Things to know
Duration:
5 hrs
Categories:
City Highlights, Culture, First Time Visitor, History
Private Tour:
You and our own professional guide. 100% exclusive
Transport Mode:
Walking tour: no transportation is included
What's included:
A friendly, professional English-speaking tour guide for your own private group, Plenty of time to take photos of your favourite places
What's not included:
Hotel pick up and drop off, Food and drink, Gratuities
Meeting points:
Your guide will meet you at the Obelisco dell'Immacolata in the Piazza del Gesù Nuovo, 80134 Napoli NA, Italy
What makes this tour special
Explore the beautiful and historic highlights of Naples on a full-day tour with an expert private guide. Famous for its sublime architecture, stunning sea views, and vibrant atmosphere, and for being one of the oldest cities in Europe, Naples is designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. On this full-day tour, you'll get to see all the highlights of this ancient port city, that has been continuously inhabited since the first millennium BC.
On your private tour, you will:
- Meet your expert private guide in the Piazza del Gesù Nuovo, under the baroque Spire of the Immaculate Virgin; this is one of three "plague columns" in the city - built to give thanks for deliverance and protection from the 16th-century plague;
- Absorb the lively atmosphere of the piazza, before entering the stunning church of the same name meaning "New Jesus"; it was built as a palace for the Prince of Sanseverino in 1470 with works by Solimena and Lanfranco among many others;
- Visit the Church of Santa Chiara across the square - the largest Baroque monastic complex in Naples;
- Walk along the famous Via Spaccanapoli - which literally means "Naples splitter" - that divides the city in two, an old, long, straight and narrow road - lined with famous Neapolitan buildings, palazzos, and churches, bars and restaurants;
- Arrive at Piazza San Domenico Maggiore, one of the most important plazas in Naples lined with palaces and basilicas, and marked with another Plague pole;
- Explore the stunning Basilica of San Domenico (Saint Dominic) built in the 13th century by Charles II - known as Charles the Lame - an Angevin King; the monastery was home to many famous religious persons over the centuries including Thomas Aquinas and Giordano Bruno;
- Discover the Church of Sant'Angelo a Nilo, a 14th Century church named after the Egyptian Nile;
- Visit the Sansevero Chapel and admire its beautiful Rococo artwork by 19th-century Italian artists - including the legendary statue of The Veiled Christ, by Giuseppe Sanmartino;
- See the awesome marble Statue of the Nile God, located at Piazzetta Nilo;
- Walk along Via San Gregorio Armeno, a charming cobbled alley and look inside the magnificent church of San Gregorio Armeno - one of the most important Baroque complexes in Naples named for Saint Gregory of Armenia;
- Walk through Piazza San Gaetano, the most ancient square of the city; it was the Agora for the Ancient Greeks, the Forum during the Roman era, and the central place of governance throughout the medieval and Renaissance era,
- See two impressive basilicas on the square: San Lorenzo Maggiore and San Paolo Maggiore;
- Explore Via dei Tribunali and admire the fading grandeur of the palaces of the old Neapolitan nobility that line it,
- Visit the majestic Cathedral of Naples to admire frescoes by Lanfranco and altarpieces by Jusepe de Ribera in the Chapel of the Treasury;
- Discover the magnificent Piazza del Plebiscito - meaning the Piazza of the People; it is truly spectacular with its famous twin colonnades - reminiscent of St Peter's in Rome, and its domed church - similar to the Pantheon in Rome.
- Learn about the Royal Palace - one of the four residences near Naples used by the House of Bourbon during their reign (1735-1816) and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1816-1861);
- Stop at Caffè Gambrinus a famous and historic coffee house with an amazing interior, in the heart of Naples near the Royal Palace, Prefecture Palace, and Theatre - it is where famous intellectuals would meet - including Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Princess Sissi, and Jean-Paul Sartre;
- End your tour with a walk around the atmospheric Maschio Angoino castle or Castel Nuovo - with its impressive round, turreted towers, this is a masterpiece of a medieval fortress come castle, and was home to many Kings of Naples from Ferdinand I onwards.
Naples - from the ancient Greek Neapolis, meaning new city - is in fact the oldest and continuously inhabited city in Europe! Founded by the Ancient Greeks nearly 1000 years BC, it became a central port town during the Roman Empire, and throughout the middle ages, the Renaissance, the 19th century, WW2, and today. Despite heavy bombing during WW2, Naples has benefited from huge investments and its historic city centre covering over 4200 acres, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Famous for its lively and vibrant atmosphere, on your private full-day tour of Naples you'll see how Neapolitans go about their daily lives - they love their coffee, their motorinos, and their food!
Enjoy an incredible mixture of ancient and Baroque architecture as you walk down some of the oldest cobbled streets and alleyways in Europe - including the Via Spaccanapoli and Via dei Tribunali. You'll see spectacular Baroque churches and statues, imposing medieval castles, and magnificent neo-classical royal palaces.
