DK Travel : Naples & the Amalfi Coast

From one perspective, this area is an anomaly, at once one of the earth’s most beautiful and yet most accursed places. It has been the choice of the great and wealthy as their playground, while also being the scene of some of the greatest natural disasters and the grittiest human misery. Perhaps these irreconcilable twists of fate are at the root of the Neapolitans’ famously optimistic cynicism. The city of Naples itself is a vibrant urban setting, almost non-European in its intensity, while the beauty of the surrounding coast has been known to make grown men weep.

Naples to Caserta

Getting up to this northern palace will test your driving skills to the max but the end result is rewarding.
Naples to Paestum

Take the A3 or the N18 to Salerno, then switch to the N19, direction Battipaglia. Take the right fork for Paestum, the N18 south.
Naples to Sorrento

Driving on the tollway can be very stressful, but once you cut off to Castellammare di Stabia, there’s only one picturesque road.
Napoli Sotterranea

This tour’s entrance is next to San Paolo Maggiore and takes you into a world of excavations that date back to the 4th century BC. The digging began when the Greeks quarried large tufa blocks to build the city of Neapolis. Caves were also dug here to be used as tombs. Centuries later the Romans turned this underground area into aqueducts and cisterns, which were in use until the cholera epidemic of 1884.
Napul’é

This little bottega (workshop) provides the opportunity to see craftsmen at work, refining the lifelike details of wonderful nativity figures. Most of them are replicas of famous originals, but they will also create personalized versions to order.
Natale

At Christmas the streets around San Gregorio Armeno are full of shoppers looking for items to complete their nativity scenes, and there are special concerts in churches around the city.
Nativity Figures

For centuries Naples has been internationally noted for its production of figures for nativity scenes, many produced by the very best sculptors, especially in the 18th century, and reproduced to this day by skilled artisans whose botteghe (work-shops) line the streets of the old town. A popular secular figure, done in a variety of media, including terracotta, papier mâché , wood, or a combination of materials, is Pulcinella. There are also all sorts of other delightful puppets, dolls and masks.
Neapolis

Up-to-the-minute services include a computer in your room with free Internet access. The location is handy to the old centre, and particularly to Piazza Bellini. The decor, though rather spartan, is comfortable.
Neapolis Festival

Southern Italy’s largest rockfest invades the area of Bagnoli.
Neapolitan Song

Naples has always been known as a city of music, with songs focusing nostalgically on love, the sun and the sea. O’ Sole Mio and Santa Lucia are the most renowned. Of the top musicians, Pino Daniele has gained the greatest fame outside Italy.

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Hotel price categories

For a standard, double room per night (with breakfast if included), taxes and extra charges.
- under €100
- €100–150
- €150–200
- €200–300
- over €300