💡 The Short Version: For a first visit, stay in the Centro Storico: the Duomo, the Cappella Sansevero, Santa Chiara, San Gregorio Armeno and the pizza street are on foot, and 34 of the 35 where-to-stay guides read give it a heading of its own. Chiaia and Santa Lucia are the calmer, smarter seafront bases, the Vomero is a hill above the noise, and the streets round Napoli Centrale suit early trains and the Circumvesuviana to Pompeii and Sorrento. Naples charges a tourist tax of €4 to €6 a night, paid at the hotel. Naples airport is closed to flights from 1 to 30 November 2026. The America’s Cup Race Village takes over the Lungomare from 22 May 2027. Prices change with the dates, so check yours on Hotels.com. Or book a walk: the Old Town walking tourad is from €27.55.
The areas, compared
In Naples, Italy, most sights sit in a strip a few kilometres long between the station and the sea. The last column counts how many of 35 where-to-stay guides, 28 in English and 7 in Italian, give the area a heading of its own.
| Area | What it suits | Guides naming it |
|---|---|---|
| Centro Storico | The Duomo, Spaccanapoli, Via dei Tribunali and the pizzerias on foot | 34 |
| Toledo and the Quartieri Spagnoli | Via Toledo, the metro and a central base on a budget | 27 |
| Chiaia | Shops, aperitivo and the Villa Comunale park | 32 |
| Santa Lucia and the Lungomare | Sea views, the Royal Palace and the ferries to Capri | 27 |
| The port and Piazza Municipio | Early ferries, cruise passengers and Metro Line 1 | 17 |
| The Vomero | A quieter hill base with the fortress and the Certosa | 31 |
| Napoli Centrale and Piazza Garibaldi | Trains, the Alibus, the Circumvesuviana and tight budgets | 20 |
| Posillipo | Sea views and quiet, with a taxi or a bus | 22 |
| Rione Sanità | The catacombs and the Fontanelle cemetery | 7 |
The hotels
The links go to the hotel on Hotels.com, except SuperOtium and Casa d’Anna ai Cristallini, which Hotels.com does not sell and which link to their own sites. A star grade is shown only where the hotel prints one; Italy classifies hotels by region and many boutique and design hotels print none. Michelin’s Keys are the guide’s own ratings for hotels, and “Selected” means a hotel is in the guide without a Key. For the hotels beside the station and the ferries, see hotels near Napoli Centrale.
Centro Storico
The old Greek and Roman grid: Spaccanapoli, Via dei Tribunali, the Duomo, the Cappella Sansevero, Santa Chiara and San Gregorio Armeno. See the Spaccanapoli walk, the Duomo and the Treasury of San Gennaro and San Gregorio Armeno. Metro Line 1 stops at Duomo, Università, Dante and Museo, and most sights are on foot, so a car is no use here. The streets are narrow. The Comune di Napoli ordered a limit on late-night drinks round Piazza del Gesù Nuovo and Via Cisterna dell’Olio from 1 June to 1 October 2026, after noise surveys by the regional environment agency found night-time noise above the limits: no takeaway drinks from 22:30 to 06:00 and bars shut by 01:00 from Sunday to Thursday and 02:00 on Friday and Saturday. Ask for a room away from the square. The US State Department’s OSAC advises visiting the Centro Storico in daylight and sticking to the main avenues and piazzas at night: see is Naples safe?.
Artemisia Domus Centro Storico
Via dei Carrozzieri a Monteoliveto 13 · 9 rooms · guest house · Michelin Selected · Hotels.comad
A late 18th-century apartment between Piazza del Gesù and Spaccanapoli, with frescoed walls and a view of the Cloister of Santa Chiara from the windows, according to Michelin. Not the same hotel as Artemisia Domus Giardino in Santa Lucia.
Santa Chiara Boutique Hotel
Via Benedetto Croce 23 · 10 rooms and suites · 4 stars · Hotels.comad
Seven suites and three rooms in Palazzo Carafa, a building the hotel dates to about the 13th century.
The Dante House
Piazza Dante · 6 rooms · Hotels.comad
Rooms renovated in 2017 in an 18th-century former noble home on Piazza Dante. The apartment has eight balconies and frescoed ceilings 6.5 metres high.
Decumani Hotel de Charme
Via San Giovanni Maggiore Pignatelli 15 · Hotels.comad
In Palazzo Riario Sforza, an 18th-century noble building that the hotel says was the official residence of Cardinal Sisto Riario Sforza.
Rinuccini Relais
Piazza Dante 22 · 6 rooms · Michelin Selected · Hotels.comad
On the top floor of the 18th-century Palazzo Rinuccini. The hotel counts six rooms, some looking over the arched staircase of the court.
The Bellini House
Piazza Bellini · 6 rooms · boutique B&B · Hotels.comad
A boutique B&B opened in 2014 with six rooms on Piazza Bellini, three of them looking onto a hidden garden.
Hotel Piazza Bellini
Via Santa Maria di Costantinopoli 101 · Hotels.comad
Rooms and mini-apartments in an antique building dressed in contemporary style.
Costantinopoli 104
Via Santa Maria di Costantinopoli 104 · 19 rooms · Michelin Selected · Hotels.comad
An 18th-century neoclassical villa in the old city with a courtyard garden and one of the few swimming pools in historic Naples, according to Michelin.
Palazzo Decumani
Via del Grande Archivio 8 · 4 stars · Hotels.comad
An early 20th-century building the hotel puts two steps from San Gregorio Armeno, Via dei Tribunali and Via Duomo.
The Duomo House
Via Duomo · 5 rooms · Hotels.comad
Five rooms, each with a private bathroom, next to the cathedral.
Caravaggio Hotel
Piazza Cardinale Sisto Riario Sforza 157 · 4 stars · Hotels.comad
A renovated 17th-century palazzo that calls itself the first 4-star hotel in the historic centre. Caravaggio lived in Naples in 1606 and 1607, and the hotel tells the story.
Hotel Real Orto Botanico
Via Foria 192 · 4 stars · Hotels.comad
In an 18th-century building opposite the Botanical Garden, with a panoramic terrace. It is 1.4 km from Piazza del Gesù Nuovo in a straight line.
Palazzo Caracciolo Napoli, MGallery
Via Carbonara 112 · 145 rooms · Hotels.comad
A historic palazzo that the hotel describes as an elegant meeting hotel. It is about 1 km from Napoli Centrale in a straight line.
Toledo and the Quartieri Spagnoli
Via Toledo is the shopping street running from Piazza Trieste e Trento towards the Museo, and the Quartieri Spagnoli are the dense grid of narrow streets west of it, built in the 16th century for Spanish troops. Metro Line 1 stops at Toledo and Dante. The Teatro di San Carlo and the Galleria Umberto I are at the south end of the street: see the Teatro di San Carlo tour and the Quartieri Spagnoli and the Maradona mural. The OSAC report names the Quartieri Spagnoli among the parts of the Centro Storico with violent episodes, says tourists are not the targets and advises daylight there.
NapoliMia Boutique Hotel
Via Toledo 323 · 9 rooms · 4 stars · Hotels.comad
Nine rooms with private bathrooms on the second floor of a 19th-century building on pedestrian Via Toledo, with a frescoed lounge and a breakfast room.
Hotel Il Convento
Via Speranzella 137a · Hotels.comad
In a 17th-century building on one of the main streets of the Spanish Quarter. The restoration kept the thick walls, high ceilings and arches.
Hotel Toledo
Via Montecalvario 15 · 3 stars · Hotels.comad
In a building of 1725 in the Spanish Quarter. The hotel lists the funicular to the Vomero and the direct bus to Capodichino airport as nearby.
Ostello Bello Napoli
Via dei Fiorentini 10 · hostel · Hotels.comad
A hostel with private en-suite rooms and women-only dorms. The hostel puts Toledo metro station 300 metres away, about four minutes on foot.
Chiaia
The shopping and aperitivo district west of Piazza dei Martiri, with the Villa Comunale park, the Riviera di Chiaia and the bar streets known as the Baretti di Chiaia. Metro Line 6 stops at Chiaia, San Pasquale and Arco Mirelli, and the Chiaia funicular goes up to the Vomero. It is a walk or a metro ride to Spaccanapoli. The Comune applied the same late-night drinks order to the Baretti di Chiaia as to Piazza del Gesù Nuovo, from 1 June to 1 October 2026. The seafront below the district is the Lungomare Caracciolo, where the America’s Cup Race Village will stand from May 2027: see the America’s Cup in Naples, 2027.
Piazza dei Martiri, the square at the heart of Chiaia. Photo: Wolfgang Moroder, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Palazzo Alabardieri
Via Alabardieri 38 · 4 stars · Hotels.comad
In the shopping streets beside Piazza dei Martiri, with a reading room and an American bar. The hotel puts the seafront and the old town a few steps away.
Chiaja Hotel de Charme
Via Chiaia 216 · 3 stars · Hotels.comad
On the first floor of an 18th-century palace on pedestrian Via Chiaia, a few steps from Piazza del Plebiscito and the Teatro di San Carlo.
EXE Majestic
Largo Vasto a Chiaia 68 · 114 rooms · Hotels.comad
An eleven-storey building, some rooms with panoramic views.
Grand Hotel Parker’s
Corso Vittorio Emanuele 135 · 67 rooms · One Michelin Key · Hotels.comad
Michelin says it has overlooked the city since 1870. Nine of its suites are two-storey, and it has two rooftop terraces, one with a bar. George, the restaurant on the top floor, has two Michelin stars. It stands on the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, on the hillside above Chiaia.
Santa Lucia and the Lungomare
The seafront of the grand hotels, on Via Partenope facing the Castel dell’Ovo and Borgo Marinari and the bay beyond. Castel dell’Ovo is closed for restoration with no reopening date, and the Borgo Marinari around it is open to walk. The Royal Palace and Piazza del Plebiscito are along the waterfront: see the Royal Palace. The Molo Beverello ferries are further east, and Metro Line 1 stops at Municipio, by the port. A taxi from the airport to the Via Partenope hotels is a fixed €28.50. The America’s Cup Race Village on the Lungomare Caracciolo is the next stretch of seafront west, from May 2027.
Grand Hotel Vesuvio
Via Partenope 45 · 160 rooms including 21 suites · 5 stars · Hotels.comad
Open since 1882 and facing the Castel dell’Ovo. A member of Leading Hotels of the World.
Eurostars Hotel Excelsior
Via Partenope 48 · 100 rooms and 22 suites · Hotels.comad
Opened at the end of January 1908, after ten months of building.
Grand Hotel Santa Lucia
Via Partenope 46 · 4 stars · Hotels.comad
A hotel since 1906, looking across to the Castel dell’Ovo and Borgo Marinari. The hotel describes views of Vesuvius and the gulf from the renovated rooms.
Royal Continental Hotel
Via Partenope 38 · Hotels.comad
Two buildings, with a breakfast room overlooking the Castel dell’Ovo, a restaurant eight metres above the sea and a floor designed by Gio Ponti.
Artemisia Domus Giardino
Via Santa Lucia 62 · 7 rooms · Michelin Selected · Hotels.comad
Seven rooms on the second floor of a 16th-century palazzo near the Santa Lucia waterfront, with a courtyard garden that holds the spa. Michelin adds that some rooms have whirlpool baths. Not the same hotel as Artemisia Domus Centro Storico.
Hotel Rex Lifestyle
Via Palepoli 12 · 3 stars · Hotels.comad
Run by the Barbiero family since 1927, in a Liberty-style building by the architect Coppedè, a short walk from the seafront and Piazza del Plebiscito.
The port and Piazza Municipio
The ferry and cruise end of town, beside the Castel Nuovo. Municipio is the Metro Line 1 stop, and the Alibus from the airport stops at Piazza Municipio. The Molo Beverello hydrofoils leave for Capri, Ischia, Procida and Sorrento; see Capri and Procida and Ischia. The cruise terminal is the Stazione Marittima on the Molo Angioino: see the Naples cruise port guide. The hotels round the ferries are also listed, with the distances the hotels print, in hotels near Napoli Centrale.
ROMEO Napoli
Via Cristoforo Colombo 45 · 79 rooms · 5 stars · Michelin Selected · Hotels.comad
Designed by Kenzo Tange, with branding by Pentagram. The hotel says Alain Ducasse runs the restaurant on the 9th floor, which has one Michelin star, and there is a rooftop infinity pool on the 10th.
La Ciliegina Lifestyle Hotel
Via Paolo Emilio Imbriani 30 · 4 stars lusso · Hotels.comad
Looks onto Piazza Municipio, about 300 metres from the Maschio Angioino, the main port, Piazza del Plebiscito and the Teatro di San Carlo, according to the hotel. Reception is open 24 hours.
Hotel Art Resort Galleria Umberto
Galleria Umberto I 83 · 4 stars Prestige · Hotels.comad
Inside the Galleria Umberto I, between Piazza del Plebiscito and the Maschio Angioino, furnished with Neapolitan Baroque pieces.
Mercure Napoli Centro Angioino
Via Depretis 123 · 4 stars · Hotels.comad
Accor’s page puts the Molo Beverello ferries 200 m away, with the Royal Palace, the Galleria Umberto and the Quartieri Spagnoli within walking distance.
NH Napoli Panorama
Via Medina 70 · 222 rooms · Hotels.comad
Rooms start from the 16th floor, which the hotel says makes it the tallest hotel in Italy. The hotel puts the Stazione Marittima 500 metres away and says it is close to the harbour for Capri and Ischia.
Grand Hotel Oriente
Via Armando Diaz 44 · Hotels.comad
A panoramic terrace, which the hotel names in its page title.
Smart Hotel Napoli
Stazione Marittima, Molo Angioino · 4 stars · Hotels.comad
At the Stazione Marittima, 100 metres from the ferries and hydrofoils to Capri, Ischia and Procida and the Sorrento and Amalfi coasts, according to the hotel, which recommends itself for the night before or after a cruise.
Napolit’amo Hotel Medina
Via S. Tommaso d’Aquino 15 · 3 stars · Hotels.comad
A 3-star hotel on Via Medina. The hotel puts it within walking distance of “the famous underground station”.
Hostel of the Sun
Via Guglielmo Melisurgo 15 · hostel · Hotels.comad
Open since 2001, with private rooms and dorms, free breakfast and a daily programme of activities.
The Vomero
The hill district above the centre, residential and calmer, with Castel Sant’Elmo, the Certosa di San Martino and the Villa Floridiana: see Castel Sant’Elmo, the Certosa and the funiculars. Three ANM funiculars climb to it, the Centrale, the Chiaia and the Montesanto, and Metro Line 1 stops at Vanvitelli, Quattro Giornate and Rione Alto. A contactless card taps in at the funicular turnstiles. Plan the evening down: the old town’s restaurants are a funicular or metro ride away.
The Villa Floridiana and its garden staircase in the Vomero. Photo: Baku, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Hotel San Francesco al Monte
Corso Vittorio Emanuele 328 · 4 stars · Hotels.comad
Built within a 16th-century monastery on the hillside above the historic centre, with a pool and a garden.
Napoli Centrale and Piazza Garibaldi
Napoli Centrale is the station for Trenitalia and the Frecciarossa to Rome, which takes 1 hour 13 minutes. Garibaldi, under Piazza Garibaldi, has Metro Lines 1 and 2, the Circumvesuviana platforms for Pompeii, Herculaneum and Sorrento, and the Alibus stop. The old town is 15 to 20 minutes’ walk. Smartraveller says drink-spiking attacks in Naples happen mainly near train stations and in bars and cafes in the city centre, and the UK Foreign Office names main train and metro stations for petty crime: see is Naples safe?. The full list, with distances, is in hotels near Napoli Centrale.
UNAHOTELS Napoli
Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi 9 · 4 stars · Hotels.comad
A 19th-century building next to the Central Station, with a rooftop restaurant and a bus from the airport.
Starhotels Terminus
Piazza Garibaldi 91 · 169 rooms and suites · 4 stars · Hotels.comad
A few steps from Piazza Garibaldi, next to the train station.
Nuovo Rebecchino
Corso Garibaldi 356 · Hotels.comad
Describes itself as a historical hotel and says it is next to the Garibaldi art metro station.
ibis Styles Napoli Garibaldi
Via G. Ricciardi 33 · 3 stars · Hotels.comad
Close to the Central Station and the Garibaldi metro stop, and, Accor’s page says, well placed for the historic centre.
Hotel Zara
Via Firenze 81 · 2 stars · Hotels.comad
A few steps from the station. The hotel says you reach the historic centre in five minutes through Porta Capuana.
Posillipo
The leafy hill and villa district west of Chiaia, with views over the bay. The hotels below are 3 to 5 km from Piazza del Plebiscito in a straight line. Metro Line 6 stops at Mergellina. The Campi Flegrei, the volcanic area west of the city round Pozzuoli, are named as active by the British and Canadian governments and by OSAC. A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck between Pozzuoli and Quarto on 31 July 2026; the damage was in Pozzuoli, and no source names Posillipo as affected.
The Posillipo shore from the sea, with Palazzo Donn’Anna at the water’s edge. Photo: Ruthven, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Hotel Paradiso
Via Catullo 11 · 72 rooms · 4 stars · Hotels.comad
Part of the Best Western Signature Collection, on the hill of Posillipo.
Primo Piano Posillipo
Via Posillipo 299 · bed and breakfast · Hotels.comad
A bed and breakfast on the sea at Via Posillipo. The page gives Palazzo Donn’Anna as three minutes on foot, the Castel dell’Ovo and the Molo Beverello as 5 km and the airport as 13 km.
Rione Sanità
The district north of the Archaeological Museum, with the catacombs and the Fontanelle cemetery: see the Catacombs of Naples and the Fontanelle cemetery. Metro Line 1 stops at Materdei and Museo. These are art houses and boutique stays rather than hotels in the usual sense.
SuperOtium
Via Santa Teresa degli Scalzi 8 · boutique hotel · SuperOtium’s site
A boutique hotel that runs an artists’ residency programme and a calendar of cultural events.
Atelier Inès Arts & Suites
Via dei Cristallini · Hotels.comad
A family-owned house in a private palazzo that was once the studio of the artist Annibale Oste.
Casa d’Anna ai Cristallini
Via dei Cristallini · art house · Casa d’Anna’s site
An art house in a residence dating from the early 16th century.
Before you book
- The city tax. It is charged per person per night, for up to 14 consecutive nights, and collected by the hotel at the rate for its category. The rates have applied since 1 May 2026 (Comune di Napoli).
| Where you stay | Per person per night |
|---|---|
| Hotel, 5 or 4 stars | €6 |
| Hotel, 3 stars | €5.50 |
| Hotel, 2 stars | €4.50 |
| Hotel, 1 star | €4 |
| B&B and other non-hotel stays | €5.50 |
| Short-term rental | €6 |
- November 2026. Naples airport (Capodichino) is closed to all flights from 1 to 30 November 2026 for runway works, and flights move to Salerno. A hotel by the station suits an arrival by train. See Naples airport to the city.
- The airport in other months. The Alibus costs €5 and stops at Piazza Garibaldi and Piazza Municipio. A taxi has a fixed fare of €21 to Napoli Centrale, €24 to the port and Piazza Municipio and €28.50 to the Via Partenope hotels.
- Dates that fill the hotels. The San Gregorio Armeno nativity fair opens on 1 November 2026, and New Year runs from 30 December: see Christmas in Naples 2026. The America’s Cup brings racing to the Gulf from 22 May 2027 and the Match from 10 July 2027. San Gennaro’s blood is shown on 16 December 2026, 1 May 2027 and 19 September 2027: see San Gennaro’s miracle dates.
- Getting about. A bus or funicular single is €1.30 and a metro single €1.50. See Naples public transport.
For the days themselves, see 3 days in Naples. Where to eat in Naples and the best pizza in Naples cover the meals, day trips from Naples the trips out, and the best time to visit Naples gives the weather by month. What to book in Naples lists the closed days.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Naples for a first visit?
The Centro Storico. The Duomo, the Cappella Sansevero, Santa Chiara, San Gregorio Armeno and the pizza street, Via dei Tribunali, are inside it, and Metro Line 1 stops at Duomo, Università, Dante and Museo. Of 35 where-to-stay guides read, 34 give it a heading of its own.
Does Naples charge a tourist tax?
Yes, per person per night for up to 14 consecutive nights, collected by the hotel. Since 1 May 2026 it is €6 in a 4-star or 5-star hotel, €5.50 in a 3-star hotel or a B&B, €4.50 in a 2-star hotel and €4 in a 1-star hotel. A short-term rental is €6.
Is it better to stay near Napoli Centrale or in the old town?
Near the station for early trains, the Circumvesuviana to Pompeii and Sorrento and the Alibus. In the old town for the sights, which are 15 to 20 minutes' walk from the station. Hotels such as the Starhotels Terminus and the UNAHOTELS Napoli sit on Piazza Garibaldi.
Which Naples hotels hold Michelin Keys?
The Michelin Guide lists six Naples hotels. Grand Hotel Parker's has One Key. ROMEO Napoli, Costantinopoli 104, Rinuccini Relais, Artemisia Domus Giardino and Artemisia Domus Centro Storico are Selected, with no Key.
Where should I stay for the America's Cup in 2027?
The Race Village is on the Lungomare Caracciolo, the seafront below Chiaia. The Louis Vuitton Cup starts there on 22 and 23 May 2027 and the Match on 10 July 2027. Book early for Chiaia and Santa Lucia; the old town is a metro ride from the water.
Can I fly into Naples in November 2026?
No. Naples airport (Capodichino) is closed to all flights from 1 to 30 November 2026 for runway works, and flights move to Salerno. A November stay by air is a Salerno arrival.
