The Rough Guide to Naples and the Amalfi Coast 1 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

288 Pages·2009·8.33 MB·English

by  Martin Dunford

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About this book
Rough Guides are designed to be good to read and easy to
use. The book is divided into the following sections, and you
should be able to find whatever you need in one of them.
The introductory colour section is designed to give you a feel for
Naples and the Amalfi Coast, suggesting when to go and what not
to miss, and includes a full list of contents. Then comes basics,
for pre-departure information and other practicalities.
The guide chapters cover the region in depth, each starting with a
highlights panel, introduction and a map to help you plan your route.
Contexts fills you in on history, books and film while individual
colour sections introduce Neapolitan cuisine and performance. Language
gives you an extensive menu reader and enough Italian to get by.
The book concludes with all the small print,
including details of how to send in updates and
corrections, and a comprehensive index.
This first edition published May 2009.
The publishers and authors have done their best to ensure the accuracy
and currency of all the information in The Rough Guide to Naples & the Amalfi
Coast, however, they can accept no responsibility for any loss, injury, or
inconvenience sustained by any traveller as a result of information or advice
contained in the guide.
US$19.99 CAN$22.99
I S B N 978-1-84353-714-4
5 1 9 9 9
9 7 8 1 8 4 3 5 3 7 1 4 4
The Rough Guide to
Naples & the
Amalfi Coast
written and researched by
Martin Dunford
with additional contributions by
Jeffrey Kennedy and Katie Parla
www.roughguides.com
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Contents
The Camorra.......................... 244
Colour section 1
Books and film....................... 246
Introduction ............................... 5
Where to go ............................... 6 Language 251
When to go .............................. 10
Things not to miss ................... 12 Italian pronunciation .............. 253
Words and phrases ................ 254
Italian menu reader ................ 256
Basics 17
Glossary of artistic and
Getting there............................ 19 architectural terms .............. 260
Arrival ...................................... 22
Getting around......................... 23 Small print & Index 263
Accommodation....................... 25
Food and drink ........................ 27
The media ................................ 30 Ccoulcoiunra s necatpionle tana
Festivals .................................. 31 following p.112
Travel essentials ...................... 33
Guide 39 Theatrical Naples
colour section following
1 Naples................................. 41 p.160
2 The Campi Flegrei ............... 99
3 South of Naples ................ 115
4 The Amalfi Coast............... 143 Colour maps following
5 The islands........................ 173 CVeaZh p.272
6 North of Naples................. 219 BiKZhjk^jh
Contexts 235
History ................................... 237
Art and architecture ............... 240
3
왗왗 Largo del Corpo di Nilo statue, Naples 왗 The Duomo, Amalfi
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| CONTENTS |
4
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| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO
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Introduction to
Naples & the
Amalfi Coast
Italy’s third largest city after Rome and Milan, Naples
couldn’t be more different from its counterparts further
north. Waves of invaders, from the Greeks to the
Bourbons, have washed up here, making the city a unique
hybrid: the ancient centre still bears the imprint of the
Greeks and Romans, while a wealth of monumental
Baroque buildings are the legacy of Spanish rule, and
breezy seafront promenades give parts of the city a
riviera-type feel. The city’s prime vantage point in the Bay
of Naples, within easy reach of an array of attractions, is a
further draw: some of Europe’s greatest archeological sites
are scattered around the bay, not to mention the seismic
wonders of Mount Vesuvius and the Campi Flegrei; Italy’s
most jaw-dropping stretch of coast snakes around Amalfi
just a few miles south; and the fabled islands of the bay
are so close that they’re virtually suburbs of the city.
But it’s the locals themselves that really set
this region apart. All the pride and resentment
of the Italian south, all the historical difer-
ences between the two wildly disparate halves
of Italy, are sharply brought into focus here,
particularly in Naples: both a lawless, petulant
city that has its own way of doing things, and
an intensely Catholic one, its streets punctuated by bright neon Madonnas
cut into niches, and its miraculous cults regulating the lives of the people 5
much as they have always done.
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| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO
The Naples region comes with
a lot of baggage; plenty of Italians
have never been here, and swear
that they never will. Interna-
tionally, too, its reputation isn’t
high, and has only worsened as
the ongoing and well-publicized
struggle against the mafa plumbs
new depths. However, just two
centuries ago Naples was one of
the largest cities in Europe, and
one of its greatest attractions, a
must-visit for any self-respecting
grand tourist. With Italian Unif-
cation, however, the power of the
new capital, Rome, increased while
that of Naples waned; it never
recovered its earlier prosperity, and
is still run down in many aspects.
But with caution, and good information, Naples is no more dangerous than
anywhere else in Italy: the city has undergone something of a renaissance
in the last decade or so, and is a more accessible, more dynamic and above
all an easier and more enjoyable place to visit than it used to be. Previously
of-limits churches and palaces have opened their doors to the public, and
the transport network around the city and the Bay of Naples is now better
integrated, with extensions to the metro system in the pipeline, only held up
by archeological digs. And all around the bay, the hotel and restaurant scene
has kept pace, too, with boutique B&Bs and chic bars opening up, ofering a
nod to contemporary style without sacrifcing local traditions.
Where to go
he diversity of attractions on ofer in Naples and its region means
that – time permitting – you can pack a lot into your holiday. With
just a weekend to spare, Naples makes a great city-break option,
Tgiving you the right amount of time to cover the main sights, as
well as wander enough of the atmospheric centro storico to get a feel for
6 the place; if you have a week at your disposal, you could also take in some
of the bay’s famous archeological sights, as well as spend a couple of days
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왔 Vómero balcony, Naples
| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO
island-hopping – or bypass the city altogether and take the dramatic coast
road to the towns around Amalf. Any longer than this and you can explore
the city, coast and islands at your leisure – great public transport connec-
tions cut travelling time to a minimum.
If Naples is your base, head straight for the centro storico – a UNESCO
world heritage site – whose dead-straight streets follow the grid of the ancient
Greek and Roman settlements the city was founded on. This area is Naples’
spiritual heart, home to an array of churches and palaces, and a street-level
commerce that couldn’t be further from the homogenized centres of many
of Europe’s major cities. The big museums and attractions are elsewhere, but
if you experience only one thing in the city, it should be this.
Beyond the old centre, Via Toledo is the modern hub of Naples, a busy
shopping street that leads up from a cluster of portside attractions – the
Palazzo Reale, Teatro di San Carlo and Castel Nuovo, among others
– to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, which despite tragic neglect
remains one of the great museums of Europe, home to the best of the
region’s ancient Roman fnds. West of Via Toledo, the jungle of congested
streets that make up the notorious Quartieri Spagnoli neighbourhood
rubs shoulders with the elegant boulevards of Chiaia, a haven of designer
shopping and high-end dining that is quite at odds with much of the rest
of the city. Up above, reachable by funicular, Vómero is similarly well-
heeled, a nineteenth-century residential quarter that boasts heart-stopping
views and some of the city’s most historic museums, most notably in the
Certosa di San Martino. Northeast of here, on another of Naples’ hills,
Capodimonte harbours a former residence of the Neapolitan royals, now
home to the excellent Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, one of Italy’s
fnest art collections.
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| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO
왖 The gardens of the Reggia di Caserta
But there’s plenty to draw you out of the city too. To the south, the
evocative remains of ancient Pompeii and Herculaneum need little
introduction, but Roman ruins have been unearthed all along the coast,
and the less famous remains of Villa Oplontis and Stabiae are also worth
a visit. But there’s more to this stretch of coast than relics: an ascent of
Vesuvius, which dominates the coast south of the city, is an exhilarating
experience, and you can access the gentler slopes of wooded Monte Faito
by cable car. Beyond here, the sprawl of Naples peters out and you’re into
more obviously holiday territory, concluding with the resort town of
Sorrento – an appealing mixture of earthiness and elegance.
To the west of Naples lie the fabled Phlegrean Fields or Campi Flegrei,
so named for the volcanic activity that has been a feature of the region
for centuries. The remarkable Solfatara, just outside the main town of
Pozzuoli, is the most visible instance of this: an otherworldly landscape
of bubbling mud and sulphurous fumaroles. Pozzuoli itself is home to a
number of sights dating back to a time when it was the principal port of
ancient Rome – remains which provide a taster of the ruined cities of Báia
and Cumae beyond. North of Naples lie more ancient sites, principally
in Cápua and in the provincial capital of Benevento, but the area’s real
draw is the vast royal palace at Caserta, an eighteenth-century pile which
dominates the town.
The Amalf Coast draws crowds of admiring visitors, and no wonder: its
crags and clifs, girdled by a spectacular coastal road, are as mind-blowing
as you are given to expect. If you avoid the tourist hotspots, and travel
outside the peak months of July and August, you’ll fnd it bearably busy,
and stunning coastal towns like Amalf, Ravello and Atrani are some of
the highlights of the entire region.
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왔 House of the Small Fountain, Pompeii
| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO