Ciao guagliu :)

Premetto che l'italiano non è la mia lingua madre (anche se me la cavo abbastanza bene), quindi scusatemi per eventuali errori.

Da un po' di tempo sto cercando di studiare il napoletano. Trovo che sia una lingua davvero affascinante e la mia intenzione è di impararla sul serio. Finora ascolto molta musica cercando di tradurre i testi, ho visto diversi film e, ovviamente, Gomorra. Pero sento il bisogno di passare a qualcosa di piu strutturato.

Avete consigli su libri, dizionari, canali o altre risorse per chi vuole fare sul serio?

Secondo voi, quante possibilita ci sono per una straniera di arrivare a parlarla fluentemente senza vivere a Napoli?

Grazie!

I’m a student at the University of Naples Federico II, studying Civil and Environmental Engineering. I moved to Naples on September 1st, and I found my accommodation through Facebook.

At first, everything seemed fine.

But after about a week, they suddenly told me I needed to pay a one-month deposit if I wanted my contract.

So I paid it.

Then, around the middle of September, they started demanding my October rent early, saying they needed money for bills.

They kept pressuring me and my father for money. At one point, they were even asking for €20 or €30 on a daily basis.

Last night, the man living in the house called me into the kitchen and told me he didn’t like my attitude and wanted me to leave by December.

I told him I was already planning to leave before then.

And suddenly, he started screaming in my face.

He said, “This is my house. I decide when you leave.”

Then he pushed me to the ground and started calling me racial slurs, telling me to “go back to my country.”

He came into my room, saw my air fryer, and started kicking it, saying my room wasn’t a restaurant and that I was increasing their bills.

Then he grabbed my luggage and started smashing it against the floor.

At that point, I genuinely was scared for my life

I locked myself in my room and called the police.

The police came, took their IDs, looked around the house, and warned them.

But I told them, “I don’t feel safe staying here for even another hour. How am I supposed to stay here for another month?”

The police replied that they were the house owners, that I had to follow their house rules, and that if I didn’t feel safe, I should just book an Airbnb.

Bear in mind, I was a student who had just moved to Italy. I didn’t have anywhere else to go.

So I called a relative who helped me pack my things. Then my university friend Harun let me stay at the hotel where he was staying for the night.

And the next morning, I came to Rome.

I had already paid around €800 for just 29 days, and this is how things ended.

And honestly, the worst part isn’t even just what happened that night.

It’s what it did to me afterwards.

, I was dealing with fear, stress, and the feeling that I had nowhere to go.

I’m still processing what happened.

You can leave a house physically, but the fear doesn’t always leave with you.

I came to Italy to study, to build my future, and to experience a new life.

I never expected one of my first experiences here to affect me like this.

Because when you’re alone in a new place, the place you call home should be the one place where you feel safe.

One confusing aspect is that there are three entrances/exits to the Pompeii archaeological site, and there are also three railway stations nearby.

https://preview.redd.it/3t9v0cfi22uh1.png?width=1573&format=png&auto=webp&s=359026fc685f8236c370b2324fdd089aa64726e7

1 (PORTA MARINA) Via Villa dei Misteri, 2, 80045 Pompei NA

2 Piazza Esedra, 80045 Pompei NA

3 (PIAZZA ANFITEATRO) Via Roma, 54, 80045 Pompei NA

1 is the most common entry point.

Three railway stations

A https://maps.app.goo.gl/PApFusqd3UL4i1Zc9 Pompei Scavi Villa Dei Misteri

B https://maps.app.goo.gl/WbdaAjbw4h23sZsa7 Pompei

C https://maps.app.goo.gl/5v9ZoqnUR4Rp8uf76 Pompei Santuario

A is near entrances 1 and 2; B and C are near entrance 3.

Google Maps shows Train 13 going to Station A, the Train MET going to Station B, and Train 14 going to Station C.

Taking Train 13 to Station A and entering and exiting via Entrance 1 is the most common choice.

https://preview.redd.it/nydd0qul22uh1.png?width=494&format=png&auto=webp&s=375ddf8c2e48228ae23a21a1777f1feb3a55661e

Train 13 and 14:

https://preview.redd.it/wsl67dmm82uh1.png?width=999&format=png&auto=webp&s=e38a0d6fe188b29d7b662bfeb962dd3636301d3d

How to purchase train tickets for lines 13 and 14 on the Unico Campania mobile app:

Buy-Public transport-EAV Servizi Ferroviari -Campania-Fixed-fare tickets-SPOSTAMENTI DA/PER NAPOLI

https://preview.redd.it/4dirzkl6b2uh1.png?width=665&format=png&auto=webp&s=ad031139eb0603e7474885df657f8b8cc2b72fc5

https://preview.redd.it/uc1u3zj8b2uh1.png?width=620&format=png&auto=webp&s=3f2201d5cac07119e2dfb11f4ba69ae351597cbc

https://preview.redd.it/pj7zcrzab2uh1.png?width=627&format=png&auto=webp&s=339c530d7caca846fba5e680379489cdf9a01acb

https://preview.redd.it/e2w0gfucb2uh1.png?width=627&format=png&auto=webp&s=9faa9419a40a8d2cd83a8048882f8711e68faf75

Activate the train ticket in the app to generate a QR code. Not all entry gates can scan QR codes, so be sure to choose a gate equipped with a scanner.

1

Ciao a tutti, sono nuovo su reddit e avrei bisogno di ascoltare pareri diversi da quelli che mi circondano.

Ho appena concluso un rapporto lavorativo che mi ha lasciato completamente a terra sia economicamente che mentalmente. Con la mia compagna vogliamo addirittura trasferirci per allontanarci da una comunità ed una cittadina davvero troppo chiuse per i nostri gusti. Vorremo tornare a napoli per avvicinarci alla famiglia. La mia più grande preoccupazione è la situazione economica che non è delle migliori. Da dove dovremmo iniziare per portare a termine questo progetto? In che zona cercare casa per vivere tranquilli con un bimbo piccolo? E che opportunità lavorative offre la città di napoli? Le mie esperienze lavorative sono varie: dall' essere stato operaio tecnico a barista fino ad anni di imprenditore sempre nel settore bar.

Ringrazio chi avrà piacere di lasciare un commento e a tutti gli altri una buona giornata

This was my first trip to Naples. I was nervous going into it (I had heard various stories), so I was pleasantly surprised to find a lively and vibrant city that I totally fell in love with over the course of my stay. While Rome remains the most magnificent city of those I’ve visited in Italy, Naples is probably the most fully lived in - while there are plenty of tourists, it is primarily a city designed for and enjoyed by its inhabitants. It’s not a city for tourists seeking a playground designed for their own comfort, but it’s a great destination for anyone interested in Italian and Neapolitan culture - both ancient and modern.

Itinerary 

• Day 1 (half-day) - Funicular up from Parco Margherita to Vomero, Castel Sant’Elmo, Certosa di San Martino
• Day 2 - Pompeii and Herculaneum 
• Day 3 - Basilica di San Francesco di Paola, Royal Palace of Naples, Via Toledo, Naples Archaeological Museum, Exploring Chiaia Area
• Day 4 - Guided tour of Galleria Borbonica, Castel Nuovo, Naples Harbour, Checking out Metro Station Architecture, guided tour of the Historic Centre

Top tips

• The most important money-saving tip for Naples and the wider region is to BUY THE ARTE CARD 365 LITE PASS. I cannot stress enough what a huge money saver this was. It cost only 26 euros and covered my admission to almost everything besides the Galleria Borbonica (which was totally worth the extra cost - more below). It saved me almost 70 euros in total and made me much more open to trying out places that I would not have otherwise thought to visit, which led to some wonderful discoveries.
• Research the area where you’re going to stay very carefully according to your needs/preferences. I am a quiet and introverted person and for me having a safe and quiet environment to return to every evening was extremely important. I chose a B&B in the Chiaia area and this was a fantastic choice for me - it was extremely upscale, well-connected and quiet relative to the other parts of the city (and even with all that said, my B&B was still reasonably priced). I felt totally safe there and slept well every night. While I enjoyed visiting the historic centre, it was a permanent frenzy of activity (even more so after dark!) and I know I wouldn’t have coped well with staying there.
• You don’t need to bother with paper tickets for the train/metro (I never took the bus so can’t comment on them). They all accept contactless tap and go payment, though a word of warning is that the touchpoints are sometimes frustratingly hard to locate (they’re dark green and normally attached to the walls of the station near the entrance/exit - they are often not at the barriers themselves). The only time I got truly hassled was when a guy tried to buy my ticket to Pompeii for me at Central Station, a problem I could have avoided by tapping in instead.

 

Top recommendations

• Pompeii (which I discuss separately in my post here) - needless to say this lived up to its reputation. Walking the streets of Pompeii was an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life. 
• Castel Sant’Elmo - this is a massively impressive structure with a huge scale, and the views of the Bay of Naples from the top are simply peerless. It was a breath-taking way to start my stay in Naples. There’s also an excellent contemporary art museum at the top of the castle which is absolutely worth visiting in its own right - there are some genuinely arresting sculptures and paintings on display, and it was refreshing to take in modern art after focusing so extensively on ancient sculpture, etc. 
• Certosa di San Martino - I went into this on a whim late in the day on account of having access through the Arte Card, and was blown away by the beauty of the archirecture and the scale of the collections. The first site was a small but gorgeously adorned church - genuinely one of the most beautiful I’ve seen in the whole of Italy. The collections of art, mostly religious in nature, were exceptionally high-quality, and I found the display of statues (the Sybils) damaged by WWII bombing very moving. The major cloister is breath-takingly beautiful with some of the coolest skull sculptures I’ve ever seen. 
• Naples Archaeological Museum - this is a must-visit to complement the experience of visiting Pompeii and Herculaneum. The exhibits are incredible and represent the highest watermark of quality in ancient art. The highlights for me were the Farnese collection, the sculptures from the Villa of the Papyri and the frescos from Pompeii - particularly the portraits of individuals. It was also weirdly moving to see the regular domestic items like beds and tables on display, as they viscerally brought to life the day-to-day reality of ancient people’s lives.
• Galleria Borbonica - this was a truly excellent tour through 400 years or so of Neapolitan history, covering the origin of the tunnels during the time of the Bourbon kings right through to WWII and the recent past. The spaces we covered in the tour were really brought to life by the great guide and the presence of objects corresponding to different periods of use (for example, toy prams belonging to children who had stayed there during WWII). We even glimpsed a river running through the tunnels at a lower level, and I was amazed (and jealous) to be told that a rafting experience is available (in Italian only, alas). Emerging back into the city through a shopping centre built into the caves was a surreal but amazing part of the experience.
• CasaCinema Napoli was a really beautiful cinema with gorgeous décor (lots of vintage movie posters and stills) and very kind staff - I ordered a coca-cola and they were generous enough to also bring me some olives, breadsticks and popcorn, which were all free of charge. I unfortunately didn’t have time to watch a movie there (though I would have loved to!), but I will certainly return when I go back to Naples. It was a great place to relax and recover some energy, and there was a wonderful buzz from all the people gathered in groups outside.
• The pastries! Everyone is obsessed with Neapolitan pizza (which is great!) while overlooking the incredible, and often unique, baked goods. I had some of the most amazing cakes and tarts of my life here (an incredible bun filled with pistachio cream from Pasticceria Poppella was my favourite).

Miscellaneous observations

• The reports about the crazy driving in Naples are accurate. Traffic signs are treated as suggestions, and pedestrians’ sole power lies in confidence - to cross a road in some busy areas, you need to take a literal step of faith into the traffic to declare your intent and meet the eyes of the approaching driver in the hope that they will take mercy upon you. The safest option for most tourists will be to wait for others to attempt to cross and shadow them - there is safety in numbers! (I personally witnessed a scooter crashing into a lemonade stand in the historic centre. A verbal altercation inevitably broke out between the driver and the vendor, and it was honestly hilarious.)
• As a tourist DO NOT WEAR HEADPHONES. Situational awareness is extremely important for many reasons (avoiding pickpockets/surviving magically appearing scooters) and you should do nothing to diminish your senses while out and about in the city. 
• Avoid places you are unfamiliar with in the dark, especially quiet streets with no one around. When I needed to go back to my hotel on my last night I navigated to Montesanto station, only to realise Google Maps had led me to the funicular station - the L2 station was a separate building a few minutes’ walk away and was very badly signposted and in a poorly lit/somewhat sketchy area. Thankfully some helpful fellow tourists took me in the right direction, but if not for them I would have struggled to find it. This was the only time in the whole trip that I felt slightly scared/vulnerable.
• As a lone woman I did experience some light cat-calling/creepy men (the creepiest was a random man stopping next to me on his scooter and trying to chat me up in Italian). I coped with this by ignoring them and getting away as quickly as possible. You can’t eliminate the risk of this entirely as a woman, but can diminish it by sticking to areas with more people around (the scooter man happened when I was walking through a quiet alley and he appeared out of nowhere from behind me). I spent much of my time in museums/on guided tours, which I recommend for solo female visitors. All incidents of cat-calling, etc. occurred in the historic centre - this was not an issue for me in Chiaia/Vomero. 
• For safety and practical reasons (after non-stop exploring, I was normally out of energy by 6pm), I mostly avoided going out after dark. I would recommend this to solo travellers, especially women, as the city becomes much more chaotic after nightfall - this is fun but can be a lot to handle, and it was certainly too much for my introverted self to cope with after a busy day of sightseeing.

 

Final takeaways

• I loved how alive and vibrant the city felt. At every turn, I saw people using and enjoying their city - there was a literature festival for children and teens happening at the Palace when I visited, and it was magical to see those splendid rooms being put to practical use. There was a wedding taking place at Castel Nuovo and I saw the bride and groom getting their photos taken in the courtyard. I even passed a group touring Chiaia station for the Open House Napoli festival, which I had no idea existed until I saw the logo on the guide’s t-shirt. While I love Rome, it’s highly tuned towards the needs and comfort of international tourists, and that is not so in Naples (there were some occasions where I needed to use the translation app on my phone to communicate, for example) - this is primarily a city enjoyed by its locals, and I think that’s what gives it such a special energy.
• There are so many wonderful, world-class sites in Naples itself that I think it’s a real shame that it’s frequently overlooked by international tourists, or merely treated as a stopgap on the way to Pompeii. The Archaeological Museum is unmissable for anyone with an interest in the ancient world, and there’s something life-changing about looking out at the Bay of Naples from the parapets of Castel Sant’Elmo. The history and folklore of Naples itself are also fascinating, and I can’t wait to explore more of the underground areas when I come back. 
• Naples is a very beautiful and special city and it is worth the slight extra effort it takes to visit it as an international tourist. While you need to take sensible precautions, there is no reason to be afraid to visit - as long as you’re aware of your surroundings and careful about the areas you go to/stay in, you’ll have a fantastic time!
• Grazie Napoli! I look forward to my return trip.

hey :)

i’ve visited naples from nyc a couple of times and love it. each time i’ve stayed around the historic center. but for my next trip i want to stay for a longer stretch of time and be in either chiaia or vomero.

can you help me choose between those two neighborhoods? how they are similar / different would be helpful. looking to go around january if that matters.

Buongiorno ragazzi, a Novembre verrò a Napoli, volevo chiedervi se è molto distante da via dei Tribunali al gran caffè gambrinus? Qual è il modo più facile per arrivarci ?