The apartment is very comfortable and spacious. Qiong is a great host and makes sure you have everything you need. We arrived early in the morning and the flat still needed preparing for us, so we were able to leave the bags and spend a couple of hours finding our feet. We took the funiculare up to Vomero from Montesanto and climbed to the top of the Castello Sant Elmo to get a fantastic view of the whole of the bay of Naples, from Ischia right over to Sorrento and Capri. At the end of our week she also kindly arranged the taxi for the airport.
We were two adult couples and the two bedrooms and two bathrooms worked very well for us. The terrace that stretches between the main bedroom and the sitting room has a terrific view of Vomero and the Castello Sant Elmo, catching the afternoon and evening sun. The roof terrace is a great extra as well and we had a number of meals there. The kitchen is very spacious. The flat is in a very central area for downtown Naples. The Montesanto rail station and Vomero funicalare are just round the corner, as is the Metro line station…which is about a hundred metres away from the train station. If you fancy some exercise the stairs to the top of Vomero start right alongside the funicalare.
Via Pignasecca, Naples’ oldest street market starts right outside the Montesanto station. Full of all sorts of specialist food shops including butchers, cheese, salumeria and fish.
The Museo Archaeologica Nazionale is a ten minute walk away just north of Piazza Dante. Go early….the ticket line is slow and builds up as the morning goes on. The Mosiacs gallery upstairs attracts the crowds so we went there first. The Farnese gallery on the ground floor, with its exceptional collection of world-famous Roman sculptures, was strikingly empty of people on the day we visited. It’s also well worth walking on past the Museo to the Botanic gardens along Via Forio. They are extensive, beautiful, free of crowds and well presented (and free). The opening times and days need careful checking, however.
It’s possible to walk to the Hydrofoil ferry port (Molo Beverello) near Castello Nuovo in about 25 minutes for ferries to Capri, Ischia or Sorrento. The ferry to Forio at the far end of Ischia runs about six times a day. Once in Forio walk along the sea front, sticking to the beach, and you get to the lower entrance to the Giardini La Mortella in about 25 minutes. Great seafood restaurants on the way, especially at the far end of the sea front, right on the beach.
The trattoria in the narrow streets running off Via Toledo in the Quatiere Spagnoli are numerous and good value.
Getting to Pompeii by train is fairly straightforward, although the train can be very crowded. It’s advised to buy the tickets at the Circumvesuviana ticket office at the Statzione Napoli Centrale (Piazza Garibaldi) and then walk the couple of hundred metres to the starting station, Porta Nolana, to get a seat. Otherwise you’re likely to stand in a crowded train for 40 minutes. The hydrofoil ferry to Sorrento takes 35 minutes, while the Circumvesuviana train takes over an hour. The cost of the ferry is more however.
We had a great Sunday lunch at the Osteria Antica (handwritten and photocopied menus; Manfredi ragu and Parmigiana di Melanzane) in Via Sant Teresa a Chaia, near the Palazzo delle Arti Napoli (PAN) which had a great Joan Miro exhibition when we were there.
Piazza Bellini, great for an aperitivo, and the popular Via dei Tribunali are also very close.