Naples on a budget

Pizza is the cheapest good meal in Naples, and the famous names are not the expensive ones:

The fried pizza is the best-value hot meal in the city: read pizza fritta and, for where the queues move fastest, Da Michele. Watch the branch: La Masardona charges €9 for the same fried pizza at its Piazza Vittoria branch in Chiaia. Trattoria da Nennella's fixed menu cost about €15 in 2024 reviews, with the singing waiters thrown in. Our cheap eats guide has the full list.

Coffee is cheapest standing at the bar: €1.20–€2 at Caffè Mexico, per a 2026 guide. Sitting down at a famous cafe changes the bill completely: a 2023 review paid €13 for a coffee, two pastries and water at a table in Gran Caffè Gambrinus.

A day in the old town can cost nothing but food. Free to enter or walk:

• The Duomo, open 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., with two rooms older than almost anything else you can enter in Naples (the rooftop tour costs from €6).
• Gesù Nuovo and the basilica of Santa Chiara (the cloister is €7).
• Spaccanapoli and Via dei Tribunali, San Gregorio Armeno's crib workshops, Piazza del Plebiscito and the Galleria Umberto I.
• The Lungomare walk from Castel dell'Ovo's causeway to Mergellina, and the Villa Comunale gardens (open during works).
• The Gaiola underwater park at Posillipo is free, with online booking from May to September.

Free days: Pompeii and Herculaneum are free on the first Sunday of the month (expect crowds), and Herculaneum also on April 25, June 2 and November 4. The MANN's next free day is November 4, 2026. At state museums and parks, under-18s enter free and EU citizens aged 18 to 24 or 25 pay about €2 (the MANN, Pompeii, Herculaneum and Palazzo Reale all list it). In May, the city's Maggio dei Monumenti opens usually closed buildings for free.

• Castel Sant'Elmo, €5: the widest view over the city and bay.
• Certosa di San Martino, €6 (€2 ages 18–25): a first-rank baroque church, cloister and terrace; closed Tuesdays.
• Santa Chiara cloister, €7: the majolica cloister.
• Pio Monte della Misericordia, €10: a Caravaggio altarpiece where it was painted to hang, open daily.
• Cappella Sansevero, €12: the Veiled Christ; book ahead.

The big-ticket items are the MANN (€20), Napoli Sotterranea (€18) and Pompeii (€20–€25). Before you buy several, check whether a Campania Artecard would save you money: we do the arithmetic in is the Artecard worth it? Note that it is not valid on the Alibus.

• Walk. The old town, Via Toledo and the seafront are all within about 30 minutes of each other on foot.
• ANM tickets: €1.30 a ride on the metro, funiculars and buses; a day ticket is €4.50. ANM keeps these unchanged when integrated fares rise on October 1, 2026 (the new integrated prices were unpublished on September 30). Contactless Tap&Go works at the gates.
• Circumvesuviana: €3.30 to Pompeii, €2.60 to Herculaneum, €4.60 to Sorrento. The €15 Campania Express is suspended anyway, from October 1, 2026.
• From the airport: Alibus €5 against a €21–€28.50 fixed taxi fare. Capodichino is closed for runway works from November 1 to 30, 2026; see getting to Naples.
• Ferries: Caremar's slow ferry to Capri is €14.80, against €25 for the NLG jet. Caremar adds 12% (at least €1) for tickets bought before the day, so buy at the pier on the morning. From Pozzuoli, Procida is €9.50 by ferry.
• Taxis: always ask for the fixed fare; station to the old town is €11 per car.

Details in getting around Naples.

Rooms are the biggest cost, and the date matters more than the area. On our two sample Wednesdays, the same old-town hotel cost €455 on October 14 and €140 on November 11, 2026. The cheapest doubles we saw on November 11 were the Toledo Hotel in the Quartieri Spagnoli at €68, the Chiaja Hotel de Charme at €95 and the Hotel Vergilius Billia near the station at €105 (Kayak, taxes included).

Add the city tax: €5.50 per person per night at B&Bs and 3-star hotels, €6 at 4-star hotels and short lets, €4.50 at 2-star and €4 at 1-star, for guests over 14, up to 14 nights. The Quartieri Spagnoli has the most central cheap beds, if you can sleep through scooters. We did not price hostels.

1. Breakfast: sfogliatella €2 and a standing espresso, up to €2.
2. Morning: Duomo and Gesù Nuovo (free), Cappella Sansevero €12.
3. Lunch: a margherita at Da Michele, €6.50 plus €1 cover.
4. Afternoon: Pio Monte della Misericordia €10; metro from Dante to Municipio and back, €2.60.
5. Sunset: the Lungomare, free.
6. Dinner: pizza fritta €6 and a frittatina €2 at La Masardona's original shop.

Total: €44.10 per person, with two of the best artworks in the city included. Swap Sansevero and Pio Monte for the free churches and it falls to about €22.

Naples Official Pizza Making Class & Tiramisu with wood oven

Up to 12 people; under-18s need a parent. Not wheelchair accessible. The same company sells a similar class on Viator (162012P5) with a €39 from-price.

3 hours

4.9★★★★★★★★★★(6,428 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on GetYourGuide

Capri: Island Boat Trip with Grottos

Starts on Capri, so the ferry is extra. Blue Grotto entry is not included (the listing says €19, paid on the spot) and the wait there can be up to two hours; the swim option skips the grotto.

1 to 2 hours

4.3★★★★★★★★★★(6,024 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on GetYourGuide

Ercolano: Herculaneum Entry Ticket with Optional Audio Guide

Sold by GetYourGuide itself for €18.20; the park sells the same ticket for €16 plus €1.50 online presale. No guide. The entrance is at Corso Resina 187, Ercolano.

Self-guided

4.2★★★★★★★★★★(902 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on GetYourGuide

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