Pizza in Naples Italy

The Neapolitan pizza is a protected legal designation. The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana has been certifying pizzerias since 1984, and the EU granted the dough its own Traditional Speciality Guaranteed status in 2009. This tells you something about how seriously Naples takes this. The city that invented pizza has opinions about what pizza is, and most of those opinions are correct.

A proper Margherita here costs €5 to €9 at the best places in the city. That price has not changed much in a decade. This is by design. The old pizzerias operate on volume, not margin, and the concept of charging tourists a premium for the same product would strike most Neapolitan pizzaiolo as a form of fraud. You will eat better pizza here for less money than anywhere else in Italy, and far less than anywhere outside it.

The Pizzerias You Actually Need to Know

L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele (Via Cesare Sersale 1) is the one everyone talks about and the one that deserves it. It has been operating since 1870 and serves only two pizzas: Margherita and Marinara. That is the entire menu. The Margherita is made with fior di latte, not buffalo mozzarella, which is the traditional choice for pizza and results in a cleaner, less watery cheese melt. The queue runs about an hour at peak times; they do not take reservations. Go early (before 12:30) or after the lunch rush.

Gino Sorbillo (Via dei Tribunali 32) is the other name on every list and is justified by the result. The pizza is excellent, the atmosphere is loud and lively, and the wait is similar to da Michele. Locals debate which is better the way they debate football clubs; both are worth the queue.

If you want to skip the wait entirely without compromising much on quality, Pizzeria Di Matteo (Via dei Tribunali 94) is a reliable choice that rarely has a queue of more than 10-15 minutes and has been trading on Via dei Tribunali for decades. The fried pizza (pizza fritta), a folded, deep-fried version that predates the baked version historically, is worth ordering here regardless of what else you get.

One opinion worth defending: Concettina ai Tre Santi in the Sanita neighbourhood is technically skilled and inventive, but it has become so popular (and pricey relative to the traditional spots) that the experience no longer matches the reputation. The neighbourhood itself (Sanita) is interesting for other reasons; eat somewhere more straightforward.

What Makes Naples Pizza Different

The dough uses Tipo 00 flour, fresh yeast, and ferments for at least eight hours. The tomatoes are San Marzano, grown in volcanic soil south of the city. The oven reaches 450-480 degrees Celsius and the pizza cooks in 60-90 seconds. The result is a crust that chars at the edge, has genuine chew in the middle (the cornicione), and a centre so wet from the tomato that you fold each slice lengthwise to eat it. This wetness is not a mistake. It is the whole point.

The folded eating style has a name: “a portafoglio” (wallet-style). Street vendors outside the pizzerias sell slices folded this way, wrapped in paper, for €1.50-2. This is an entirely legitimate way to eat Neapolitan pizza and is what Neapolitans doing lunch on the move actually do.

Beyond Pizza: Naples as a City

Naples tends to be visited too quickly by people who treat it as a staging post for Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. It is a bigger and stranger city than that treatment suggests.

The historic centre (Centro Storico) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most densely packed historic urban environments in Europe. Spaccanapoli, the long straight street that cuts through the centre following the original Greek city plan, is lined with churches, palaces, street food vendors, and the extraordinary San Gregorio Armeno, a street entirely given over to craftsmen making nativity scene figurines year-round. Busiest at Christmas, but the workshops are open and interesting to watch any time of year.

Napoli Sotterranea (entry from Piazza San Gaetano 68, €12 adults, €8 children) takes you 40 metres below the modern city into Greek aqueduct tunnels from the 4th century BC that were repurposed as water cisterns, then as rubbish dumps, and then as air-raid shelters during World War II. Naples was the most heavily bombed city in Italy during the war; more than 200,000 people sheltered in these tunnels. The 90-minute tour is one of the better tourist experiences in the city and is not crowded the way the surface attractions are.

The Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (Piazza Museo 19) holds the most important collection of Roman artefacts in existence, most of them excavated from Pompeii and Herculaneum. The Secret Cabinet, a room of erotic art from Pompeii that was locked away for most of the museum’s history and only reopened in 2000, is included with the standard admission. The museum is large; give it half a day or come back.

Getting to Pompeii

Pompeii is 25 kilometres from Naples and is reached most cheaply by the Circumvesuviana train (€2.80 one way from Napoli Centrale, 35 minutes). The site is open daily; admission is €16 for adults. Book tickets online to avoid the entrance queue, which in summer can be 45 minutes. This is worth one full day. Herculaneum, a smaller site on the same train line, is arguably better preserved and less crowded; if you can only do one, Herculaneum is the more rewarding choice for most visitors.

Where to Stay

Grand Hotel Vesuvio (Via Partenope 45) overlooks the Bay of Naples and is the traditional luxury option, with views across to Vesuvius and down to Castel dell’Ovo. Rates from €250-400 depending on season and room. Worth it for one night if you want the rooftop terrace experience.

For a more central location in the historic quarter, small boutique hotels and B&Bs around Piazza Bellini are good value and put you inside walking distance of the best pizzerias and the underground tunnels. Expect €80-130 for a double room in a decent mid-range option.

Getting Around

Naples has a functional metro (Line 1 has stations decorated by significant artists, making it one of the more interesting subway systems in Europe) and a reasonably reliable bus network. The historic centre is best explored on foot, which requires some tolerance for scooter traffic and uneven paving.

The airport (Napoli Capodichino) is 6 kilometres from the centre. The Alibus express bus runs to the train station for €5. A taxi to the centre costs around €25 and is fixed-rate; insist on a cab with a meter or agree the rate before getting in.

Tipping is not the default in Naples. Rounding up the bill or leaving a euro or two is appreciated; the 20% American convention would confuse a Neapolitan waiter.

One Last Thing

The sfogliatella, the flaky pastry shell filled with ricotta and semolina, is the dessert answer to the pizza question. Pasticceria Attanasio (Vico Ferrovia 1-4, near the train station) has been making them since 1930. They are best eaten warm, about two minutes after they come out of the oven, standing at the counter. There is no point sitting down for a sfogliatella.