- In June, 2020, I decided to travel
to Naples in Italy,
immediately after the country had reopened its borders.
In this video, I want to show you what traveling in Italy
is like now and share my top 13 things to do in Naples
during the new normal.
(upbeat music)
So I'm here now in the huge central square of Naples,
in the Piazza del Plebiscito,
and wow, I didn't imagine it
to be this big and this beautiful.
It's really a magnificent square.
The Piazza del Plebiscito is named after the 1860 vote
that brought Naples into the unified Kingdom of Italy.
The two main attractions on the square
are the pink-hued Palazzo Reale, Royal Palace in English
to the east
and the Basilica di San Francesco di Paola from 1816
to the West.
The neoclassical Basilica is a later addition
to the colonnade of the original piazza design
and is reminiscent of the Pantheon in Rome.
After checking out the Piazza del Plebiscito
it was already sunset time, and I went for a walk down
Naples seafront promenade.
(upbeat music)
Walking along the coast here now
and it's super beautiful.
The sun is just setting at the moment,
and I'd be like, I'm really the only tourist here,
I haven't seen any other tourist since I arrived.
So yeah, it was gonna be a really nice stay.
I think we're gonna get to discover
the real authentic version of Napoli
without any tourist.
(upbeat music)
All right, so here we are at the Regina Magherita.
And the funny story is, actually,
the first pizza magherita was created for a queen
whose colors were red, white and green
and that's colors of the pizza
and the colors of Italy.
And here it is guys.
The big moment I've been waiting for.
First pizza in Napoli.
I can't wait.
I got the classic one.
It's a pizza magherita and this place,
it's called The Regina Magherita.
I think it's going to be amazing.
So let's dig right in.
Really good.
I think I'll try some more pizza places here
and I'll be able to tell you which one
is really the best pizza in Napoli.
(upbeat music)
Good morning,
and can you hear this in the background?
People here are singing.
It's funny, you really can feel
like a different temperament here in the south.
Listen to this.
(people singing)
It's kind of funny.
This has been going on all morning.
People really seem to be enjoying life here in Napoli.
Can't wait to discover more of the city today.
(bright music)
So, I'm here now in front of
the Palazzo Reale, the Royal palace of Napoli.
And actually it was built during the 16th century,
during the Spanish occupation of Napoli
was meant to show off the glory of the Spanish crown.
And it should have a lot of interesting rock art
on the inside.
So let's take a look.
(upbeat music)
The Royal Palace of Naples was one
of the four residences used by The House of Bourbon
during the rule of the Kingdom of The Two Sicilies,
which was the largest sovereign state in Italy
prior to the Italian unification in the 19th century.
The palace has a rich collection
of baroque furnishings, porcelain, tapestries, sculpture
and paintings
inside the marvelously decorated Royal apartments.
(upbeat music)
All right, so I took a quick taxi up here
from the city center,
that cost about 10 euros they are not too expensive.
And now we are here at
the Palazzo Reale Di Capodimonte.
One of the absolute showstopper sites of Napoli.
Let's see what's in store.
(bright music)
So as with many of the most important sites
in Italy at the moment,
you had to reserve tickets for this one online,
and I did that already
and you get a specific time slot.
So hopefully, we'll have no problems going straight in.
The Palazzo Reale Di Capodimonte
is the former summer residence
of the Kings of the Two Sicilies
and home to one of Italy's largest art collections.
Some of the highlights of the museum include,
a series of early 16th century tapestries
depicting the 1525 Battle of Pavia,
impressive baroque paintings,
and the Farnese Collection.
Which is home to masterpieces,
such as Botticelli's "Madonna with Child and Angels",
Bellini's "Transfiguration"
and Parmigiano's "Antea."
There's also an interesting collection
of historic weapons and armor.
(upbeat music)
After visiting the permanent exhibitions,
I continued with a temporary exhibition called
Napoli, Napoli Di lava, porcellana e musica.
Because of the new normal,
I was the only visitor.
Okay, this is starting to feel really strange.
I'm now by myself in this exhibition
and look at the exhibition,
it consists mostly of bowls, opera costumes,
puppets, busts, and similar things.
And it is definitely an interesting exhibition
to visit all by yourself.
Oh my goodness,
I hope none of these statues start to move suddenly.
(bright music)
Wow, what an experience.
So this is truly a magnificent museum.
I highly recommend coming here.
And obviously I had it all to myself.
It truly added to the experience.
A little spooky at times,
but definitely an experience.
Really cool.
(upbeat music)
So I'm now in the Parco Di Capodimonte
which is right next to the castle.
It was first used as a Royal hunting ground,
and now it's a huge city park.
And I'm here in front of the Porta Di Mezzo,
which means "the middle gate."
And from here,
five different paths diverge out into the woods,
and we're going to choose one of them.
The middle one should lead to the statue of a huge giant.
So I guess we might choose the middle one.
(upbeat music continues)
This is really fun.
This is part of the beauty of traveling
that you never really know what you're going to find.
And at the end of the long journey,
you might stand in front of a giant.
And giant is getting some repairs done.
(upbeat music)
All right I made it out just in time
to see the guy here,
he's already about to close the gates now
and I would've been locked in for good, but I made it.
And now let's take a taxi back to the city center.
(upbeat music continues)
(speaks in foreign language)
Okay, so this taxi driver again was so friendly
giving me so much advice.
Really telling me his opinion
about the different parts of Naples
and just being such an all around nice guy.
It's crazy, I thought it was just a prejudice
that people in Naples in the South of Italy are super nice
but it seems to be true
cause the taxi driver yesterday was also just as nice.
And then also the people I met today,
when I was looking for the museum,
it's really incredible.
People are just so warm and friendly here
at the South of Italy.
And here we are now at Piazza Bellini.
(upbeat music)
This is such a nice thing about Italy,
this atmosphere in the evening on the piazza,
where all the people just go to hang out
and have a good time.
It's so cool.
(upbeat music)
And this square here,
Piazza Bellini,
is the perfect place
in Napoli for an Aperitivo,
so pre dinner drinks and snacks.
And of course I got this Spritz Aperol,
my favorite Italian drink.
So good.
Also some free snacks.
We are also gonna have some bruschetta,
which is coming soon.
And the bruschetta arrived.
So, bruschetta means little bread with delicious toppings.
And here we have gogonzola with walnuts, this one.
Then rucola with some ham, smoked ham and tomatoes.
Oh, it looks so good,
can't wait to try it.
(upbeat music)
All right it's pretty crazy,
so I found this Sorbillo Pizzeria
and check this out,
all these people there are waiting to get in.
I've never seen that before,
like such a long line
in front of a pizzeria to get a pizza.
So it must be really famous, all right?
Let me try my luck now and let's see if I can get in
or how long the wait will be.
(soft music)
So sometimes traveling by yourself has its perks.
Because I was by myself, they snuck me in
and I didn't have to wait at all,
which is really cool.
It is way famous pizzeria that it's so appealing though.
(bright music)
It's kind of like a bit of a funny gimmick here.
You see the floor is transparent
and you can see the people sitting.
(bright music)
Wow, okay I'd no idea
that simple pizza margherita can taste this way.
It's amazing,
really really amazing pizza.
Wow, Sorbillo.
Okay, I guess it lives up to the hype.
Why is, it's super cheap.
Pizza was only four euros
and then you pay coperto,
which is kinda like the included tip,
150 and water for two euros.
So yeah, amazing deal.
(bright music continues)
Lots of street art here in the streets too.
(bright music continues)
It's kinda cool is a bookshop
that doubles as a bar at night.
It's a creative idea to get people to read.
(soft music)
I've got a bit of a tricky situation this morning,
I had to check out of my Airbnb.
So now I'm standing here with all my luggage
and I don't really know where to leave it.
I tried to leave it at a hotel
but all the hotels apparently are closed here
because of the new normal
because there's no tourists.
And yeah, now I'm here in the middle of Naples
with a ton of luggage and nowhere to put it.
I continue to look for a place
to leave my luggage while walking through
the Quartieri Spagnoli.
The Quartieri Spagnoli were originally built
in the 16th century for the Spanish troops
of viceroy Don Pedro.
With its narrow streets, dripping washing,
renegade scooters and old school cooking,
this is one of the most unique neighborhoods of Naples.
It's also the part of the city
where the traditional Neapolitan language is strongest.
All right. So I guess I found a very Italian solution,
I asked at this hotel there and they agreed.
Usually they close at 1:30 cause there's no guests
but they agreed that I could meet
with one of the guys from the hotel
and he would keep my suitcase until four,
if I pay him a drink or something.
So that seems like a great solution.
I left it there.
I got his number here
and hopefully I get my suitcase back at four.
So I hope it's gonna work.
Let's see.
(upbeat music)
All right, now we are in one of the
few show stopper sites of Napoli.
This is the Museo Nazionale Archeologico,
the archeology museum,
which has many of the best and most impressive sculptures
and treasures from Pompeii.
(upbeat music)
The Museo Archeologico Nazionale houses
one of the world's most important collections
of ancient treasures.
The ground floor of the museum
displays colossal Greek and Roman sculptures
including a mighty Hercules statue
and the Toro Farnese
or Farnese Bull in English
which is the largest single sculpture
ever recovered from antiquity.
(upbeat music continues)
The museum's mezzanine level is home to some
of the most precious mosaics recovered from Pompeii
including the famous Alexander Mosaic
depicting the battle between
Alexander the Great and the Persian King,
Darius the Third.
The mosaics in this room are from the House of The Faun.
And it's called House of The Faun
because of this statue, it's faun.
Because a creature from Greek and Roman mythology,
are usually associated with the wild parties.
(soft music)
The first floor showcases ancient frescoes
that are incredibly well-preserved
and give a good impression of what life looked like
in the unfortunate city of Pompeii,
right before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
(upbeat music)
All right, time for lunch.
Another day, another legendary pizzeria.
Wow, it smells so good already.
I can't wait to start eating.
Al Tre Santi had the best pizza that I tried in Naples.
I especially like that
it had so much delicious mozzarella cheese on top.
And part of the new normal,
waiters have to disinfect tables
after the guests leave.
Even at a famous pizza place like this one.
Crazy.
Once again, despite this place being so famous
it only costs eight euros for pizza and a water.
So, really good price.
(upbeat music)
I'm going to take the subway now.
Just got my ticket here,
it's two stops to get back to Piazza del Plebiscito.
(upbeat music continues)
Many of metro stations in Naples
are impressive works of art.
Toledo,
where I got off,
was even declared Europe's most impressive metro station.
Other amazing stops include,
Materdei, with it's technicolor walls,
Salvator Rosa, with its quirky Fiat installation
and Universita
with lenticular color changing icons
and a sculpture that symbolizes
the synapses of the human brain.
All right, so that worked marvelously well,
I got my suitcase back.
Now, I think we can take a quick look
at the Galleria Umberto Primo
and then we might have a coffee
before taking a car to Positano.
(upbeat music)
The Galleria Umberto Primo
was built in the late 19th century
and is named after the then reigning King of Italy
who had supported Naples during a severe cholera epidemic.
The building is
a breathtaking pairing of neo-Renaissance fronts,
a lofty glass dome and a sumptuous marble floor.
It's an ideal place to go shopping, grab a coffee
or people watch.
During my visit, it was still pretty quiet
because of the new normal.
Next I walked over to
the Caffe Gambrinus,
which is Naples' oldest and most venerable cafe.
Some of its most famous customers included
Gabrielle D'Annunzio, Oscar Wilde,
Ernest Hemingway, and John Paul Sartre.
It offers outstanding Neapolitan coffee
and delicious pastries and cakes.
The Cafe is perfect for a break
after going sightseeing in the center of Naples
(sing in foreign language)
(crowd claps)
So those are my recommendations for Naples.
What are yours?
If you're from there or if you've been there before
please make sure to leave your tips
and advice in the comment box below this video.
If you liked this video
please give it a thumbs up
and subscribe to Max Nomad
for new travel videos published everyday.
I'm Max Nomad and I will talk to you again soon.