Once notorious as a metropolis of violent crime and public disorder, Naples is finally having its renaissance. The city’s gritty and anarchic character is undeniably alluring, and the streets are where you’ll find it. Hit the open-air markets for sardine crowds and medina-like stalls and the laundry-festooned streets of the Sanità neighborhood for local shops that spill out onto the pavements—just watch out for the hothead scooter riders. Naples also has a distinctly hip current bubbling under the surface. Dive into the centro storico and you’ll spot craft breweries beside Baroque churches and vintage shops squeezed in beside fishmongers. 

Naples may not always be exalted as one of Italy’s great art cities like Florence or Rome, but its labyrinthine center hides myriad treasures from an underground warren of catacombs to brooding Caravaggio masterpieces. Keep an eye out for Naples’ contemporary art production too, which you’ll see splashed across walls in the form of eye-popping street murals honoring the city’s most beloved figures like footballer Maradona or patron saint San Gennaro. 

Naples has long been maligned by the press and travel guides as a ferment of violent crime where tourists should exercise constant vigilance. While the city is the cradle of the Camorra organised crime syndicate, authorities have striven to curb its influence in recent decades. Naples doesn’t even top Italy’s crime index (Milan and Rome rank higher), let alone Europe’s. As a tourist, the most pervasive danger is pickpockets so, as you would in any other big city, keep valuables out of sight and be cautious at night, especially around places like train stations. Driving is probably the most hazardous activity a visitor can engage in as traffic is frenetic, and drivers are impatient, rarely following established rules of the road. 

Guidebooks and hotels insist on directing visitors to one of a handful of pizzerie like Gino Sorbillo or Da Michele. At these big names, you’ll find a slow-moving queue snaking outside and a crowd of other tourists, but you won’t necessarily find the best pizzas. The city is peppered with pizza joints awarded the prestigious verace pizza napoletana (authentic Neapolitan pizza) classification; just look out for the sign outside and take your pick. Don’t forget to sample a pizza a portafoglio— a pizza folded conveniently for snacking while you walk—from a streetside vendor, too. 

Naples is a mecca for the sweet-toothed, a place where you can literally taste la dolce vita. The city has a plethora of pastry options which you’ll find piled in sugary mounds at streetside stalls or in pasticcerie windows. The delectably flaky sfogliatella riccia is a fine-layered, shell-shaped pastry filled with chocolate or vanilla ricotta, while a graffa is a sugar-encrusted donut made using potatoes. If you need a pick-me-up, savor a spongy babà steeped in rum-laced syrup or make it your aim to try as many biscotti all’amarena as possible; these ‘scrap cookies’ use leftover dough to make a chunky treat of chocolate, shortcake and sour cherry jam, so each bakery has its own version.