Naples

Naples is 105 mi/185 km southeast of Rome. It's a fairly dirty port city, has always impressed travelers with its beautiful bay and setting. Naples is home to Pulcinella-the ancestor of Punch and Judy, the Great Caruso and pizza. It has benefited in recent years from an energetic mayor who has instituted a number of tourist-friendly programs, including closing off a number of piazzas to vehicular traffic, extending museum hours and cleaning up the main port of Molo Beverello, where boats leave for the nearby islands. You'll visit the church of Santa Chiara and its gorgeous majolica-tiled cloister; the chapel of San Saero, with its superb marble statuary; the beautiful 16th-century church of San Giacomo degli Spagnoli; and the street of San Gregoria Armeno, where craftspeople create the famous Neapolitan creche figures. Don't miss the museums : the National Archaeological Museum -Roman murals, coins and pottery, much of it from nearby Pompeii, the Museo Nazionale di San Martino-sculpture, glass, etc., the Museo Nazionale della Ceramica and the Museo and Galleria di Capodimonte. You can also visti castles of including Maschio Anguino, Castel dell'Ovo and St. Elmo and two royal palaces-one at Piazza Plebiscito, where you can visit the royal apartments, and another at Capodimonte.