Naples is a real city, vibrant and beautiful, but also a bit chaotic, and some travelers have had problems there. I didn't. I visited it on a day trip from Sorrento and would love to go backand stay there. But if you're not comfortable in big chaotic cities, it may not be for y ou, especially not for the first few days of your trip and especially if you've never been to Italy before. The suggestion to stay in Sorrento and visit it on a day trip is a possibility. Whatever you do, you definitely should visit the Archeological Museum (I assume that's the "museum" you refer to, although there are other important museums in Naples).

I don't mind chaotic and I've been to big cities

(Athens,Rome,Madrid,Barcelona...) I've seen wild dogs in the streets of Athens and I don't think Madrid is the brightest or prettiest city but I still enjoyed them both and felt comfortable walking around. The feedback I have been getting from some people is that it's too dangerous to even walk around or take public transportation! Am I just talking to some very nervous people? Will I be able to stroll around and hunt for a great pizza? (If anyone has any suggestions of great pizza in Naples....?)

I don't mind chaotic and I've been to big cities

(Athens,Rome,Madrid,Barcelona...) I've seen wild dogs in the streets of Athens and I don't think Madrid is the brightest or prettiest city but I still enjoyed them both and felt comfortable walking around. The feedback I have been getting from some people is that it's too dangerous to even walk around or take public transportation! Am I just talking to some very nervous people? Will I be able to stroll around and hunt for a great pizza? (If anyone has any suggestions of great pizza in Naples....?)

The day I spent in Naples I did entirely on foot and alone-- from the train station to the Archeological Museum, then down from the museum to the waterfront, nice shopping area, hotels and opera house, then back up and across through old Naples back to the train station. There seem to be very few traffic lights in Naples and those that there are seem widely ignored. So my major concern was avoiding oncoming vehicles. To a lesser extent I was concerned about my valuables, I may have been wearing a money belt, can't remember, but basically I tried to remain alert and aware of my surroundings, just as I do in New York. I don't recall unusual dirt -- i.e., no more than one would expect in a crowded metropolitan area.

I understand Naples now has a hop on/hop off bus. I don't think they had it when I was there, at least I don't recall seeing any. That might be an interesting way to get around town, assuming it goes where you want to go.

Though exhausting, I thought Naples was incredible -- beautiful, interesting, real and not touristy the way places like Florence and Venice now are.

I just thought of something someone said in one of the posts about Naples. They said a good analogy would be New York in the 70s, when crime rates were high, before it got "cleaned up" and disneyfied, and there seemed to be fear in the air, especially after dark. I pretty much agree with that, although I'm not certain I had as much fear walking around Naples as I had walking around NY in the 70s.

Naples is well worth a visit, its such a vibrant city, keep to the main streets and be vigillent,

One of the best Pizzas I have had was at a Restaurant very near the museum.

Bellini,Via Maria di Constantinopoli, 79/80

Very good value and nice service.

Dear emptynesters38,

It sounds like you're seasoned tourists so you actually might like Napoli. We head to Napoli every Monday for work in the jewelry sector and ironically we *never* wear jewelry or nice watches and I don't even carry a purse (we use a sling bag which goes around the shoulder and would recommend a money bag around the waist or shoulder/neck). Too many times we've read the papers about tourists getting roughed up for their watches or for their purses.

Also, someone posted here on the one of the forums that Napoletano major hotels are offering free watches for its tourists guests so that the guests can leave their watches in the hotel safe and use a cheapy watch during their stay. We were watching NTV, Napoli TV, a couple of weeks ago and a news story mentioned the same fact.

I really like Napoli. I agree that it is a bit worn and unkept but at the same time it's full of vibrancy and the bustle of a big city. there's a saying around here that the Napolitani are always happy and have suntanned faces as Napoli is also called the City of the Sun.

It's actually really much easier and tourist-friendly than it was around ten/fifteen years ago. More people tend to respect the traffic laws nowadays which means that at least some people actually will cross the street when the light is green and ditto for the cars. The usual etiquette for crossing the street is to just cross regardless if cars are coming in droves at 30+ mph. However, I do see people looking for the cross-walk (white horizontal bars marking the street) Also, more money has been poured into the tourist sector with neighborhoods improving their streets and erecting piazzas with fountains and tourist-friendly maps with "You Are Here" (moreso true in the Centro Storico district).

The Archeological Museum is actually pretty much comprised of incredibly beautiful paintings more than archeological finds IMHO. Also, if you need any help figuring out which buses to take to get wherever you need to go, it's notorious that you simply just ask anyone and they'll help you out. It's as if they operate in interrupt mode and have tons of patience to answer how to catch a bus to this or that or how to get to this place or another.

Here's a link to a bus company which does an easy-looking tour of Napoli called "City Sightseeing." We see these buses stop at all the major ANM (Napoli's Bus Agency) stops like Molo Beverello, Corso Umberto near the University (Piazza Borsa), Via Medina, etc. I believe they give out headphones which narrate what the bus passes by. Also, their motto is "Get On Get Off" so it sounds like it gives tourists quite a bit of freedom to stop if something looks interesting. The traffic is *insane* and getting around can be a bit stressful (crowded metros, buses, aboveways, etc with little if any air-conditioning in the Spring/Summer/Fall) so this bus deals with the cars and shuttles people up and down and around (we saw one go up the exclusive Via Tasso near Piazza Amedeo to take tourists to see that insanely lovely view from the ritzy Chiaia District (view of Vesuvio, Capri, city down below).

http://www.napoli.city-sightseeing.it/eng/index.htm

Also, if you like shopping and or window shopping (Gucci, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, etc), head over to Piazza Vittoria up the Rodeo-Drive-like Via Calabritto and then up to the right to see other nice stores. The trippy Street-Car-Named-Desire-like streetcar #1 or #4 can take you there. The streetcar is super rickety and may be completely crowded and hot but it's an adventure.

If you like, maybe you can stay in Sorrento and then do your daytrips to Pompei/Napoli using the Circumvesuviana and then a SITA bus to Amalfi/Ravello (I believe the ferries to/from Sorrento stop by the end of October?). I'm guessing that Sorrento has all these hotels fairly nearby the Circumvesuviana/SITA bus stop while in Napoli, hotels are spread out throughout the city so that to get to the Circumvesuviana, you'd need to take a taxi/bus/metro.

By the ways, the SITA buses tend to be more comfortable (padded seats, less crime, more heating/air-conditioning) than the regional trains and maybe the Circumvesuviana (more stops, less air-conditioning if any I heard).

Here are some transportation links:

SITA from/to Napoli to Sorrento/Positano/Amalfi:

http://www.sitabus.it/sitabus/campania/orarioCA2005-2006/Quadro-XIV-XV.pdf

Boats from Napoli to Sorrento/Amalfi/etc:

http://www.volaviamare.it/categoria.php?id_sottocategoria=344&id_categoria=176&lingua=

http://www.metrodelmare.com/inglese/l-linee_03.html

I'm not sure if service will continue until the end of October, but maybe you can check periodically to see if any indication of cessation of service is noted.

Circumvesuviana (click Piazza Garibaldi or Sorrento to see the timetables):

http://www.vesuviana.it/rete_ferstazinvpdf.htm

Buon Viaggio...

Rick Steves has a walking tour of Naples in his Italy 2006 edition. Seems like all the major sites are addressed and the walk is very do-able in a few hours. Of course, will take more time to actually see the sites!

Dear emptynesters38,

I goofed again and posted erroneous information regarding Napolitani having suntanned faces. It's true that Napoli is considered the city of the sun (Citta` del sole) but the suntanned faces-theory was deliriously derived from the incredibly popular song amongst Napolitani/Salernitani by Renato Carosone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renato_Carosone) called "'O Saraccino." This song is about how a suntanned Don Juan-type conquers the hearts of all the damsels. I apologize to all and admit once again that I open my mouth only to change feet.

Oh, yesterday it was reported that in two separate cases, two tourists were robbed of their Rolex watches (one had diamonds). Again one cannot stress how important it is to leave the Rolex's (with/without diamonds), pricey watches, jewels, etc safe at home

especially when one wants to travel around Napoli.

Mi Scusate...