Ischia is the place I always offer as an alternative to the Amalfi coast or Capri, for the kind of traveler who is really looking for a more down-to-earth experience. And it really has that look…

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For years, and still today, people ask: Isn’t Naples dangerous?

Naples is very safe, but it’s not a living museum like Florence or Venice. It’s densely populated and there’s crazy traffic, graffiti, and frequently overflowing trash cans, but that’s also because the local population hasn’t been relegated to the periphery of the cities as they have in Italy’s most touristed cities. If you would like a colder read on safety, know that Milan has the highest crime rate in Italy. Second is Florence. Naples is 13.

In the past, a dangerous reputation was more rightly earned. Much of that was a direct consequence of World War II. Fascism had destroyed the mafia in Italy, and many of its leaders fled to New York. Then the Allies used the Italian American mafia to serve as informants at the ports to oust the Germans. In the aftermath, a black market emerged in the final years of the war, with the mafia controlling the supply and distribution of basic goods. Elena Ferrante’s “My Brilliant Friend” depicts this through the character of Don Achille and the mafia's metastasis, as portrayed by the Solara brothers. There is still organized crime in Naples. It’s called the Camorra — every region has its own brand, as you may know from the book, movie, and television series Gomorrah (a play on Sodom and Gomorrah, and also on the local pronunciation of Camorra). It still exists, but like any business, it has transformed and will not affect you as a tourist.

Naples is the most dynamic city in Italy right now. And if anyone tells you otherwise — specifically, a travel agent who insists you should stay in Sorrento instead — this is their agenda: Naples has only a small handful of commissionable hotels. Agents who don’t charge a fee and work on commission need you to stay in Sorrento where commissions are abundant. This is a huge piece of why outdated stereotypes persist.

What Makes Naples Special

A few things that set Naples apart from every other city in Italy:

It is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The historic center is nearly 3,000 years old.

Every neighborhood has its own character. Naples is not a cohesive city the way Florence is, where the historic center is all one nice circle. Every neighborhood, called a quartiere or rione, has its own culture, its own vibe, almost its own identity. You are, in a sense, traveling between different experiences within a single city.

It is the very best day trip city in all of Italy. Capri. Ischia. Sorrento. Pompeii. Herculaneum. Caserta. Baia. You can go wine tasting, hike the slopes of Vesuvius, go to the beach inside the city, or visit incredible hot springs just outside it. There’s no better city in Italy for day trips. I would venture that there’s no better city for amazing day trips in all of Europe.

The food. More on this below, but the short version is this: it is the Italian food people come to Italy for: Pizza and pasta with tomato sauce. It’s easy to eat well and inexpensively in Naples.

The Metro. Built in the 90s (which incidentally sparked a ton of archaeological exploration while they were digging), it’s easy to use, tap-and-pay, and costs about a buck fifty. You can get around the whole city that way. Which is good because the traffic is madness, and you do not want to be in a taxi unless you have to.

My Strategy for Crossing the Street

The traffic in Naples is something you have to experience to understand. Crossing the street for the first time is overwhelming. But here’s the trick: find a rabbit, by which I mean, someone to follow. On your first day, find an elderly person or someone pushing a baby carriage, and watch what they do. They will just step out into traffic, and the traffic will slow for them.

What you will quickly realize is that there is actually a lot of human connection happening. And I know this sounds crazy if you’ve never been to Naples before, but I actually feel much safer crossing the street in Naples than I do in New York — because in New York, if you’re crossing when the light’s about to turn, someone will mow you down and say, “I had the right of way.” In Naples, they will actually look out for you.

The Three Most Famous Things

The Archaeological Museum (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli)

This is one of the three best museums in Italy and one of the best museums in the world. It holds all of the treasures from Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Baia. Originally a military barracks that was part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies — because southern Italy, up until 1861, was its own kingdom — it got converted into a museum during the 18th century, when King Ferdinand and Maria Carolina (who was the sister of Marie Antoinette) were on the throne and Pompeii and Herculaneum were being excavated. As they pulled all these incredible things out of the ground, they needed somewhere to protect them, and eventually, the barracks became so full of amazing stuff that it had to be turned into a museum.

It also houses the Farnese Collection, because Elisabetta Farnese from northern Italy married King Charles, who held the Spanish Bourbon crown and was king of both Spain and Naples-Sicily. She left her collection to her son. The Farnese Palace in Parma is still pretty salty about this.

If you have limited time, pair your museum visit with a trip to Pompeii—make sure you see the mosaic galleries, because what you encounter at the site and in the museum will form a complete picture.

The Veiled Christ

This is a sculpture made in 1753 by an artist no one has heard of — Giuseppe Sanmartino — and it is inside the Sansevero Chapel, which is still privately owned. It is carved out of a single piece of marble. The veil draped over the figure is so fine, so impossibly rendered, that I promise you have never seen anything like it and you will never see anything like it again.

This is the one thing in Naples where I think you should buy tickets in advance on their website. It’s a small space, they limit entry to timed groups, and it has become quite popular. For most other things in Naples, you can generally just show up — but not here. And they are very strict about no photography inside, which means it’s hard to get a real sense beforehand of just how extraordinary this sculpture is.

Pizza

Who on earth doesn’t like pizza? It was invented in Naples. Yes, there are flatbreads throughout history that sort of gesture toward it, but pizza as we know it today was invented here, and the reason we have such great pizza in New York is that so many pizzaioli — pizza makers — emigrated from Naples to New York City.

Neapolitan pizza is very particular. It is almost like a tandoori bread: puffy on the outside, paper-thin, and a little soggy in the center. You eat it with a knife and a fork. If the dough is good, it should be light as a feather, and you could honestly eat two of them despite how big they look. They’re cooked for just 90 seconds in the oven. Pizza is a religion in Naples. People will argue endlessly about where the best one is. My honest take: I’ve been to places Neapolitans consider mediocre, and I still thought they were pretty damn good. But the ones you really can’t miss are Sorbillo (there’s one on the Lungomare) and 50 Kalò, which is another personal favorite.

Food

The food in Naples is the Italian food that people come to Italy for. If you’ve ever done a Northern Italian lakes trip and found yourself staring down a lot of risotto and trout, wishing for pizza and pasta, Naples is your place.

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June 25 at 8 pm ET is the next Destination Deep Dive, which will visit Ischia.

The Honest Take: Why I Have Mixed Feelings About Tuscany

Tuscany is picture-perfect, and that’s why the region has become the postcard of Italy and of Italian tourism itself. And Tuscans do the business of tourism well. When I send clients there, I know they are in capable hands. The roads are extremely well managed, and the guides and drivers all speak excellent English. You find pretty good mattresses and a wide variety of accommodations. But sometimes I have mixed feelings about Tuscany because it has done so well in business, in marketing itself, in figuring out how to give tourists exactly what they want, and especially well at the high-end level, that I feel like it has given up too much of its soul.

Let me give you an example of what I mean: Pienza, a gorgeous UNESCO World Heritage site, was rebuilt in the 15th century by Pope Pius II to emulate the highest ideals of Renaissance architecture. And today, they no longer ring the bells in their historic bell tower because of complaints from the tourists in their hotels in the morning.

We’re not talking about leaf blowers, folks. I think Pienza should ring its own bells.

If you feel discouraged, I assure you that there’s plenty of soul in Tuscany, but maybe not in the places you’ve heard about. As such, I put together this Deep Dive to give you a good sense of the places that will satisfy your eyes and the ones that will also satisfy your heart.

Who Is Tuscany (and Who Isn’t It) For?

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Here’s the link for the Tuscany livestream. The recording will be available to subscribers immediately after the event.

Florence needs no advertising or propaganda, and overtourism has had a massive impact on the city, especially in the past five years. Florence’s main economy has been tourism for two centuries, but today’s standard itinerary revolves around the viral spots: the wine windows, the affogato, the sandwich, and David. I recommend skipping all of that except for David. But maybe also skip David, because Florence has an embarrassment of riches for those who want to experience awe and wonder.

The best reason to visit Florence is to experience its art and architecture. If you’re not open to visiting churches and museums, honestly, don’t go to Florence. Italy’s twenty regions are so wildly diverse that you should always prioritize the experience you want to have first, then choose the city or region where you can best have that experience. Florence and Tuscany have become icons of Italy’s tourism market, but that doesn’t mean they are universally enjoyed or are “the best.”

The Basics

Florence is small and completely walkable. As a tourist, you won’t need to leave the historic center, the centro storico. The Arno River runs through the center, and the biggest concentration of sites is around the Duomo, in a pedestrianized zone where you’ll also find the biggest crowds of tourists, day trippers, and bus tours. The other side is called the Oltrarno, and (generally) it’s calmer, quieter, more residential, and more hip, especially if you’re in the neighborhood called San Frediano. But Florence is not a cutting-edge city; it has been a city of art and history lovers and students for over two centuries, always with a large population of English speakers.

What’s special about Florence:

• The cradle of the Renaissance

• Small and very walkable. If you’re a good walker, you may never even need a taxi or bus, other than getting to and from the train station with your luggage

• Long history of being hospitable to foreign residents and students

• Easy access to the Tuscan countryside

The challenges:

Over-tourism is a huge problem, largely accelerated by short-term apartment rentals. You have to be prepared for large crowds and be thoughtful about which sites you want to see, so that you can buy tickets in advance. Definitely invest in good tours. You should also make dinner reservations if you want to ensure you eat well, which you can definitely do in Florence, but not spontaneously unless you’re already very familiar with Tuscan cuisine.

Best time to go: Winter. Yes, it’s very cold, but the crowds are significantly less, and Florence in the summer can be unbearable. The city is ringed by the Chianti Hills, which are beautiful, but that also means it’s extremely hot in summer; the mosquitoes coming off the Arno should have EasyJet emblazoned on their sides; and the air pollution sometimes hangs over the city.

The Three Most Famous Sites

The Duomo. You can always orient yourself in Florence by looking up to see where you are in relation to the red brick dome. It’s an engineering marvel, begun in 1296 and completed in the late 1400s. The word “duomo” means cathedral, not dome, even though Florence’s cathedral is famous for its dome. The word comes from the Latin word domus, meaning house, or in this context, God’s house. Think of it as a spiritual football stadium, designed to bring the entire city together within a medieval vision of the kingdom of God.

The Duomo is the starting point for understanding Florence and why it became the cradle of the Renaissance. I strongly recommend that a visit to the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo should be on your first full day in the city, so you have context for everything you will see afterward. (Don’t worry, these details are all in the five-day itinerary down below.)

Also, the genius of the freestanding red-brick dome is attributed to Fillipo Brunelleschi, but recent research has revealed that the innovation originated in medieval Persia. Florence was rich largely due to textiles, and the rich history of weaving and carpets, particularly near Tabriz, included large networks of Florentine merchants. The innovation of the double-shell dome comes from the Dome of Soltaniyeh, with the signature herringbone pattern appearing in several other domes from about a century earlier in Persia. It’s fascinating, and here’s a podcast episode you can listen to about it: Ep. 37: The Secret of Florence’s Dome

Michelangelo’s David. One of the most famous works of art in the history of everything, and one of those pieces that, when you see it in real life, is way better. It’s in the Accademia, which is still an art school, and it is a madhouse to get in. Do not wing it with David. Get skip-the-line tickets. Book a tour. They release tickets in batches, so you have to book far enough in advance, but not too far. Make sure it’s on your trip-planning to-do list.

The Uffizi. One of the world's most famous art museums. Uffizi means “the offices” — these were all part of the Medici family’s home offices. It really is like walking through an art history textbook. That said, if you’re not familiar with the Renaissance and you don’t love museums, skip the Uffizi and see the art in churches instead. Being able to see iconic works of art in their intended setting is the real opportunity in Italy.

If you’re going during high season, pay for early-morning tickets because it gets really hot inside. The most famous work there is Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, and like David, it is extra special when you see it in person.

Food

Don’t go to Florence for pizza and pasta. I know that sounds ridiculous, but Italian food is different from region to region, and what we call “Italian food” outside of Italy is mostly from Naples. Trust me, you can have far better pizza in New York than you can in Florence.

Tuscans love their beans, vegetables, bread, and wild boar. They’re jokingly called mangia fagioli, the bean eaters, and a dish of white beans drowned in Tuscan olive oil and punctuated with a sprig of rosemary is to me the signature taste of Florence.

Tuscan dishes to try:

• Ribollita — a soup with lots of vegetables and stale bread

• Pappa al Pomodoro — mushy stale bread with tomatoes and basil, which doesn’t sound good, but I promise you it’s delicious

• Pici — pici are a type of pasta, hand-rolled noodles that sometimes have the texture of Udon. You’ll find them dressed with rich sauces, such as porcini mushrooms, or sometimes with stewed cinghiale (wild boar). It’s also common to have a wild boar ragù with pappardelle, which are flat, wide-cut noodles.

• Bistecca Fiorentina — thick cut from a specific Chianina cow, lean, cooked and served very rare (essentially raw in the center). If you like your steak well done, don’t get one. It’s not the tradition.

• Crostini Toscano— chicken liver pâté smeared on toasted bread. Looks like cat food, tastes like heaven.

• Schiacciata — like focaccia but thinner, crunchier, and with more olive oil. Get it fresh out of the oven at Pugi.

• Lampredotto sandwich — this is where I lose some of you. Lampredotto is the fifth stomach of a cow. This is the food of the poor; the nobles got everything else, and this was truly what was left. It’s called lampredotto because the texture is that of a lamprey eel, because eels were the thing to eat during the Renaissance; all the wealthiest people ate them, and this was the poor man’s version. I know none of that was much of an endorsement, but a lampredotto sandwich tastes like a really good roast beef sandwich. What makes it delicious is the salsa verde, a sauce made with capers, anchovies, parsley, olive oil, and day-old bread, all blended together. There are a few food trucks around the city that serve it, and my favorite is listed in the itinerary.

  

• Olive oil - while not a dish, I personally think Tuscany produces the most flavorful olive oil in Italy. Pane Toscano is the local bread, unsalted, but it’s best for mopping up high-quality olive oil and enjoying the magic of simplicity. In late fall, Tuscans go crazy for cavolo, what we call dinosaur kale, topped with freshly pressed olive oil.

The Markets:

The Mercato Sant’Ambrogio is my favorite. It’s much more traditional than the Mercato Centrale. Have lunch at Trattoria da Rocco, a little stand inside the market. It’s like a diner, no frills, and you’ll see lots of Florentines on their lunch break. Outside the market, vendors sell vintage clothing; I have some amazing cashmere sweaters from here. All of this happens in the morning.

The Mercato Centrale on the ground floor still has vegetables, meat, and cheese. The upper floor is more of a food court catering largely to students who want tacos and an international array of food. If you’re traveling with picky teens, this will be a good stopping point, but if you want traditional Florentine, choose Sant’Ambrogio.

Tourist Traps

Antico Vinaio. I probably can't dissuade you from waiting in this very long line because the FOMO is intense, but let me just offer that they also have locations in New York’s Times Square and Dubai, so you be the judge, ok? Also, it might take you a few days to desalinate after eating one.

That wine window. There are many wine windows, and the one featured on Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy has become a social media postcard. Don’t worry about getting a photo of that one, but do keep your eyes open for them around the city. They are a charming detail, and looking for them helps attune your eye to the architecture.

Vivoli’s affogato. I am very pro-affogato. Gelato drowned in a shot of espresso is among the most pleasurable taste experiences ever, but you do not have to go to Vivoli to get it. Their gelato is excellent, and this is not a criticism of their business whatsoever. But you can go to any gelateria and get an affogato. It’s just gelato drowned in a shot of espresso. It’s an Italian thing, not just a Vivoli thing, but elsewhere most non-Italians just don’t think to ask for it.

Trattoria Zaza. Famous because…I have no idea why. At least since 1997, when I first heard about it, it was not good. I actually sat down and had dinner there in 2021 to see if I was being a judgey jerk, and no, it was still awful.

The San Lorenzo leather market. Once upon a time, this was a good market, but it’s not anymore. The leather largely comes from India or Bangladesh, and it uses many toxic dyes. Good leather shops in Florence exist; they’re in actual shops and workshops, and they’re not cheap because it’s skilled artisan work.

If you appreciate my candidness, please subscribe. Getting traction on social media means being a slave to the algorithms. Substack is the place where I can tell you the truth. All my podcast episodes are free, but the Destination Deep Dives and resources are for paid subscribers.

Just Beyond the Gates of Florence

It’s very easy to get outside of the Florence city center, including on foot. If you cross the Arno into the San Niccolo neighborhood, you can then walk up the long, graded path to Piazzale Michelangelo. There you will get a beautiful panoramic view of the city. It can be crowded at sunset, but still worth the climb if you make it your evening passegiatta. From there, you can see the original city gates of Florence still intact. In fact, you will pass through them again when you re-enter the city.

Along the way, you will pass the Church of San Miniato al Monte, which has beautiful mosaics and is a delight to visit after hours when the church is still open, and the lights are on, causing the mosaics to glitter.

In the hills surrounding Florence, you will see villas that all belonged to the wealthy Renaissance families. They would have had their apartments and palazzi in the city and then their summer residences outside, where they could get the fresh breezes, especially in the summertime. Many of these homes are available today as vacation rentals, and a few are also hotels. If you’re traveling with family or friends and you want the extra space, this can be a lovely option. It’s also the perfect way to live out the Tuscan fantasy. Most of these places are not cheap, but if you’re going to stay in Florence for a week, it might be worth it

A Five-Day Itinerary

The detailed five-day itinerary, which includes restaurants, recommendations for leather shops, wine bars, and tours I recommend, is available to paid subscribers. Please upgrade your subscription to keep reading.

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Before you dive in, I will start hosting the monthly Ask Me Anything About Italy sessions right here on Substack instead of Zoom. That will make the recording immediately available to those who can’t attend live. If you’d like to join with your questions about trip planning, history, or culture, please become a subscriber.

Introduction

My grandmother, Evelina Scariati, was from Capaccio Paestum, and her stories about the temples of Paestum were my introduction to art history and Italy. Her father would take her and her sisters to visit the temples built by the Greeks nearly 3,000 years ago and still standing. In the 1930s, the temples sat unprotected on the plains, about a mile from the beach, without a fence or ticket office. The young girls pulled pottery shards from the ground and fit them together like puzzle pieces. Those shards must have been at least 2,000 years old and are now in the Paestum museum, which didn’t open until 1952.

The temple grounds were chosen, I believe, because there’s a special charge here. Or maybe all those years of sacred practice imbued the land with something that feels supernatural. Fortunately, the Cilento is protected from mass tourism, unlike its supermodel sister, Amalfi, which means it’s quiet enough for anyone who wants to feel that charge to do so. It may take a day or so for the peace of the area to settle in, but it will, I promise.

What’s Special About Cilento

The Cilento is a part of the region of Campania. It’s immediately south of the Amalfi coast. When you are in Cilento, especially on the beach at Paestum or from the hilltop village of Castellabate, you can see Positano, Ischia, and Capri on clear days. They’re right there. But the Cilento is part of a national park. There’s no mass tourism, no cruise ships, and it’s significantly less expensive than the Amalfi coast.

The land within the Cilento National Park is regulated, and much of the food is organic. The quality of the soil is incredible because it sits on an ancient seabed, between two volcanoes, one extinct, one active. In terms of agriculture, it is one of the most productive regions in Italy, and the area's vegetable dishes are among the best.

The three most famous things about Cilento: 1) the 3,000-year-old temples at Paestum, 2) buffalo mozzarella, and 3) the Mediterranean Diet, which was first studied and codified in the seaside village of Pioppi. Cilento is also a Blue Zone, with an extraordinary number of centenarians.

If you want to stay in luxury hotels, feel like a movie star, get the boat ride with a spritz, get the photo of the famous view, spend the money, and choose the Amalfi coast. If you want small villages, excellent food, ancient temples, turquoise water, and sandy beaches, then Cilento is your choice. And if you want to do both, you can easily day-trip to the Amalfi coast from Cilento by taking the ferry to Amalfi and Positano, or (better) drive to Vietri-sul-Mare or Cetara.

The five-day itinerary is for paid subscribers — where to stay, where to eat, the buffalo farm you should visit if you want a tour, and the one you should visit if you prefer a long lunch and cannoli filled with buffalo milk ricotta. It also includes the fig and chocolate laboratory in the ancient oil mill, and the night fishing trip that costs only €40 and ends with dancing and fried anchovies on a private beach.

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