Naples may have attracted you because of Pompeii, Mount Vesuvius, or because it’s the birthplace of pizza. However there is so much more to see and do! We’ve put together a little list of some free, some cheap and some less cheap things to do while visiting Naples on a budget.

Cost: Free

As like every Italian city, our number 1 recommendation is to walk through Centro Storico, or the old town. Italian streets have such a unique and magical feeling to them. Walking around the winding cobbled streets, listening to buskers, seeing all the washing hanging above you. There’s nothing like it!

Absolutely everywhere you go there will be churches, basilicas, piazzas, and other historical landmarks. Keep a look out for the impressive Royal Palace of Naples and the San Carlo Theatre which is the oldest active opera venue in the world. We’d recommend walking south through the old town eventually ending up at Villa Comunale, which is a little park by the water.

From here, the walk along the water back towards central Naples is really lovely. It will take you past Castel dell’Ovo which actually translates to Egg Castle. It dates back to a legend about the Roman poet Virgil, who supposedly put a magical egg into the foundations of the castle. According to the legend, if the eggs breaks, the castle will be destroyed and Naples will be hit with a series of terrible events. You can usually visit the castle, but it is currently undergoing renovations. The walk will also take you past the Fontana del Gigante, which is a Monument dating back to the 17th century.

Of course, along this entire walk, you’ll have an incredible view of Mount Vesuvius as it towers over the city. Walking through the old town and along the water is such a lovely way to spend a day in Naples. It really helps you see the best of the city and take in the magic that is Naples.

Although do be careful crossing the street, as Naples has some of the most unhinged driving we’ve ever seen. You will see what you mean when you visit!

Cost: Free

If you’re a sucker for a good view (and we definitely are), we’ve got a great idea for you! 

Castel Sant’Elmo is up on Vomero hill and has a wonderful view of the city below. It is a Medieval fortress dating from the 1200s. The current building was built in 1537. It is open 8:30-7:30 every day, but the museum inside is only open 9:30-5pm every day except Tuesday. It only costs €5, however we managed to find a wonderful view nearby for free.

On Google maps it is called “City view” and is located just next to the Castel Sant’Elmo pin. From here you can get a wonderful sweeping view of Naples, Mount Vesuvius and the water below. It’s even better because this view won’t cost you anything at all!

There are lots of options to get up to the castle. Depending on where you’re starting from, there’s the L1 metro line which gets you a 15 minute walk away from the castle. It’s a bit of an uphill climb, but there are escalators to help you. There’s also some funiculars, with the F2 going from Montesanto and the F3 going from Augusteo. These cost the same amount as a metro ride and get you a bit closer to the castle and the viewpoint. There’s also the 128 bus which gets you to Cimarosa park, a 20 minute walk from the castle and viewpoint.

We would absolutely recommend heading up to this viewpoint, as it has such an incredible view over the city.

While we didn’t have time to visit any, Naples has some incredible museums that would be worth a visit. There are so many that one is sure to interest you! Some of the most popular ones are:

One of the most popular museums in Naples, it houses ancient remains from the Greek, Renaissance, and Roman times. Of course it also has a lot of remains from Herculaneum and Pompeii. It is open 9:00am to 7:30pm every day except Tuesday and tickets are €22 each but are valid for two consecutive days.

This is an art museum located inside the Palace of Capodimonte and is one of the biggest museums in Italy. It has over 47,000 pieces of art from various Italian artists who worked from the middle ages to the 21st century. Apart from being a great art museum, the Palace is also a beautiful building and makes for some great photos! Tickets are €15 each but every first Sunday of the month, April 25th, June 2nd and November 4th, there is free entry! It is open 8:30am to 7:30pm every day except Wednesdays.

This is an old Chapel that houses beautiful marble sculptures from 18th century Italian artists. Just be aware that photos inside the Chapel are strictly prohibited. It is open 9:00am to 7:00pm every day except Tuesday and tickets cost €10 for adults. They also have a cheaper ticket for people ages 10-25 so definitely take advantage of that if you can.

If contemporary art is more your style, this museum is for you. It houses art from both Italian artists such as Giulio Paolini and Francesco Clemente and non-Italian artists such as Jeff Koons and Andy Warhol. It is open from 10:00am to 7:30pm every day except Sunday when it is open till 8:00pm, and Tuesday when it is closed all day. Tickets are €8 each and are available on their website.

As the name suggests, this is a museum about torture which particularly discusses the history of the medieval, Spanish and Roman Inquisition. It also gives guests the chance to see many historical instruments. The museum is located in the middle of the city and is open every day 10:00am to 7:00pm. Tickets are €7 and are available on their website.

Cost: €5.50 for a big pizza or a couple of euros for a smaller one

It’s no surprise that Naples is famous for pizza, it’s literally where it was created. We’re sure that there would be hundreds of good pizza places in the city but because of this, it does get a little overwhelming.

We wanted to visit L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele for a €5.50 big pizza thanks to recommendations from some friends. However, we didn’t end up eating here. We did line up but it’s clearly a very popular spot so the line was incredibly long. This, coupled with the fact that Italians don’t ever seem to be in a rush, meant we were in line for over an hour without much progress.

We eventually gave up and ended up at Antica Pizzeria Di Matteo instead. This place was absolutely incredible and we only lined up for 2 minutes. They do have a sit down restaurant but we just went to their takeaway window. A pizza portofoglio (folded pizza) and an arancini were only a couple of euros each and were so delicious.

We would recommend this place for a good quick meal! But as we said before, Naples is so good at pizza that we’re sure you’ll find some amazing ones everywhere!

Cost: Pompeii €18-€22 and Herculaneum €14

One of the most popular day trips from Naples is to visit on of the towns destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD. Both are accessible on the train network from the centre of Naples.

A lot of people visit Pompeii while they’re in Naples, but for a number of reasons we went to Herculaneum instead.

Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town that was buried under ash in the same eruption that destroyed Pompeii. It was actually the first Vesuvian city found after the disaster, discovered 39 years before Pompeii. One of the reasons we decided to visit Herculaneum over Pompeii is because we had limited time in Naples. Herculaneum’s population at the time of destruction was only 5000, whereas Pompeii’s was anywhere between 10,000 and 20,000. The size of the towns is very reflective of these populations.

As well as a much smaller population, only a fraction of the city ruins have been uncovered so the area you can visit is quite small. This means it’s much more achievable to visit in a couple of hours rather than Pomeii which can take days to fully explore. When we visited in August, we barely had to line up, bought tickets at the gate, and didn’t see many other people at the site. Herculaneum is also closer to Naples, so you can realistically do it in half a day.

Herculaneum has been preserved in a different way to Pompeii, so is in better condition. Pompeii was mostly hit with lava from the eruoption that allowed anything under it to decay. Herculaneum was hit with the pyroclastic flow, which carbonised the city instead of destroying it. This means that objects made out of wood and other organic materials actually survived. It’s absolutely fascinating walking around the little town and seeing wooden beams from 2000 years ago.

Herculaneum was also wealthier then Pompeii, meaning a lot of the houses had coloured marble and frescos. There was also a lot of gold and jewellery discovered, which you can see in the little museum on site.

If you’re a bit uncomfortable about seeing the casts of remains, Herculaneum is also better option for you. The people of Pompeii had much less time to escape, so casts are more scattered over the city. As Herculaneum was hit a bit later, the locals had all gathered along the shore in an attempt to escape. There is one room, an old boat house, which houses the casts of all of these remains. This makes it easy to skip if it’s not something you’d like to see.

Tickets are also slightly cheaper than Pompeii, being only €14 each at the gate as opposed to Pompeiis €18-€22 tickets. There’s a lot of positives about visiting Herculaneum over Pompeii. But if you’re really interested in the history, you can always visit both! They are both such unique and important sites and either would make a really interesting day out.

As with a lot of our Travel Guides, we also recommend doing a day trip. There are so many amazing day trip options from Naples that are quick and easy to get to. As mentioned in our Ferryhopper post, we booked all our ferry trips around Italy on Ferryhopper.

If you don’t want to organise your own day trip, you can also find great options on Get Your Guide.

Capri is a famous island just off the coast of Naples. Known for the celebrities that often visit, it has fancy hotels, beautiful landscapes, cute villages and is surrounded by clear blue water. It’s located just 50 minutes from Naples and costs around €25 one way on Ferryhopper. The ferry arrives into Marina Grande which is a nice but small area with a little beach and some nice restaurants.

Once arriving on the island we recommend heading up to Anacapri via bus before it gets too busy. We bought tickets from the station right near the bus stop which is off to the right once you get off the ferry. These tickets were for two journeys and cost €4.80 each. Anacapri is a little village right at the top of the island (in Ancient Greek the prefix ana translates to “up” or “above”).

The narrow winding roads heading up to the city will make you wonder how a bus could even fit. It’s a good thing the buses on the island are tiny! In the town you can just wander around the cute little streets and try to resist buying all the lemon themed clothing. There is also a chairlift that takes you up to Monte Solaro, the highest point in Capri at 589m above sea level.

We then headed down to the actual town of Capri which is a bit bigger than Anacapri and was a lot busier. It has the most amazing view of the island below and the hills and we just spent an hour or two walking around looking through all the shops.

If you’re looking for some lunch here, you’ll notice that everything is obviously super expensive. However we found the most amazing focacciera just off the main square called La Focacciera Capri (Piazzetta). It has cheap, fresh, delicious focaccias that we recommend for an easy lunch in Capri!

As we had used our 2 bus journeys, we took the funicular down to Marina Grande. It runs every 15 minutes, costs a couple of Euros and the journey only takes 4 minutes. You can walk down but we don’t recommend this as the roads are shared by buses, cars, bikes and pedestrians.

We chose to do a boat island tour and booked it with a company that we found on the jetty in Marina Grande. It lasted an hour and cost €22 each. There are heaps of companies so you won’t have trouble finding one that suits the timing you need. Capri is famous for the Blue Grotto which is a beautiful sea cave, and some tours do include a stop here. However as we were short on time and didn’t want to swim, we chose to just sail past it instead. Seeing the beautiful crystal blue water and the island from all sides was so cool so we recommend it!

Honestly, while it may be busy, Capri is well worth visiting if you’ve got the time in Naples.

Sorrento is a beautiful little town that you can see from Naples, as it’s just on the other side of the bay. You can book ferry tickets on Ferryhopper, the trip takes 45 minutes and costs €16 each.

While we didn’t visit, there are so many great things you could do in the town. It has a main square, lots of shops and restaurants, and some beautiful old historic lanes. Sorrento is famous for the italian aperitivo Limoncello, so you could find some great products around if you like that!

You can also visit Marina Grande which is a cute fishing village and is located a 20 minute walk from the ferry port of Marina Piccola. However, like many beaches in this area, most swimming areas are private and require you to purchase either a chair or some food.

Overall, it would be a beautiful place to spend a day trip from Naples if you’ve got time. The town has so much to offer plus you would have an amazing view back to Naples and Mount Vesuvius.

Of course a great day trip would be to the Amalfi Coast. There are lots of towns you can visit but we chose to visit Positano, Amalfi and Ravello. We visited these towns while staying in Salerno, but it is possible to visit from Naples.

Depending which ferry you choose on Ferryhopper, the quickest ferry to Positano takes 1 hour 10. However the longest is 2 hours 30 and both trips costs around €35 each way. Naples to Amalfi is similar with the quickest ferry being 1 hour 45 and the longest being 3 hours and costing €32 each way.

Positano is obviously the most famous town on the Amalfi coast, but this comes at a cost. We found the town way too busy, and there is only the tiniest amount of free beach space. It is a beautiful town with some amazing restaurants and shops, and the views over the coastline are stunning though. If you’re there during peak tourist season just do keep in mind how busy it will be.

The town of Amalfi is a lot quieter but also has no beach space if you want to swim. There’s lots of great shopping, food, and a big duomo that costs €3 to enter. From here our favourite thing we did was visit Ravello, which is up in the hills.

We bought return bus tickets at a tobacco shop across from the bus stop and they only cost €2.70 each each. The journey takes 40 minutes but keep in mind that the road up to Ravello is winding and can get really busy so the journey can be very slow. It might be best to do as soon as you arrive in Amalfi in case the journey back takes longer. You don’t want to risk missing your ferry home.

Ravello is absolutely worth a visit though. Because it’s up in the hills, it has amazing views both of the coastline and the other hills around. It is also much quieter than Positano or Amalfi and food is cheaper too. However the best thing to do is visit the gardens of Villa Cimbrone, which costs €7 each. These are the most beautiful gardens and were the highlight of the Amalfi Coast for us. We spent an hour or two walking around and taking photos, it is all so stunning.

While day trips to the Amalfi Coast from Naples would be long days, if that’s the only chance you’ll have to visit it would be worth it!

Whether you just stroll the old town and eat pizza, visit Herculaneum and Pompeii, do some day trips, or do a combination of everything, we’re sure you’ll have an amazing time in Naples!

You can check out what we did during our time in Naples and on the Amalfi Coast in these vlogs:

• How to Spend Your Time in Verona on a Budget
• How to Make the most of Florence in Spring
• Ferryhopper: The Easy Way to Book Ferries Around the Mediterranean
• How to See Europe by Train (Without Interrailing)