Where to stay in Naples

Loud, unvarnished and the best eating in Italy. Not everyone's first choice and it converts most of them anyway. The base for Pompeii, Herculaneum and the coast south.

Naples divides into quarters that sleep differently. The centro storico along Spaccanapoli and Via dei Tribunali puts the churches and pizzerias at the door, up four flights with no lift. Chiaia, west along the seafront, is calmer and better dressed, a couple of metro stops from the old city. Piazza Garibaldi is convenient for the station and nothing else.

It suits people who want a working city and can sleep through scooters; nervous first-timers should start in Sorrento. A hire car is a liability: the camera-enforced ZTL covers the old centre, so collect one on the way out. Pompeii is huge, shadeless and sells capped, named tickets; book and go early. Herculaneum is smaller, better preserved and a short walk down from the Ercolano Scavi stop.

Three nights: the city, one site plus the archaeological museum where its frescoes hang, and a spare. Come from Rome by Frecciarossa or Italo, a little over an hour, and do Naples before the coast; the city is the effort and the coast is the rest. Take the Circumvesuviana to Pompeii, but with luggage take the hydrofoil from Molo Beverello to Sorrento.

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