16 hours in Naples, Italy

What to do if you only have one night in Naples, Italy? That’s the situation I ran into when traveling from Rome to the Amalfi Coast. Naples is known worldwide for its iconic style of pizza, but this city also has a reputation for being dangerous. I didn’t feel uncomfortable in the slightest during our time there, although, we were only there for a night.

In my opinion, Naples is a city rich in Italian culture with an especially lively nightlife. From what I could tell, it also seems very LGBT-friendly.

You can really see what it’s like to live like a local by visiting Naples – we were one of the few tourists we saw walking the cobblestone streets, which can be very refreshing!

If your time is limited in Naples, or if you’re only visiting for a day, here are a few great ideas for your trip:

1. Stay close to good food

Whether you’re looking to book an Airbnb or a hotel, I’d recommend deciding on where to stay depending on where you want to eat. We chose an Airbnb literally 15 seconds down the street from Gino e Toto Sorbillo, named as one of the Top 10 Places to Eat in Napoli by theculturetrip.com and also one of Conan O’Brien’s favorite places to eat in all of Italy. Get $40 off your first booking with Airbnb here.

Since we only had about 8 waking hours in Naples, this was a major highlight of our visit. As a party of 2, we went right at the opening at 7pm and got a table in under 10 minutes. That really paid off because later in the night we saw huge crowds surrounding the restaurant waiting to get in!

The pizza was absolutely perfetto, with a soft crust that literally flops around and you’ll see people folding their piece of pizza into a sandwich. Out of the wide variety of pizza options on the menu, we went for the Nonna Carolina with pesto fresco sauce and the Rodolfo with prosciutto crudo di parma.

 

Both were out of this world, but my favorite was the Nonna Carolina which had the most incredible flavor, sweet, lemony and tangy.

We loved the pizza so much, that we ordered a third pizza (the Margheritta Buffalo D.O.P.) before we left and took it home — trust me, it made an excellent breakfast for us the next morning!!

If you make it Napoli, please do me a favor and try the rest of the flavors for me and tell me which was your favorite!!

2. Try a sfogliatella

In our short time in Naples, we actually ate two sfogliatella at two separate shops! What is sfogliatella? Well, I can’t tell you how to pronounce it, but I can tell you that it’s a shell-shaped pastry filled with orange-flavored ricotta or almond paste. The story goes that Pasquale Pintauro, a pastry chef from Naples, made the first sfogliatella in the province of Salerno and started selling it in 1818.

As you can see, it has a really unique look. I think it sort of resembles a croissant! We tried it at two different shops, and the one I recommend is Scaturchio Pasticceria-Gelateria; I think they have a couple locations and we happened to make it there just before closing time. It’s hard to pass up a scoop of gelato in order to try another dessert, but if you want to experience a taste of the local flavor, try out a sfoglitaella! You won’t find these in many other parts of Italy.

3. Drink a spritz or negroni (depending how tipsy you’d like to be)

After our dinner having pizza at Gino Toto Sorbillo, we walked around the streets of Naples where tons of Italians were out chatting, drinking and smoking – even on a Tuesday night! Just next door to the pizza restaurant is an outdoor bar, where you can order a drink at the counter and enjoy it standing on the street among the other evening revelers.

I had a spritz, a drink I wasn’t familiar with before but is very common in Northern Italy, which is a wine-based cocktail usually made with prosecco, aperol, and a splash of soda.

Jule had a drink called a negroni, which will really knock your socks off! Just one sip and you’ll probably be intoxicated for awhile. Mixed with Campari, gin, vermouth and soda, it’s really strong and didn’t really suit my palate, but for some, it’s a great go-to if you’re really trying to get your drank on.

So, there you have it! A few tips for your stay in Naples if you’re on a very short time limit. Have you been to Naples? What would you recommend doing on a tight timeline? Let me know in the comments!

Want more articles on Italy? Planning a trip to the Amalfi Coast along with your visit to Naples? Check out my post on “How to get to the Amalfi Coast in Italy”!