In the middle of a delayed, sweaty, overcrowded train ride from Naples Central Station to the archaeological ruins of Pompeii — somewhere around Torre del Greco — it dawned on me: maybe all the rumours about Naples are true.

It was my girlfriend and I’s first international trip together. After considering our options for a few days, we decided to head to the colourful Amalfi Coast. It looked like a destination that was romantic, relaxing, and reasonably priced. I had rarely been more excited to embark on an adventure.

Until I realised that the easiest way to get from Belgium to Amalfi without a car is flying into Naples.

Now, I had heard stories about Naples. How the city’s trash problem hadn’t been fixed in years. How nearly every building was covered in graffiti (and not the fun kind). And how the public transport was unreliable and inefficient — at best.

You may say Naples is the most unfiltered, gritty version of Italy you can find. And you may even believe that’s a good thing. But I don’t.

If you like Naples, good for you! I’m not trying to get you to dislike the city. It has wonderful places waiting to be discovered, the food is to die for, and the centuries’ worth of history hidden in the city are unfathomable.

All I’m saying is: it’s not a city that immediately enchants everyone.

To a small-town guy like myself, Naples feels a lot like the New York City of southern Europe. You feel like you just have to visit at some point, the place has plenty of things to do, and you need a few days to decompress when you get home.

The only way to find out whether the destination is worth your time is to give it a try.

Two days in Italy’s city that could have been

Reading this article may lead you to believe that I hated every minute of my time in Naples. But nothing could be further from the truth. After all, you can’t hate a city you’ve only spent two days in.

We decided to explore Naples before continuing to the Amalfi Coast. We were going to be passing through anyway, so why not slow down a bit and take a gander at the city?

As it turns out, two days was plenty of time to do everything we wanted to do in Naples. In short: walk around, eat and drink to our hearts’ content, and soak in the atmosphere.

One thing I liked about these two days is that we didn’t feel the need to cross off things from a list of “things to do in Naples”. This allowed us to spend quality time together without feeling anxious about missing out on certain experiences.

I’m sure we skipped a few things that would have been worth our time, but I don’t regret any of the decisions we made on this trip. I will look back on our time in Naples and remember the conversations we shared on a rowdy square and the dogs who came to say hi when we were having a drink.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The food in Naples: surprisingly mediocre

When you’re talking about the literal birthplace of the pizza, you’d better have a good reason for criticising the food.

Don’t get me wrong — some of the food we had in Naples was mouth-watering. We were blown away by the sfogliatelli, arancini, sgagliozze, crocchè, and other food with names that are tricky to pronounce for non-native speakers.

Remarkably, the one thing that disappointed us was the pizza. Maybe it’s because we were only there for two days and we didn’t venture far enough into the lesser-known depths of the city in pursuit of the perfect pizza napolitana. Or maybe it’s because we were anticipating a life-changing meal.

Either way — we expected more from a city known for its pizza.

We were told the best pizzeria in Naples was L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele. So, of course, we were more than happy to wait in line for 15 minutes before a middle-aged Italian man shouted my girlfriend’s name and handed us our dinner in the typical square cardboard boxes.

Again, don’t get me wrong: in terms of value for money, we got a deal that was hard to match. €5 for a pizza we both struggled to finish? Come on.

Could it be that I drew the wrong conclusion from this experience? That Naples does have life-changing pizza — and it’s just a matter of managing expectations?

Maybe Naples is a city that will grow on me with a second visit. Or maybe it’s just not my cup of tea. And you know what? I think that’s okay.

PIN IT!

Photo credits

• Photo by Kir Shu on Unsplash
• Photo by Sam van Bussel on Unsplash
• Photo by Cenk Batuhan Özaltun on Unsplash
• Photo by Théo Roland on Unsplash
• Photo by Victor Malyushev on Unsplash
• Photo by Ivon De pol