and Herculaneum gave up: the great floor mosaics, the colossal Farnese marbles and the erotic Secret Cabinet, so see it and the ruins on the same trip to make sense of both. It closes on Tuesdays and needs a good two to three hours; go on a weekday morning and check whether the free first-Sunday scheme is running before you count on it.
Afternoon
Ride the funicular up to the Vomero for the great bay-and-Vesuvius panorama from Castel Sant'Elmo, with the Certosa di San Martino and its nativity cribs next door. The Certosa closes on Wednesdays.
TipTake the Montesanto funicular up to the Vomero for the best panorama in Naples, the whole bay and Vesuvius laid out from the terrace of Castel Sant'Elmo and the neighbouring Certosa di San Martino monastery. The Certosa closes on Wednesdays and its museum keeps the great eighteenth-century nativity cribs; buy the castle ticket for the rooftop view even if you skip the museum inside.
Coming down, ride Metro Line 1 through Toledo station to catch its blue mosaic light well, among Europe's most photographed. A single ticket covers it and it is calmest outside rush hour.
TipToledo on Metro Line 1 is one of Europe's most photographed stations, its deep escalator shaft lined with the blue mosaic 'Crater de Luz' light well that mimics descending into the sea. A single metro ticket gets you in, so ride between stops on the 'Art Stations' line; Toledo and the mirror-vaulted Universita station are the standouts, quietest outside rush hour.
Evening
Finish at the free Castel dell'Ovo on the seafront, up on its ramparts for the bay and Vesuvius in the last hour of light, then along the traffic-free Lungomare at sunset. Borgo Marinari beneath the walls is good for a drink.
TipThe seafront Castel dell'Ovo is free to enter and its ramparts give a full sweep of the bay and Vesuvius, best in the last hour before it closes in the late afternoon. Walk out along the traffic-free Lungomare Caracciolo at sunset, and stop for a drink in the little harbour of Borgo Marinari tucked beneath the castle walls.
Dinner in Chiaia or Santa Lucia for seafood and a calmer aperitivo away from the old-town noise. Turn in early, as the Circumvesuviana out to Pompeii is best caught at opening.
Day 3
Morning
Catch the Circumvesuviana from Napoli Garibaldi to Pompei Scavi, about 35 minutes for a few euros, and be at the gate for opening to walk the ruins before the heat and the coach groups. Wear sturdy shoes and carry water, as the site is vast and shadeless.
TipTake the Circumvesuviana train from Napoli Garibaldi to Pompei Scavi in about 35 minutes for a few euros, arriving at opening to walk the vast ruins before the midday heat and coach groups. Book a timed Vesuvius crater slot online in advance, as entry to the summit path is capped; the site bus or a shuttle links Pompeii to the crater trailhead, and you need sturdy shoes for both.
Afternoon
From Pompeii, take the site shuttle or bus up toward Vesuvius for your pre-booked timed crater slot, since summit entry is capped and sells out. The final stretch is a steep gravel path to the rim, with the crater and the whole bay below.
Evening
Ride the Circumvesuviana back into the city by evening and eat one last time in the centro storico or by the sea, closing on a proper Neapolitan pizza or a fritto. Swap this whole day for Capri by ferry from Molo Beverello or the Amalfi Coast via Sorrento if the ruins are not for you.
If tomorrow is an early flight, the airport is close: allow for the Alibus shuttle from Piazza Garibaldi, about 15 to 25 minutes, or a fixed-fare taxi of roughly 19 EUR from the centre. There is no direct metro to Capodichino.
For 3 days, base yourself in Centro Storico. The UNESCO-listed old core runs along the dead-straight Greek-Roman lanes of Spaccanapoli and Via dei Tribunali, stacked with churches, street shrines, fried-food stalls and the crib-makers of San Gregorio Armeno. It is gritty, loud and endlessly atmospheric, the most Neapolitan place to sleep and the cheapest for eating. Base here for your first visit if you want to be inside the noise rather than looking at it. Compare all neighborhoods in the full where-to-stay guide.
Short on time?
Naples in 2 days →
Three days is the comfortable amount for Naples: enough for the city itself plus a full day out to the ruins that made the region famous. The extra day buys you Pompeii and Vesuvius, an easy trip on the Circumvesuviana train that a two-day dash has to skip, and it is what turns a city break into the real Bay of Naples. Base yourself in the centro storico so the old-town sights, the pizzerias and the crib-makers' street stay on your doorstep for the two city days.
Base yourself in Centro Storico for this itinerary. The UNESCO-listed old core runs along the dead-straight Greek-Roman lanes of Spaccanapoli and Via dei Tribunali, stacked with churches, street shrines, fried-food stalls and the crib-makers of San Gregorio Armeno. It is gritty, loud and endlessly atmospheric, the most Neapolitan place to sleep and the cheapest for eating. Base here for your first visit if you want to be inside the noise rather than looking at it.
The plan works year round, but April, May, June give you the best weather-to-crowds ratio.