Naples, Italy

Naples travel guide, in your ear

The birthplace of pizza and the most intense city in Italy, the National Archaeological Museum, Spaccanapoli, the underground Napoli Sotterranea, and Vesuvius watching from above.

  • 29 narrated stops
  • ~1 hour of stories
  • 6 languages
  • Offline ready

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

What is the Gingerguide Naples tour?

It is a self-guided audio walking tour of Naples, Italy, inside the Gingerguide travel guide app. The tour maps 29 sights and tells the story of each one in a two to three minute narration with a lifelike AI voice. When the story is not enough, ask the built-in AI guide about the place and keep the conversation going. Everything is available in six languages and works fully offline after a one-time download.

Hear it

Thirty seconds of Naples

From the Spaccanapoli narration, exactly as it plays in the app (English version).

The city

About Naples

Naples comes at you all at once. The scooters, the laundry strung overhead, the shouting that turns out to be affection, the coffee drunk in one hot gulp, the whole city loud and fast and gloriously alive. Everyone warns you about Naples before you go. Then it becomes the city you cannot stop thinking about.

It has been alive a very long time. The Greeks founded it twenty-five centuries ago and called it Neapolis, the new city, one of the oldest cities in Europe. Greeks, Romans, Normans, Spaniards, and Bourbon kings each ruled it and left a layer, and all of them lived, as you will, under Vesuvius, the volcano that buried Pompeii in an afternoon and has never gone quiet. Naples answers the only sensible way, by living harder than anywhere else.

Nowhere takes its pleasures more seriously. The coffee is short and strong, the pizza is a birthright, and a stranger will give you directions, an opinion, and half their lunch. Walk Spaccanapoli, the dead-straight lane that splits the old city, past shrines to San Gennaro and Maradona side by side, and you meet a people for whom the sacred and the everyday are one.

And there is a second Naples beneath the first. Descend into the underground and you walk a hollow city forty metres down, quarried by the Greeks, plumbed by the Romans, and used as a bomb shelter in the war. Above it, the Archaeological Museum holds everything dug out of Pompeii, a whole world stopped mid-sentence. And when you are hungry, remember this is the city that gave the world pizza, whose pizza-makers are now on the UNESCO heritage list.

At the end of the day, walk out along the seafront at Chiaia as the sun goes down. Vesuvius turns violet across the bay, the lights come on around the water, and someone starts singing, badly and happily, from a passing boat. Naples does not ask to be admired. It asks you to join in. So join in.

If you have one day

One day in Naples

A simple way to walk the highlights, following the route order in the app. Swap anything; Naples rewards detours.

The tour

What to see in Naples: all 29 stops

Every place below has its own narrated story in the app, and its own answers when you want more. Walk them in any order; the map shows what is around you.

  1. National Archaeological Museum of Naples

    The world's foremost collection of Greco-Roman antiquities, housing treasures from Pompeii and Herculaneum including the spectacular Alexander Mosaic.

    museum · ~120 min visit

  2. Naples Cathedral (Duomo di Napoli)

    A magnificent Gothic cathedral begun in the 13th century, home to the miraculous liquefaction of San Gennaro's blood and an ancient Early Christian baptistery.

    religious · ~60 min visit

  3. Spaccanapoli

    The straight, ancient street that literally "splits Naples", a living spine of Neapolitan culture lined with baroque churches, pizza shops, and artisan workshops.

    historic · ~90 min visit

  4. Castel Nuovo (Maschio Angioino)

    A commanding 13th-century Angevin fortress on the Naples waterfront, famous for its magnificent Renaissance triumphal arch and sweeping harbour views.

    castle · ~60 min visit

  5. Certosa di San Martino

    A magnificent 17th-century Baroque Carthusian monastery perched on Vomero hill, housing the greatest museum of Neapolitan art and history and the world's finest collection of nativity scenes.

    museum · ~90 min visit

  6. Castel dell'Ovo

    The oldest surviving castle in Naples, built on a tiny island once occupied by the Roman villa of Lucullus, famous for its egg legend and magnificent harbour views.

    castle · ~45 min visit

  7. Piazza del Plebiscito

    The grand civic heart of Naples, a vast semicircular colonnade embracing the Pantheon-inspired church of San Francesco di Paola and the Royal Palace, forming the largest square in the city.

    square · ~30 min visit

  8. Royal Palace of Naples

    The magnificent 17th-century Bourbon palace facing Piazza del Plebiscito, home to lavish royal apartments, a historic library, and eight statues of Naples' dynasties in the facade niches.

    palace · ~90 min visit

  9. Teatro San Carlo

    The world's oldest continuously active opera house, inaugurated in 1737, predating La Scala by 41 years, renowned for its exceptional acoustics and sumptuous Bourbon interior.

    theater · ~60 min visit

  10. Underground Naples (Napoli Sotterranea)

    A 2,400-year-old labyrinth beneath the city streets, Greek-carved tunnels expanded as Roman aqueducts, used as World War II air raid shelters, now open for extraordinary underground tours.

    historic · ~90 min visit

  11. Quartieri Spagnoli

    The labyrinthine 16th-century Spanish soldiers' quarter, a tight grid of narrow streets with washing lines overhead, Maradona shrines, street food vendors, and an unmistakably raw pulse of Neapolitan life.

    historic · ~60 min visit

  12. Maradona Murals & SSC Napoli Football

    Diego Maradona is revered as a deity in Naples, the city where he played 1984–1991, won two Serie A titles, and became a symbol of southern Italian pride and identity.

    monument · ~45 min visit

  13. Neapolitan Pizza & Pizzeria Brandi

    Naples is the birthplace of pizza, Pizzeria Brandi claims the Pizza Margherita was invented here in 1889 for Queen Margherita of Savoy, its colours representing the Italian flag.

    historic · ~60 min visit

  14. Catacombs of San Gennaro

    Naples' extraordinary early Christian catacombs on the Capodimonte hill, vast underground burial galleries adorned with ancient frescoes, mosaics, and the tombs of Naples' earliest bishops and saints.

    historic · ~60 min visit

  15. Herculaneum

    Buried alongside Pompeii by Vesuvius in 79 AD but even better preserved, buildings stand to their second floors, wooden furniture survives, and organic materials found nowhere else make it the most extraordinary Roman site in the world.

    ruins · ~120 min visit

  16. Mount Vesuvius

    The only active volcano on the European mainland, and the most dangerous in the world, last erupted in 1944 and looms over Naples, offering a dramatic hike to the crater rim with sweeping Bay of Naples views.

    nature · ~90 min visit

  17. Chiaia & Mergellina Waterfront

    Naples' elegant seaside promenade, the Via Caracciolo stretches along the bay past the Chiaia neighbourhood to the old fishing village of Mergellina, lined with pastry shops, cafes, and stunning Vesuvius views.

    landmark · ~60 min visit

  18. Pompeii: Day Trip from Naples

    A 35-minute train journey from Naples brings you to Pompeii, the Roman city buried by Vesuvius in 79 AD, the most extraordinary archaeological site in the world, where 2,000 years of history lie exactly as the volcano left them.

    ruins · ~240 min visit

  19. Galleria Borbonica

    A secret Bourbon tunnel network built in 1853 beneath the Royal Palace area, used as a WWII shelter and still housing vintage vehicles abandoned since the war, now open for atmospheric guided tours.

    historic · ~90 min visit

  20. San Gregorio Armeno: Christmas Street

    Naples' famous "Christmas Street", a lane in the historic centre lined year-round with artisan workshops selling handmade presepe nativity scenes, from traditional shepherds to custom celebrity figurines.

    market · ~45 min visit

  21. Palazzo dello Spagnolo

    An 18th-century noble palace in the Sanità district, famous for its extraordinary double helical external staircase, one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture in Naples.

    palace · ~30 min visit

  22. Pignasecca Market

    Naples' most chaotic and beloved street market, where vendors sell fresh fish, vegetables, and the city's famous fried pizza, pizza fritta, from open-air stalls in the heart of the Spanish Quarter.

    market · ~45 min visit

  23. Basilica di Santa Chiara

    A magnificent Gothic church with a remarkable majolica-tiled cloister, one of the most beautiful spaces in Naples, and the tombs of the Angevin and Bourbon royal dynasties.

    religious · ~60 min visit

  24. Capodimonte Museum and Park

    A Bourbon royal palace on a hill above Naples, housing one of Italy's greatest art collections, Titian, Raphael, Caravaggio, Botticelli, with sweeping views of the city and Vesuvius from its terrace.

    museum · ~180 min visit

  25. Sfogliatella and Neapolitan Pastry

    Naples is the capital of Italian pastry, home of the sfogliatella shell pastry, pastiera napoletana, struffoli, and the legendary Caffè Gambrinus (1860), the oldest and grandest café in the city.

    historic · ~45 min visit

  26. Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella

    The oldest conservatory in Europe, founded in Naples in the 16th century, where Bellini, Donizetti, and Cimarosa studied, the institution that made Naples the musical capital of 18th-century Europe.

    university · ~60 min visit

  27. Canzone Napoletana: O Sole Mio

    Naples is the birthplace of the world's most recognisable Italian songs, O Sole Mio, Funiculì Funiculà, Santa Lucia, a 19th-century musical tradition that conquered every concert hall and café on earth.

    monument · ~30 min visit

  28. Via Toledo and Galleria Umberto I

    Naples' magnificent main shopping boulevard and the Galleria Umberto I (1891), a soaring iron-and-glass arcade modelled on the Milan Galleria, with a spectacular domed roof and cross-shaped ground plan.

    landmark · ~45 min visit

  29. The Veiled Christ (Cappella Sansevero)

    A veil of solid marble lies so softly over the dead Christ that visitors still lean in to check it is not cloth, carved from a single block in 1753.

    museum · ~45 min visit

Did you know?

Three things most visitors miss

National Archaeological Museum of Naples

The Alexander Mosaic contains approximately 1.5 million individual tesserae and was originally a floor in the House of the Faun at Pompeii.

Naples Cathedral (Duomo di Napoli)

The liquefaction of San Gennaro's blood has been recorded since 1389 and occurs three times a year; when it fails to happen, Neapolitans fear impending catastrophe.

Spaccanapoli

Spaccanapoli follows the exact line of the ancient Greek city of Neapolis, laid out over 2,500 years ago, the street grid has never changed.

Planning

Naples tour: questions and answers

Do I need a tour guide in Naples?

Not a human one. Gingerguide covers Naples with 29 narrated sights, so you get the stories a guide would tell, at your own pace and on your own route. And if a story leaves you with a question, you can ask the built-in AI guide and discuss the place right there, the way you would with a guide.

How many stops does the Naples audio tour have?

The Naples guide covers 29 sights. Each one has a researched story of roughly three minutes, about 1 hour of listening in total. You choose the order and the pace; the tour is self-guided.

Does the Naples tour work offline?

Yes. You can download Naples in the app, audio, photos, and offline map tiles included. After the download, the full tour works without an internet connection.

Which languages does the Naples guide support?

Every Naples narration is available in English, Spanish, French, German, Turkish, and Chinese. You can switch the language in the app at any time.

Is the Naples audio guide free?

The Gingerguide app is free to download, and Naples includes a free preview: you can see all 29 sights on the map at no cost. A premium subscription unlocks the full stories, audio narration, and the offline download.

Hear Naples tell its own story.

Preview all 29 Naples stops free in the Gingerguide app.

Preview all 29 Naples stops free Get the app