Tell anyone you’re travelling to Naples and you’ll likely get a few raised eyebrows
with some side comments about the mafia, or grid-lock traffic, or garbage on the streets
- not encouraging, I know.
Somewhere along the way, Naples (Napoli) seems to have earned a bad reputation, but we thought
it all sounded a bit too harsh.
We wanted to experience the city for ourselves, plus we’d also heard there was good pizza!
As you’ll soon discover in this video, we ended up having a grand ol’ time, so join
on us as we show you what you can get up to with a couple of days in Naples, plus somewhere
along the way, we’ll also reveal where we ate our favourite pizza.
Well hello hello and welcome to Naples (Napoli).
We've come here with one main mission.
Yeah.
To eat all the pizza we possibly can but obviously there is way more to Naples than just pizza.
Yeah, exactly.
So we're going to show you 10 different things to do.
One of those will be pizza the other nine will be nonpizza related.
Come join us as we explore Naples (Napoli).
Let's go.
Piazza del Plebiscito seemed like a good place to start our tour, so that’s exactly where
we’ll begin.
This is a large public square in Central Naples, that earned its name from the 1860 vote that
brought Naples into the unified Kingdom of Italy.
The plaza is surrounded by numerous attractions, including the Royal Palace of Naples (Palazzo
Reale Napoli) on one side, and the Basilica of San Francesco di Paola, which is a bit
reminiscent of the Pantheon in Rome, on the other.
After visiting the square and failing to enter the Basilica because it was closed, we turned
our eyes to the Royal Palace of Naples (Palazzo Reale Napoli).
This was one of the four residences in Naples used by the Bourbon Kings during their rule
of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and it was lavish!
The admission fee was 4 Euros and this gave us access to the Royal Apartments where we
got to admire porcelains, tapestries, sculptures and painted ceilings found within the palace
walls.
Yeah.
Oh my goodness.
What did you think of this place?
It is incredible inside.
It is fascinating from the outside but as soon as you get in yeah and start visiting
those royal apartments.
Yeah, the Royal Apartments like that is regal.
Yeah.
It is like all gold and these painted ceilings.
It is almost it felt a little bit like Versaille.
Yeah, like the Italian Versaille here in Naples (Napoli).
It was amazing.
I loved it.
Yeah.
And they let you take pictures without flash.
So you can come in with your camera no big deal.
Yeah.
There is no Vienna factor here.
Haha.
Another nearby attraction we visited was Castel Nuovo (New Castle), an imposing medieval castle
that dates back to 1282.
This castle was built when Charles I of Naples took the throne and moved his capital from
Palermo to Naples, ordering a new castle to be built not too far from the sea.
Today you can visit the galleries which house a mix of sculptures, paintings and objects
ranging from the medieval period to the late 19th century.
Admission to the castle was 6 Euros per person, but if we had to choose between this one and
the Royal Palace of Naples (Palazzo Reale Napoli), we’d go with the Royal Palace since
that one piqued our interest a bit more.
Okay so we just finished visiting Castel Nuovo aka the New Castle.
Thoughts?
Thoughts.
Actually it looks more impressive from the outside than it is inside.
The courtyard isn't amazing.
Um, the exhibitions I would say are okay.
Mmmhmm.
But what is really cool is that you do get some great views of the city.
After all that sightseeing, we were starting to feel a bit peckish, so we stopped by Caffe
Gambrinus, a historic coffeehouse in the heart Naples (Napoli).
It was a bit on the pricier side, but it was beautiful and you are paying for the experience.
Hahaha.
Coffee or ice cream?
That is the question.
Urgh.
I'm feeling in the mood for something a little bit more refreshing so I think it may be ice
cream.
Yeah?
Yeah.
So we're all nice and toasty inside Caffe Gambrinus.
I have ordered myself a cafe latte and because it is all Christmas check out my cup.
I know.
Very festive.
I'm really enjoying that.
Very festive.
Nice festive display at the table too.
Yeah.
That coffee is quite strong here.
Oh my gosh.
It will keep us going this afternoon.
Yeah, we're going to need it.
And I got myself a little pastry as well.
Uh, this one is called sfogliatella and it is shaped like a shell and check that out.
Let's open it like that so you can see what is going on in there.
Woah.
Look at that.
That is looking quite cheesy.
So let's have a bite.
And it is covered in icing sugar and look at the layers.
Have you seen the layers?
Yeah.
This is such a delicate pastry.
The layers are impressive.
Oh my gosh it is like even delicate to the bite.
You can see the trail falling down.
Mmmm.
Is it good?
Yum yum?
That is really nice and flaky.
Ready for your ice cream?
I've got like a party in a glass going on here.
You sure have.
Tell us about this.
Yes, I will.
So we've got vanilla ice cream for the base, blue curaçao which gives it that kind of
festive look over here.
If blue can be festive.
More like party.
It gives it the party look.
Mmmhmm.
And it looks like we've got some cookie biscuits, whipped cream, cherry and yeah.
Oh, a little party time.
Party time decorations.
Okay let's start off with the cherry.
Mmmhmm.
Alright, I'm going to dip a bit of this with the cookie and whipped cream.
Alright.
Mmmm.
Yeah, I can taste the curacao.
Okay, what I'm going to have to do is submerge deep.
Submerge.
Okay.
Let's go deep.
Going deep.
Oh look you can see the blue.
Yeah.
Oh wow.
But are you getting any ice cream there?
Or is that just whipped cream?
Oh.
That is good man.
Is it?
Oh yeah.
Oh man okay.
It goes really well.
The curaçao goes really well with the ice and whipped cream.
This was a good choice.
I was uh at a bit of a loss as to what to get.
I didn't feel like pastries or cake because I'm a bit thirsty and I feel like being refreshed
so I did go with the soda water.
I did get a coffee like you.
Soda water.
And yeah this turned out to be a good choice.
I like it.
Alright.
Yum.
Not too far from there, we also visited Galleria Umberto I, which is a gallery which vaulted
iron and glass ceilings, where you can shop, grab a coffee, or people watch - an ideal
activity for a rainy day.
This gallery dates back to the late 1880s and it was meant to be reminiscent of Galleria
Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, a gallery whose claim to fame is being the oldest active shopping
mall in the world.
But now let’s take a break to talk about food and we all know what Naples is renowned
for: pizza!
While in Naples, we took it upon ourselves to find the best pizza in the city.
This involved eating a total of 10 pizzas over two days.
In the end we decided Da Michele was our personal favourite, so here’s a little glimpse of
that.
Alright guys so we are already digging in here.
Our pizzas have arrived.
I'm starting off with the margarita, Sam is going to tackle the marinara.
At first check out the size of this.
We ordered the normal one.
Which is huge.
Falling off of the plate.
They are so big.
So yeah let's just dig right into this.
Oh my goodness this is just so like moist and juicy I've heard it described even as
soupy especially in the middle where you've got like your tomato and oil and cheese mixing
together.
And how is that?
It is wonderful.
Wonderful?
Alright it is Sam's turn.
Alright guys I am trying the marinara and it is getting on your hands.
There is only two kinds of pizzas here (Neapolitan pizza).
One with cheese and one without cheese.
So I'm trying the one without cheese.
Yeah, you can only order marinara or margherita.
Mmmm.
Wow.
How is that?
It is the best pizza I've ever had without cheese I'm telling you.
Needless to say, you shouldn’t miss the opportunity to have a slice, or two, or three
while you’re in the city.
Also, because we always enjoy visiting outdoor markets wherever we go, we stopped by the
Fish Market, which is right across from Porta Nolana Station.
We didn’t actually buy any seafood since we were pretty committed to our pizza quest
(Neapolitan pizza), but it was still fun to experience, especially in the early morning
when things are quite lively.
Moving on to museums, if you only have time for one in the city, I would make it Naples
National Archaeological Museum (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli).
This museum holds the Farnese Marbles, which is an impressive collection of Roman copies
of classical Greek sculptures, but what brought us here were the treasures from the nearby
ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Another place we visited in Naples (Napoli) was the Quartieri Spagnoli, or Spanish Quarter,
which has a very different look from the rest of the city.
The streets in this quarter were laid down during the 16th century for the Spanish military
barracks outside the city walls, so this explains the grid-like formation.
The streets here are very narrow, and the buildings very tall, so don’t forget to
look up because there’s something going on in every direction…and also watch out
for the scooters, because even kids drive them here.
And basically a perfect way to finish a day of sightseeing in Naples is to come down to
the Bay of Naples you've got Mount Vesuvius over to the left, a little bit further over
to the right you have another castle and even further a little bit beyond that is the Isle
of Capri.
And there is just a lot of people out.
It is just a really nice setting.
Great place to watch sunset.
This is just an awesome way to end the day here in Naples.
And that’s a wrap for our quick 2-day tour of Naples.
We hope this video gave you a few ideas of things you can do in the city and all the
pizza you can eat in between.
Wishing you happy travels and we’ll see you in the next video!