Thankfully our train ride from Reggio Calabria to Naples was entirely unremarkable. You always want travel days to go smoothly and without complication.
Upon arrival in Naples, before leaving the train station, we purchased Unico Campania monthly integrated metro tickets from a newsstand. For €42 each, an integrated monthly metro ticket gives us unlimited rides on both metro lines, all busses, and the four funiculars in the Naples metropolitan area during the calendar month.
The per trip cost on public transportation is €1.20. Since we will be in Naples for the entire month of February, it made sense to buy a monthly ticket. I’m pretty sure we will use the metro at least 35 times, which is the break-even cost versus paying for individual trips. Even if we don’t ride the metro that often, I’d rather buy one ticket than dozens of them.
If you are in Naples for a week, a 7 day integrated ticket costs €16, or you can purchase an integrated daily ticket for €5.10. Each may be a viable option depending on your plans.
Integrated tickets are good on both ANM and Trenitalia metro lines (the two metro operators). Ordinary tickets, which are slightly less expensive, are only good on the ANM metro line, busses, and funiculars. It is easy to get around Naples using only ANM transportation. For us the flexibility of having access to the Trenitalia metro line was a plus, particularly since our Airbnb was located close to both Museo (an ANM station) and Piazza Cavour (a Trenitalia station).
Despite the fact that the tickets clearly state that each is good only in the month of February 2023, we read online that paper tickets must be validated with both ANM and Trenitalia (the two metro operators). Your ticket is validated the first time you properly use it with each operator.
Basically you just have to know which machine will read your specific ticket and open the turnstile. As best we could tell, single use metro tickets might be read differently from multi-use tickets (like ours), which are definitely read differently than electronic tickets on the Unico Campania app. To be safe, we found someone to show us how to properly validate our tickets with each provider.
Good thing we did not overlook validating our tickets. During our first two days in Naples we were stopped by ticket checkers for both ANM and Trenitalia. Of course our tickets were not checked again during the month.
According to the signs in the stations, the fine for being caught riding the metro without a validated ticket is up to 100 times the cost of the ride.
Considering how often the machines are not working or the turnstiles are left open, there is a constant temptation to skip buying and/or validating a ticket. Knowing our tickets were properly validated, and good for the month, we were not worried about breezing through an open turnstile.
Our second purchase was Campania 365 Gold Pass Artecards for €43 each. This is the Naples area cultural site card marketed to locals. It allows two free visits per year to 33 different sites (including all of the major ones such as Pompei, Ercolano, Palazzo Reale di Naples, Museo di Capodimonte, and Reggia di Caserta) and unlimited discounted entries to another 18 sites.
I’ll try to remember to indicate in the blog posts which places are free or discounted for Artecard holders at the time of our visit (which can change). During our month in Naples, based on the places we actually visited, we paid €69.50 each for an Artecard and all tickets. Otherwise we would have paid €157 each in tickets. In sum, Artecards saved us €87.50 per person, or a total of €175 for the two of us. Not bad for the month.
Weekend or weekly visitors to Naples should definitely consider picking up 3 day or 7 day Artecards, which include metro transportation. Several different options are available depending on which sites you want to visit, so read the fine print. Note that Artecards are sold only electronically through the Campania Artecard app. Registration takes about five minutes. Thankfully there is an English language option.
After getting our metro tickets and Artecards, it was time to begin exploring.
Our first stop was Castel dell’Ovo (the old castle on the seaside). Hmmm. It is closed indefinitely for renovations. Guess we should have first checked the website. But it was a nice day for a walk, so no harm done.
Sticking with the theme of castles on the seaside we walked just under a mile to Castel Nuovo (the new castle). Hmmm. A timed reservation is required. That is not at all apparent from the website. As best we could determine, the only way to make a reservation is to scan a QR code posted on the wall outside the ticket window. That links sends you to a website to request a reservation.
It took us a few minutes to figure out the process, but we were able to make a reservation on the spot for the current date and time. Provide names, an email address, one phone number, and select the date and time desired. We received a confirmation email almost instantly. More than a few people left after being unable or unwilling to figure out how to make a reservation.
Several times I tried to find the online reservation page without scanning the posted QR code. I had no luck finding it. You wouldn’t think finding a reservation page would be so difficult.
Only after we had a confirmation code were we allowed into the small room where tickets are sold. Our Artecards got us tickets for free. For others, credit cards only. Another hurdle. A lady in front of us did not have a credit card so we paid for her €6 ticket in exchange for cash.
After all of that we were finally admitted into the castle. Originally a royal residence, it was transformed into a fortress in the 1400s. We walked around the large courtyard and then made our way to the civic museum. It was on two floors, not very large, and rather dark, without decent lighting. The paintings ranged from religious to landscapes to still life. We hustled through in about 10 minutes.
A small observation decks overlooks part of the harbor. I think we spent more time looking at the harbor than in the museum. A quick stop by the Barons’ Hall, a glance at ruins in the foundation (through a glass floor), and a cursory view of two chapels (one through closed glass doors) and our tour of Castel Nuovo was complete.
Unfortunately for us it was not that great of a visit. The admission process is an unnecessary headache. The areas open to the public were fairly small and dark. I would have been cussing for quite some time if we each paid €6.
Now I’d have been happy to pay €6 just to walk through all of the rooms on the top floor and have access to the roof of the castle and/or tops of the towers. The views of the city from the top must be incredible. But no, few rooms are open to the public and our view was limited to the harbor, with a massive cruise ship in dock.
Notwithstanding uneventful, if not somewhat lousy, visits to the two seaside castles, our first few days in Naples were a success. We learned the metro system, found the grocery stores, and got settled in our Airbnb (in Rione Sanità, next to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli).
Upcoming: more castles, palaces, museums, and churches. The entire historic city center of Naples is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and we have a lot to see.
Garrett and Stephanie
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