A week is more than enough time to spend in Naples. The old town will take you no more than a few hours to cover, and you can only spend so much time eating. A good use a couple of hours is to visit on of the Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace) on Piazza del Plebiscito. The Piazza itself is massive, surrounded by grand buildings and churches.
The Palace is on the opposite side of the piazza to the Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola (above), but was unfortunately covered in scaffolding as they renovate the exterior.
There is a €4 entrance fee, which includes the hire of an audioguide – various languages are available including English. Since we discovered audio guides in the Guggenheim in New York, we pick them up wherever we can. Although visiting Palazzo Reale was inexpensive, once you’ve paid to visit you may as well absorb all the information possible and get your money’s worth!
Much of the palace is original, including much of the wall decor and sculpture.
Some things, of course, have been modernised.
Keep an eye out as there are many details the audio guide won’t talk about. You won’t want to miss a thing!
I find walking slowly more exhausting than walking quickly, and was ready to sit down (and eat) after the palace.
Mother spent most of our evenings in Naples on TripAdvisor and had spotted some squid at a restaurant called Soldino that we just had to try!
Vino rosso!
We stayed true to the Italian course structure, ordering gnocchi and spaghetti vongole as primo.
For secondi, we ordered the squid that had initially brought us to Soldino.
Freshly and perfectly grilled. A squeeze of lemon was all that was needed.
While you’re in that neck of the woods, via Toledo, is the Neapolitan Oxford Street. And look what I found…
Ladies, knock yourselves out!
