Naples - where to stay, where is safe?

Just thought I would mention that we had our credit card cloned when buying petrol in Naples a few years ago - something else to be vigilant about. It was used to pay a huge (£2000+) restaurant bill - apparently mafia related! Luckily our credit card company spotted the fraud and covered the cost. Wouldn't have missed trip to Pompeii though and it was quite manageable as a day trip from Rome.

Just thought I'd mention that we had our credit card cloned when buying petrol in Naples a few years ago and it was used to pay a massive (£2000+) restaurant bill! Something else to be vigilant about. Luckily the CC company covered the loss. Wouldn't have missed trip to Pompeii though - drove down to Naples as a day trip from Rome.

Incidentally, I have a cousin who now lives permanently in Italy as she works as a designer for Moschino. She loves Naples. Her father - my first cousin - on the other hand, wouldn't return: he had a gold chain snatched from his neck by a thief on a scooter as they trundled their cases from the station to the hotel.
Bit naive to wear an obvious gold chain in Naples, I think, given its reputation, and he's well travelled in scary parts of the world where I would never venture! But I don't own any posh jewellery, just cheap and cheerful costume jewellery, and I plan to wear a security belt under my top and carry minimal cash and cardage when we're out for the day.

My husband was pickpocketed in Rome on a bus: it was obvious there was a gang as they tried to block my entrance to the bus, but, confident that my valuables were well hidden from sly fingers and not in my backpack, I forced my way in. At the same time I realised my husband's wallet was in danger - he stupidly insisted on keeping it in his pocket (!!!) and as I turned to him to warn him to keep hold of it, it was obvious that I was too late. We spent a miserable evening trying to report the theft to police who didn't seem to give a toss, and trying to arrange other ways of drawing out money for the rest of our holiday. He's learned his lesson and now wears a security wallet - still in his pocket but on a chain attached to his trousers. I'm not totally happy about it but we'll see if that works!

Lots of great advice here, for which many, many thanks! We have decided to shave one night off Naples and stay for 5, and go for it: despite the potential problems, there are enough people telling me it's worth a visit as not. We are limited to train, and will be coming from Siracusa to Naples anyway and I want to visit both Pompeii and Herculaneum and we plan to visit the archaeological museum (I think that might be the one which Derek100 mentions) which looks wonderful. We've now read a bit more about Naples and there are areas which are safer and we rather liked one of those on the waterfront which has wonderful views, close to the Castel Nuovo. It's got great reviews and is in a pedestrianised area. We'll have a longish walk to the Centro Storico but we think it'll be worth it.
We can't do it all in one visit - this is just our first visit to Sicily and to the Naples area. We'll have to explore the Amalfi coast next time - there seems to be a great deal to see :-)

We stayed in Sorrento in June. Took a day trip by train to Naples and hated every minute! Even the train was filthy. I'd recommend staying in Sorrento. We loved it.

A friend of ours travels the world working for a major Health and Safety company that inspects anything from a B&B to luxury hotels. He has been in Naples this summer and said it was a dump. Filthy, unfriendly and not very safe. Lots of muggings and theft. However it is interesting especially the museum.

He also said the Sorrento peninsular was groaning under excess tourist traffic - including mammouth coaches. However October should be fine. So I would recommend somewhere on the Sorrento peninsular, such as Positano. There should be a number of the sort of hotels you are looking for at reasonable prices and glad of autumn visitors. Have a wonderful time.

I'd second doing Pompeii back to front - we went a few years ago and I found on google and then printed off a PDF copy of "Pompeii in one perfect day" by Anthony Peregrine (published in the Sunday times March 24th 2013). It was really useful guide around the site. You get away from the crowds milling about in the forum. I'd also recommend reading Pompeii by Robert Harris, an enjoyable fictional story that tells the story of the eruption. We stayed in Sorrento, enjoy Pompeii, I'd love to go back!

My FB pal Marina has just been to Naples and she says it's fine - save for the pickpockets! It sounds like she had a lovely time in the city - main streets that is. She felt safe.

Use AIR BnB!! We've had so many great experiences. It originated as a kind of 'stay in my spare room' website, but has expanded.
You register your profile and make a request to stay somewhere. They have the chance to vet you by looking at your profile and how other people you've stayed with have rated you. A bit like Trip Advisor in reverse. You'd have to say that you're new, respectable, older person etc.

We
too stayed in Sorrento when we visited the area about ten years ago and didn't venture to Naples because of safety issues etc. Enjoyed our visits by train to Herculaneum and Pompeii and of course it was easy to visit Capri from Sorrento too. Enjoy yourselves.

We stayed in Sorrento a few years back. Visited Naples for the day. It was pretty grim although the Museum was interesting. Sorrento was a wonderful base. We stayed just outside the main town overlooking the sea but within in walking distance of everything. lWe visited Amalfi, Positano, Herculaneum, Pompei and Capri on public transport without any problems at all. One tip we did pick up when visiting Pompei was to start at the end and go backwards. That way you miss the crowds. Believe it or not it worked. Hope you have a great holiday.

We visited the area last October to rendezvous with our daughter & family who were travelling around Europe in their motor home for a year. We wanted to give them a break from their van so booked us all into a hotel south of Salerno. Strange area but great hotel, spotless, lovely pool and garden area and beach just across the road - which we were usually the only people using despite really good weather. We went into Naples by train and then on to Pompei, the toilets at Naples station were the most disgusting I have ever, ever experienced. We also visited the Amalfi coast by boat, Positano is just delightful and I really hope we get to return there. Agree about the driving, not sure how we ever got back to the airport, but loved our first, and so far only, visit to Italy

We stayed in Sorrento a few years ago. They have a great train to Popeii and Herculeanum, plenty of buses down the Amalfi coast. Also worth hopping on the ferries both down the Amalfi coast and up to Naples. We didn't go to Naples by ferry, ran out of time, but we were told that it takes you right to where the museums and historic areas are without going through the more grubby parts.

The benefit of staying in Naples, rather than Sorrento is that you can get to the fascinating sites north of Naples as well as Pompeii and Herculaneum to the south. The traffic in this area is horrendous and it is not feasible to visit the northern sites on a day trip from Sorrento. The National Museum in Naples is a must for the huge selection of finds from the sites in the area. If you stay or visit Naples, just be sensible, don't wear flash jewellery, etc and be aware of pickpockets. After all, there are places in our British big cities you would be very careful. As for Sorrento, I revisited it last year after a 20 year break and would not go again: the centre is so commercialised, 3-4 cruise ships in most days. I think you can get ferries to Capri and Ischia from Naples. Having said that, the Amalfi drive is a must and Positano is delightful.

I agree with everyone who suggested staying in Sorrento. It is such a beautiful and relaxing place to stay with lots of travel links to Pompei, Herculaneum , Capri and the Amalfi Coast. Just FABULOUS!!

Sorrento is probably the best place to stay - it's very safe, beautiful and relaxing. However, I would recommend a visit to Naples if you can. Yes, it has lots of problems but there are many fascinating things to see and good places to eat (after all, it is the city that invented pizza!). Just be careful about wearing expensive jewellery or watches or putting phones/wallets in back pockets. A guide is a good idea. I went last year on my own - DH stayed in Sorrento! - and had a fantastic tour on the back of a Vespa! The guide was brilliant, we saw all the places I wanted and had a stop for coffee and cake. The traffic was chaotic ... I'd never drive there ... but being a passenger was exhilarating! Pompeii is very crowded but well worth seeing too.

We toured Sicily a few years back and it was one of our best holidays - it's really interesting, with loads of history, scenery and terrific food. The Etna summit and Taormina were particularly stunning. You don't need a guided tour in Palermo - it's as safe as anywhere as long as you avoid the dock area and follow a nun when you cross the road , and people were very helpful when we got lost (as we invariably do). We stayed in Sorrento after that and had a lovely, relaxing week, with the Amalfi drive, visit to Ischia, etc. Pompeii of course, and we didn't find it at all crowded or dirty (and it was August, so probably the busiest time). Again, it's easy to get lost there - take a good site map.

But we didn't go to Naples. We were advised not to, by Italians, unless we had a particular reason to. We were told there's not that much to see, it's filthy and dangerous for tourists. Right or wrong, I wouldn't know. There was some sort of rubbish collectors strike going on at the time, so a lot of the filth might have been temporary!

Love Naples, vibrant & fun with so much history & so much to see & do plus a brilliant base for Sorrento, Amalfi coast (by boat), Pompeii, Vesuvius plus Ischia & Capri. The sea front prom near the castle & Marina is particularly attractive. As anywhere, keep your wits about you & don't wear your best jewellery! Stay at San Francesco al Monte, a superb hotel high above the city with amazing views. It's right by one of the 2 funiculars into the heart of the city. Don't be scared if Naples, it's well worth staying. The driving is something else - last time we went we saw a guy on a scooter carrying a chair under his arm & a woman on a scooter with a child on the handlebars - that's Naples for you!

If you’re staying in Naples, obviously you’ll visit Pompeii and Herculaneum, but I suggest you also visit the museum en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naples_National_Archaeological_Museum
This has an amazing collection of items from the excavations, and the secret cabinet, a room devoted to erotic artefacts!

The Teatro San Carlo, is worth a visit: www.teatrosancarlo.it

We stayed at this small, slightly idiosyncratic, but delightful hotel right in the centre: www.artresortgalleriaumberto.it/en/

My wife and I stayed in Naples for a week a year ago and found it perfectly safe and friendly, though the drivers are a bit mad by our standards!
Obviously you take particular care, as anywhere, at places like airports.

Why did I read the title as nappies?

We went to Naples a few years ago and got a fairly central hotel, old-fashioned but comfortable, through a booking agency, Venere, which DH has used a lot, and which has taken us to good hotels, not too expensive, whenever he has used it. We were there for several days and found the public transport easy to use and just followed the advice to keep all eyes peeled for pickpockets. One night we were going to bed when we thought we heard fireworks at some distance, but the fact that they lasted for only a short time and didn't sound quite like fireworks suggested that possibly it was gunfire. No obvious bodies lying around the next day though.

The only problem was crossing the road; we had naively believed that traffic in Italy drives on the right - not so. It drives, in Naples, on both sides at once and in all possible directions, including sideways. We were sure that we were going to end up in the middle of the road, stranded on a traffic island, hoping that people would frisbee pizzas to us. However, we survived, enjoying the pizzas at restaurant tables instead. DH wants to go back to go to Herculaneum (we just did Pompeii last time) and a museum which has a lot of stuff rescued from Pompeii. I wouldn't mind going back, but am a bit apprehensive about the fact that Vesuvius is well overdue to pop again

Surely it must be possible to go on a guided visit to Naples- same as we would do in Palermo. It would be interested to see- but with someone who knows where to go or not and has excellent local knowledge and language.

I'll second everyone who recommends staying in Sorrento. My DH and I honeymooned there 34 years ago. We stayed in the Grand Hotel Ambasciatori, and had a wonderful time. We were also warned that if we went to Naples to be very aware of the crime, handbag snatchers on motor cycles, pickpockets etc. We didn't go, but we went to Pompeii and did a day trip to Venice.

Friends of our flew to Naples to go to Sorento and area. They rented a car from airport, and as soon as they got to MWay, a car overtook them, pointing to the tyre. And yes, sure enough they had a flat tyre. Stopped by the side to change tyre- had to get all bags and luggage out to get spare wheel- then a second car arrived- stole their bags and luggage as she was helping with the front right wheel changing- and were gone in seconds. They were so upset and disgusted they went straight back to airport and got a flight back.

Not saying this to alarm you- but it is apparently a very common occurence at Naple's airport. Have your moBILE handy and a board saying TELEFONO POLIZIA and the police number- and call for assistance- stay in the car with doors locked.