Comments on: Don’t Go to Naples

By: Chelsea

Chelsea — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:08:59 +0000

What you have said about this city is horrible. You seem to be very narrow minded. There are so many great things in this city and around it. The most important city of Italia. I have travelled all over Italia and found Napoli to be the most interesting and for some parts even beautiful. My advice for anyone travelling, find a local, know someone who knows Napoli and you will experience it in the most amazing way.
Yes it can be seedy but after living in Italia for some time you soon learn how to keep the weirdos away!!!! They think we are stupid if we act stupid so don’t be stupid!!!! Hold onto your bags, be aware of your surrounding, experience some beautiful food and drink that this city has to offer and don’t come to Napoli with a bad attitude because really it’s an experience, no one is forcing you to live there!!! Btw it’s also very cheap so if your on a budget this is a great city to stay in

By: Hank

Hank — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 22:27:27 +0000

Although I actually had a great time in Naples the one time I went, this article made me howl with laughter. I too did the station-Duomo walk and in the first few minutes it was pretty shady, and I’ve been to some fairly shady places in my time. But mainly I wanted to comment on Angelo. Italy can be maddening and frustrating, and one tires of the dishonesty and scams and rudeness. But I know from my time in the country that whenever it seems like things are bad, an Angelo figure crops up — the bus driver that stops for you and waits, the one car that screeches to a halt to let you pass, the bar owner or restaurateur who refuses your money. It’s important to remember that although Italy might be known for it, tricksters, hucksters and scam artists (and rude drivers) are not the majority of the population. Ok, maybe rude drivers are, but not the rest.

Keep writing Lief, these posts are hilarious!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:11:05 +0000

Although I think all of your experiences are completely valid, Naples certainly is NOT for everyone, there are many, many people who love the place and who come for just one day to see either the museum or Pompeii but end up extending and never want to leave (like me).
It is crazy, and polluted and can be overwhelming but is also charming, unpretentious and non-touristy. It has the best food, the best coffee and some of the most beautiful coast line anywhere.
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it, that’s a shame but it happens and at least it gave you something interesting to write about. You’re article is very entertaining.
I love some of the comments too, especially the people who are appalled that they paid good money for what they thought was a lap top and got the salt instead. How can you complain when you thought you were buying something that was stolen?
Anyway, I’m glad you enjoyed 6 small rooms, we’re still going strong and if you ever decide to give Naples another go I will personally show a better side to this great city.
Arrivederci.

By: Fil

Fil — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:22:56 +0000

Went to Naples and couldn’t get out of there fast enough. DON’T GO THERE unless you enjoy being in the company of: hustlers, pimps, thieves, hookers, rats and garbage. What a hole.

By: Gary

Gary — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:23:25 +0000

I stumbled upon this description when trying to convey to a friend what Naples is like, and this article is spot on. The first time I went to Naples, I vowed to never go back…but I’ve been back twice. Definitely not to see Naples itself, but to see the many treasures around it which necessitate a stop there. I’ve never been to Mumbai, but I know that it would be a lot like Naples.

Naples is the kind of place where you never feel safe. I saw a tourist fall for the laptop scam right in front of me but I was too intimidated to speak up because there were so many seedy people all around me. Just watching the transaction from a distance elicited dirty looks from the other men (scammers) in the vicinity.

In spite of all of the awful things we’ve all experienced in Naples, there’s one gentleman there that I’ll never forget. My wife calls him Angelo, although we never did find out what his name really was. We were nearing the end of one of the worst days of our lives. Skip back to earlier in that “worst” day…we were leaving Naples by train and I told my wife with a chuckle that I never wanted to return. We were on our way to Taormina and looking forward to getting away. To make a long story short, we found ourselves back in Naples twelve hours later to pick up a forgotten passport, during which time we endured a train strike which lasted several hours. So we’re back in Naples, it’s approaching midnight, we’re lugging around suitcases and we have to wait in the train station to get on the sleeper train coming down from Rome. As you can imagine, we were in a very uncomfortable situation. It really wasn’t that bad in the train station, but we didn’t want to stay around waiting for it to turn bad. This wasn’t the main train station, but another station which connected to the main station by subway. There wasn’t much around except for a small outdoor cafe. It seemed like a relatively safe place as there were people there and a few staff. We decided to order hot chocolates since it was cold out (this was in February) and my wife and I don’t drink coffee. Angelo explained as best he could in his broken English that there was no hot chocolate, but he could make cappuccinos. Since we had no where else to go and we felt safe there, we decided to each get one anyway. Now to this day, I’m not sure what Angelo saw in our eyes or maybe in our tired faces, but he refused to take our money when we tried to pay. We had a few hours to kill before the train arrived, so we figured we’d stay there for the long haul. After about half an hour, Angelo comes back to offer us free delicious lemon pastries. A short while after that, he offers us some free refills. But I think the kindest gesture of all from Angelo was when his shift was done and he was about to go home. We saw him speaking with the person replacing him, and he was gesturing and pointing towards us. Now I can’t be sure what he was saying, but it must have been something like “watch out for those two”. We were never charged for anything we ate or drank at the cafe and it made waiting for the train more bearable. So yes, there are a lot of scammers in Naples, but there are also some of the kindest people you could ever hope to meet and I’ll never forget what Angelo did for us. For some reason, Angelo knew that we were tired, maybe a little scared, definitely apprehensive and generally feeling awful, so he did what he could to help, and I’ll always have a little soft spot in my heart for Naples because of him.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:19:53 +0000

I tried to walk through the train station to the Duomo (a few blocks) in February 2008. During a five minute walk I saw more crazed/drugged out/fucked out of their mind insane people than any other time in my life (I counted at least 10 people who were certifiably “I will stab you and rip off your face” kind of crazy. Not drug crazy. Not amusing, shout at traffic crazy. “I will KILL you” crazy. Kids were playing lightsabers with light tubes, a woman dropped a pile of trash on the street in front of us, the central square is full of incinerators, and a metal shield blocks the sight of Naples from the train station transfers. There is garbage everywhere! From the City center to at least a half hour train ride in every direction (especially north of the City. Naples makes Mexico City look like Paris. Naples makes Nairobi look like Chicago (DURING the Nairobi riots). Naples makes Lima look like paradise.

I went to Naples 6 years ago. I liked it then. Seriously… it was cool… then. Now… it is the world’s biggest shithole. Go if you want the plague. Otherwise flee far and fast. The above descriptions do not do justice to this rotting cesspool of human misery. DO NOT GO.

By the way. We went to Palermo on this trip. Palermo IS what Naples USED to be. Crowded, but not overly dangerous. Lots of neat churches and questionable dark alleys. But Palermo is not a shithole. Naples is. Without question.

By: UKPERSON

UKPERSON — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:01:42 +0000

Loved your article! Just got back from Naples with what I imagined was a 120 Euro Dell laptop! You know what’s coming -2 tightly packed boxes of sugar! They con you at every turn….follow, harass, and cheat. Taxi Drivers, Policemen, shop keepers, the lot………! Go, but only if you are prepared for the possibility of staying there forever (if they steal your passport, they’ll be deliberately unhelpful for long enough for you to go to insane and subsequently become homeless….) Oh…and watch out for women with babies and hotel staff that earn commission from pointing out potential targets.

By: leif

leif — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:05:56 +0000

Becca – I had the same thing happen to me in Istanbul. Insane, hot, loud and crowded when I stayed at the hostel. Effing awesome when I stayed at the five star hotel.

Mark – Dude, I think Naples is like that every day. At least in the historic center.

Lucas – Yes, I’m afraid I didn’t take in the best parts of Naples, the pizza. All those famous pizza places… I just didn’t have the strength to walk across town in that madness for a slice of pizza. I was really a mess. Never travel for six months without some kind of substantial break.

SD – Biking through Naples. You’re my hero.

By: SD

SD — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:53:24 +0000

Try riding a bike through Naples. I believe in a God only because I lived. However, reading your article has now started my eye twitching again.

By: Lucas

Lucas — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:50:15 +0000

What the hell is this? You wrote an entire article on Naples and only mentioned pizza once… you’d be fired if you had a job. I was trying to remember what I did in the city for 72 hours and all I can come up with is running through a list of top 10 pizzerias.