Naples

Naples costs less than the big northern cities for rent, groceries and eating out, but the old centre and the seaside districts have seen sharp rises with tourism. Integrated public transport is cheap. The tourist tax rose in early 2026 and again in March 2026. The cheapest zones are the eastern and northern outskirts and the Fuorigrotta-Soccavo belt.

Chiaia, Posillipo and Vomero are the expensive, orderly districts; the old centre is lively, dense and increasingly touristy; Fuorigrotta and Bagnoli are the university zone and former industrial area; to the north, Scampia with the Vele is the symbol of public housing and its transformation. Public housing via ACER Campania and the Comune, student housing via ADISURC.

Registry and certificates are handled in your municipalità of residence or online with SPID/CIE on the Comune's portal. ASIA Napoli manages waste with door-to-door collection in many districts and street bins elsewhere. Water is public (ABC) and drinkable. Shopping happens in markets and neighbourhood shops; municipal libraries and the National Library offer study rooms.

To enter with a dog, cat or ferret you need a microchip, an EU pet passport or health certificate and a valid rabies vaccination. Mandatory registration in the regional pet register, lead at all times and a muzzle to hand. Pets allowed on trains under Trenitalia rules and in apartment buildings by law.

Rules depend on who is arriving: EU/EEA/Swiss citizens (no visa, registration with the Comune after three months), non-EU citizens for stays up to 90 days (Schengen rule, type C visa where required) and for long stays (national type D visa and a residence permit within eight working days of arrival).

The network is run by several operators — ANM (metro Lines 1 and 6, funiculars, buses, trams), Trenitalia (Line 2), EAV (Circumvesuviana, Cumana, Circumflegrea) — integrated in UnicoCampania tickets. Capodichino airport is a few kilometres from the centre, linked by the Alibus. The old centre and Chiaia have camera-controlled ZTLs; driving is not advisable.

Euro, cards accepted almost everywhere, a legal cash limit. Anyone living in Italy for most of the year is tax resident and taxed on worldwide income under three IRPEF brackets; specific regimes exist for the self-employed (forfettario), inbound workers, foreign pensioners and new residents. Contributions go to INPS; annual return with the 730 or Redditi form.

The city is covered by ASL Napoli 1 Centro, organised in ten primary health districts (from 24/73 to 33). The ASL runs five city hospitals (Ospedale del Mare, San Giovanni Bosco, San Paolo, Loreto Nuovo, Pellegrini) and publishes first-aid posts and ambulance stations. Bookings at the CUP desks in its facilities, in pharmacies or online with Campania in Salute.

Non-EU pensioners enter with the elective residence visa, EU pensioners through free movement; public healthcare is accessible by compulsory or voluntary registration. Optional 7% regime on foreign income for those moving to small southern municipalities. Cheap houses in villages, services concentrated in cities.

Naples' economy is based on services and public administration, with the port (passengers, cruises, freight), fast-growing tourism, health care and an ICT and aerospace cluster revolving around the university and the large companies based in San Giovanni a Teduccio and the metropolitan area. Employment rates are among the lowest of Italy's big cities.

A VAT number (partita IVA) from the Agenzia delle Entrate for freelancers; for businesses the Comunicazione Unica to the Registro delle Imprese, which also notifies the Agenzia, INPS, INAIL and SUAP. Main forms: sole proprietorship, SNC/SAS, SRL and SRLS, SPA. Compulsory PEC, annual chamber fee, e-invoicing. Invitalia incentives; non-EU citizens need a self-employment permit or the investor visa.

Naples hosts Federico II (1224), among the world's oldest state universities, L'Orientale, Parthenope, the private Suor Orsola Benincasa and sites of the Vanvitelli university (Caserta). Student support is run by ADISURC. Campuses are spread between the historic centre, Fuorigrotta (Monte Sant'Angelo) and San Giovanni a Teduccio, home to Engineering and the Apple Developer Academy.

Naples is divided into ten municipalità with elected bodies and is the seat of the Metropolitan City of Naples. Neapolitan is protected as linguistic heritage by a 2019 regional law. The patron saint is San Gennaro, celebrated on 19 September with the rite of the liquefaction of the blood. The historic centre has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1995.

Mild Mediterranean climate, with rainy winters and hot humid summers. Naples lies between two active volcanoes monitored by INGV: Vesuvius, dormant since 1944, and the Campi Flegrei, in a bradyseism phase with ground uplift and frequent earthquakes since 2023, at yellow alert level. Parts of the city fall within the red zones of the evacuation plans.

The old centre is visited on foot: decumani, churches, Cappella Sansevero, underground Naples. The main museums are the MANN and Capodimonte. Pompeii and Herculaneum are reached by the Circumvesuviana and have named tickets with a daily entry cap. Trips: Vesuvius, Procida, Ischia, Capri, the coast, the Royal Palace of Caserta. High season from Easter to June and in September–October.

Neapolitan pizza (the pizzaiuolo's art is UNESCO heritage), seafood cooking and pastries are the first pastime. Markets: Pignasecca, Porta Nolana, Poggioreale. The pedestrian seafront and the Posillipo rocks serve as urban beach; the Capodimonte woods and Parco Virgiliano are the parks. Napoli play at the Maradona in Fuorigrotta; evenings in Chiaia, piazza Bellini and the old centre.