Why nomads choose Naples
Naples is loud, chaotic, beautiful, and unapologetically itself — the largest city in southern Italy, founded by Greek colonists around 600 BC as Neapolis, and home to one of the most extraordinary archaeological collections in the world. The historic centre is UNESCO-listed and feels like stepping into a Caravaggio painting: tall tenement blocks tower over narrow stone lanes (especially Spaccanapoli, the long arrow-straight artery cutting east-west through the old town), pizza is everywhere (the city invented pizza margherita in 1889 for Queen Margherita of Savoy), and street life happens on every corner. The Museo Archeologico Nazionale holds the best Pompeiian frescoes, the Farnese sculpture collection (including the colossal Farnese Hercules), and erotic Roman secret-cabinet artefacts. Underground Naples — a maze of Greek-cut tunnels, Roman aqueducts, and WWII air-raid shelters — is an essential tour. Don't miss the spectacular royal palace at Caserta (the largest royal residence in the world by volume), the breathtaking Capodimonte Museum (with Caravaggio's harrowing 'Flagellation of Christ'), and the Veiled Christ sculpture at the Sansevero Chapel — one of the most astonishing pieces of 18th-century marble carving anywhere. Naples is also the gateway to Pompeii, Herculaneum, the Amalfi Coast, and Capri.