Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte

The museum's hours page, checked on September 30, 2026, lists these areas as closed for restoration and rehanging:

• The whole third floor: the contemporary art section, the Mimmo Jodice photography gallery and the 19th and 20th century section.
• Part of the Armoury, the De Ciccio collection and parts of the first and second floors.
• The Ottocento privato section.
• The church of San Gennaro inside the park.

Two services are also off. The audioguide is "temporarily suspended", and since May 1, 2026 the cloakroom is suspended too. The museum does not say how long either will last. Plan to carry whatever you bring, and download notes or an art-history podcast before you climb the hill, because there is no rented commentary to fall back on.

The prints and drawings room is open only for study, by appointment, Monday to Friday. That is for researchers, not casual visitors.

First floor: the Farnese Gallery. This is the collection Charles of Bourbon inherited from his mother, Elisabetta Farnese. Look for:

• Titian's Portrait of Paul III with his grandsons, a family portrait that feels like a thriller.
• Parmigianino's Antea, the young woman in the fur stole.
• Pieter Bruegel the Elder's Parable of the Blind, the line of men walking toward a ditch.

First floor: the royal apartment. The Bourbon rooms include the Salottino di porcellana, a small parlour lined entirely in porcelain, and the Pompeian rooms. The porcelain gallery nearby keeps the same hours as the first floor.

Second floor: art in Naples from the 13th to the 18th century. Caravaggio's Flagellation of Christ, painted in 1607, is here. The museum describes it as a watershed for painting in the city. The canvas belongs to the Interior Ministry's Fondo Edifici di Culto and came to the museum from a church for safekeeping. Around it hangs the display Oltre Caravaggio, tracing Naples' 17th and 18th centuries from Ribera to Mattia Preti and Luca Giordano. Sala 62, the masterpieces room on the second floor, keeps first-floor hours, until 7:30 p.m.

The two discounts and the two closing times decide the plan:

1. Arrive at 8:30 a.m. A ticket bought and validated before 9:30 a.m. costs €12. Go straight to the second floor while it is quiet.
2. Do the first floor after lunch. It stays open until 7:30 p.m., so the Farnese rooms and the porcelain parlour can wait.
3. Or come late on a Sunday. On Sundays and holidays both floors run to 7:30 p.m., and the €12 rate applies again from 5:30 p.m. An hour is not enough for the whole museum, but it is enough for the Caravaggio and the Titian.

Free first Sundays are busier and the porcelain gallery then runs shorter hours, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last entry 4 p.m.). Never plan a Wednesday here. Tickets are sold at the desk and on the national Musei Italiani portal. For bookings and guided visits the museum lists 848 800 288, or +39 06 399 67 050 from mobiles and abroad, answered 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Capodimonte is in the Campania Artecard circuit: it can be one of the card's free entries, with a reduced price once those are used.

The palace sits well above the centre. You have three sensible options.

• Bus. The museum lists city buses 168, 178 and C67 to the Porta Piccola stop on Via Lucio Amelio, C63 to Porta Grande on Via Capodimonte, and the 204 to Viale Colli Aminei, about 200 m from Porta Piccola. Buses leave from Piazza Museo, next to the archaeological museum, reached on metro Line 1 (Museo) or Line 2 (Piazza Cavour). The museum's page is old in parts, so check routes on the ANM site before you rely on one. We could not confirm that any dedicated Capodimonte shuttle runs in 2026.
• Walk. The museum suggests three walks of about 2 km and 30 minutes. "I Due Musei" links the MANN and Capodimonte over the Ponte della Sanita, past the Catacombs of San Gennaro. It is uphill all the way.
• Taxi. Simplest in summer heat. See getting around Naples for fares.

The best day plan pairs the catacombs in the morning with the museum after lunch, then walks down through Rione Sanita.

The Real Bosco is the old royal hunting park, with long avenues, lawns and outbuildings such as the Giardino Torre, which now has a cafe-bistro and a pizzeria. It opens every day at 7 a.m. Closing time moves with the season:

The park closes on Easter Monday. Gates differ: Porta Piccola runs 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Porta Grande 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., while Porta Miano follows the seasonal hours above. Bring water in summer: it is a big park, and the Giardino Torre cafe is the place to refill.

Naples: Capodimonte Museum small group tour

Only 62 reviews. The museum's own ticket is €15 (€12 in the first and last hour), so the guide costs about €23.50. Getting up the hill is up to you.

2 hours

4.7★★★★★★★★★★(62 reviews)

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