5 Days in Naples: The First-Timer Itinerary
5 Days in Naples: The First-Timer Itinerary
Five days covers the full city without a single day trip: Cappella Sansevero and Centro Storico, MANN and the castles, Napoli Sotterranea and the Quartieri Spagnoli, Vomero’s hilltop views, then Capodimonte and the Sanità district on day five. Need less time? Drop back to the 4 day route . Have a sixth day to spare? See the 6 day itinerary for Mergellina and Posillipo.
Book these before you go:
- Cappella Sansevero timed entry , closed Tuesdays, its own calendar sells out first
- Napoli Sotterranea guided tour , departures roughly every 2 hours
- Guided Naples pizza and food tour for one queue-free evening
- Naples hotels on Booking.com , book early, 5-night Centro Storico stays fill up
| Day | Focus | Neighborhood |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cappella Sansevero, the Duomo, Spaccanapoli | Centro Storico |
| 2 | MANN, Castel Nuovo, the lungomare | Museum quarter and waterfront |
| 3 | Napoli Sotterranea, street food, Toledo | Quartieri Spagnoli |
| 4 | Castel Sant’Elmo, Certosa di San Martino | Vomero |
| 5 | Capodimonte, the catacombs | Sanità |
Day 1: Cappella Sansevero and the Centro Storico
Book the first Cappella Sansevero slot you can: EUR12 adult, EUR8 reduced for 18 to 26, closed Tuesdays, confirmed on museosansevero.it . The Veiled Christ visit runs 20 to 30 minutes. Follow with the free Duomo nave and a walk down Via San Biagio dei Librai through Spaccanapoli, part of the UNESCO-listed old town, with a detour to San Gregorio Armeno’s nativity workshops. Grab a sfogliatelle (EUR2 to 4), then Gesù Nuovo and Santa Chiara in the afternoon. Evening: the numbered-ticket queue at L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele.
Day 2: MANN, the castles, and the bay
A full morning at MANN: EUR20 full, EUR2 reduced for EU citizens 18 to 25, 9:00 to 19:30 with last entry 18:30, closed Tuesdays, per museoarcheologiconapoli.it , home to the mosaics and bronzes actually excavated from Pompeii and Herculaneum. Lunch near Piazza Municipio (EUR15 to 25 per person), then Castel Nuovo, roughly EUR6, Monday to Saturday 9:00 to 18:00, closed Sundays. Evening: Castel dell’Ovo and the Lungomare Caracciolo, then dinner in Chiaia.
Day 3: Napoli Sotterranea and the Quartieri Spagnoli
Morning underground: Napoli Sotterranea, guided tours only, 90 minutes to 2 hours, roughly 40 meters down via about 136 steps through Greco-Roman cisterns and WWII shelters, roughly EUR10 walk-up or EUR15 skip-the-line (verify current rate), booked via napolisotterranea.org . Afternoon in the Quartieri Spagnoli, safe by day, cheap excellent street food, laundry strung overhead. Ride the metro to Toledo station and Municipio, built around excavated ancient Neapolis. Evening: pizza fritta from a stall.
Day 4: Vomero’s hilltop views
Take a funicular, roughly EUR1.10 to 1.30, up to Vomero, cooler and quieter than the streets below. Castel Sant’Elmo and the Certosa di San Martino sit side by side, both worth the climb for the view over the whole bay. Lunch in Vomero itself, away from centro crowds. Afternoon: wander down toward Chiaia and Villa Comunale for a slower seafront evening.
Day 5: Capodimonte and the Sanità district
Morning at the Museo di Capodimonte, the former royal palace turned art museum, set in its own park on a hill above the city, a genuine change of pace from the centro’s density. From there, walk or bus down into Rione Sanità, one of Naples’ oldest and least-visited neighborhoods, then descend into the Catacombe di San Gennaro, an underground early-Christian burial site with frescoes dating back centuries, reachable by guided tour. Afternoon: back to Centro Storico for anything day one rushed, a second pass through San Gregorio Armeno’s workshops or a return trip for pizza you didn’t get to on day one. Evening: a farewell dinner in Chiaia or back in the old town, your call.
Is Capodimonte worth a half-day this far into a Naples trip?
Yes, and specifically because it’s different from everything before it: a park and former royal residence rather than a dense street grid, with a real art collection including Caravaggio and Titian. It’s also the least crowded major sight on this list, a genuine break from four days of centro density.
Do you need a car or tour to reach the Sanità catacombs?
No. Rione Sanità and the Catacombe di San Gennaro are reachable by bus or a downhill walk from Capodimonte, and the catacomb visit itself is guided, so no independent navigation underground is required.
Five days is enough to stop checking things off a list. Let day five run slow, revisit whatever you rushed on day one rather than adding somewhere new.