WanderList: Naples
Danny Munro embraces the vibrant southern Italian city of Naples and its love of Maradona, pizza and making a big old noise
Arriving in the bustling central neighbourhood of Montesanto late on a Saturday evening feels like quite the baptism of fire for anyone new to Naples. Emerging from the metro station, we’re met by the frenzied cacophony of screeching mopeds and impassioned raised voices that seem to soundtrack the city, no matter the time of day. Sandwiched between the lively Spanish Quarter and the city’s largest public square, Piazza Dante, Montesanto plays host to screeds of tourists and a core population of working families who have lived along these cobbled streets for generations, with walls adorned by liturgical murals and washing lines strewn across narrow roads.
Famously the birthplace of the Neapolitan pizza, it feels actively difficult to come across a restaurant in which you won’t receive a meal you would describe as ‘life changing’ had you eaten it in Scotland. The standard of the local speciality is so good that you don’t need to adventure too far beyond a margherita, which shouldn’t set you back much more than €6 in most establishments.
Once satisfied with your pizza and tiramisu intake, head to the Spanish Quarter where bars back on to bars that back on to bars, and every inch of street is taken up by outdoor seating. The particular hole in the wall we find ourselves in serves a rather potent Aperol Spritz, while blaring reggaeton at a volume that would invoke swift intervention from most city councils back home. Beyond the cheap orange alcohol, the area also plays host to the Diego Maradona mural. Most football supporters know how popular the late maverick Argentinian is in his beloved Naples, but it’s hard to fathom just how many times you’ll see his face on the streets of the city until you get here. Standing beneath an enormous, foreboding painting of Diego in his iconic sky-blue Napoli kit, we ogle at the shrine where fans from every corner of the globe have come to lay their own team’s shirt as a mark of respect, with some even leaving local currency.
Loaded up on Maradona souvenirs (a magnet with a photo of his ‘hand of god’ moment now has pride of place on my dad’s fridge), we make our way to the Montesanto Funicular. A smooth operation that runs every ten minutes or so (though check ahead as it’s scheduled to close for an overhaul during much of 2026), the funicular catapults us up to Castel Sant’Elmo, from where we are generously offered a panoramic view of the city. For a place so vibrant and chaotic at ground level, the altitude removes any semblance of noise pollution, making it a fitting spot to reflect on a successful weekend in Italy’s most vibrant city.
Visit Naples’ official tourist site.