Naples in 3 days: a weekend for two

Small shrines tucked into corners, street life spilling out of doorways: the Quartieri Spagnoli, the dense grid climbing the hill behind Via Toledo, isn't dressed up for visitors, and that's the point. Go slowly, let a lane pull you uphill, forget the map. It's steep in parts and cobbled throughout, so wear comfortable shoes; it's safe to wander by day, with the awareness you'd bring to any dense urban quarter. Regroup on Via Toledo, the wide shopping street at the bottom, before deciding on lunch.

Above the neighborhood on its own hill, the Certosa di San Martino is a former monastery turned museum — cloisters, baroque decoration and one of the city's best panoramic views of the bay. It's a calmer, more contained couple of hours than the streets below, and the funicular from the lower town spares you the steepest climb.

Napoli Sotterranea's guided descent passes Greek and Roman aqueducts, cisterns and World War II air-raid shelters. Tours run on a schedule through narrow passages and stairs, so book ahead and wear shoes you don't mind getting dusty. Back in daylight, walk the decumani — the old Greek and Roman east-west streets — to Via San Gregorio Armeno, where artisan workshops make nativity figurines and other handcrafted pieces year-round.

A short walk along the decumani, the Duomo di Napoli holds the chapel of San Gennaro, the city's patron saint, the Succorpo crypt, and the older basilica of Santa Restituta, whose excavated floor exposes a Roman-era zone beneath the church. Same layered history, no booked time. The catacombs of San Gennaro at Capodimonte are a separate excursion.

The Lungomare curves along the Bay of Naples, pedestrianized, flat and wide — walk it hand in hand in the late afternoon as the heat eases, a slow change after two days in the dense center. End at Castel dell'Ovo, one of the city's oldest fortifications, on a rocky islet joined by a short causeway, and watch the sun go down with Vesuvius in silhouette. The interior is often free to enter.

If the seafront sun is too much, the Villa Comunale runs right alongside it — a shaded public garden of benches and palm trees with the same bay views filtered through green. Duck in and out of the shade and you still end at Castel dell'Ovo for sunset.