Naples & Pompeii

We took the train into Naples after booking what looked like a super sick place right on the water. Or at least that’s what the photos made it feel like. If you look at the listing for Hostel Portici, it’s all exterior shots that make it seem like you’re basically staying on the coast, steps from the sea.

Technically, I guess they’re not lying. The town is by the water.

But the way the photos sell it, you think you’re pulling up to some breezy waterfront stay.

you can see how they got me

Instead our taxi dumped us in what felt like a random back alley near a market street, nowhere close to the dreamy coastal vibe they were pushing. That was the first moment we realized this place might be all smoke and mirrors.

The hostel was technically about a forty-minute public transit ride from the station, but after the train we both just said fuck it and booked a taxi.

That was mistake number one.

The driver told me the fare was fifteen euro. Then somehow it turned into forty-five dollars. This happened with pretty much every taxi to some degree — not just here, but earlier too — so learn from me: don’t take taxis unless you’re paying cash, and honestly just take public transit whenever you can.

To make it better, the driver dropped us off down the road from where we were supposed to be, in what felt like a random back alley. I was already annoyed, but we figured we’d at least check in and see the place before totally losing it.

It was filthy.

The bathrooms were so gross we didn’t even try to convince ourselves it might be fine. We didn’t unpack. We didn’t sit down. We just looked at each other and knew immediately we weren’t staying.

So we decided to ball.

Before we could get to the new place, though, we needed food. We were both pissed off and hungry, and of course that’s when the weather turned. The sky opened up and it started absolutely dumping rain. We ran across the street into a random restaurant just to get out of it.

It ended up being the best food I had in Italy.

No exaggeration. I’d go back today without thinking twice.

The restaurant was Cordella Ristorante Vineria, and it single-handedly saved the day.

After that we checked into the Lontane Luxury Hotel, and it was easily the nicest place I stayed the entire trip. The pool, the grounds, the whole resort — completely above my normal lifestyle. And honestly? That was the point. Once we were there, everything slowed down. For the first time in Naples, we were dry, fed, and comfortable.

The next day we finally decided to actually go into the city. Taxi again, straight into the heart of Naples.

We were supposed to meet up with a group from Hostelworld for an underground tour, but they got lost and never showed. So we just did the tour anyway — and honestly, I’m glad we did.

The tour runs through old Greek and Roman aqueducts that were later used as bomb shelters during World War II. What made it special wasn’t just the history, though — it was the people running it. A local family has been digging the tunnels out by hand for the last forty years. The money from the tours goes straight back into expanding and preserving the space.

It felt personal. Earned. Not packaged.

After that we checked out a local castle and an art museum, and then somehow ended up at the worst restaurant of the entire trip. Both dishes were undercooked. My friend was served what was basically raw hamburger pretending to be a steak. Bad enough that you don’t forget it.

So we did the smartest thing possible: went back to the hotel and hung out by the pool.

Pompeii absolutely wrecked me.

I could have spent a week there without getting bored. It’s the first time in my life I truly wished I wasn’t a photographer and had become an archaeologist instead. Just wandering that city — really wandering it — was incredible.

So much of it is still just there. Mosaic tiles in homes. Entire buildings you can walk into. Streets that don’t feel like ruins so much as a place people just stepped away from for a second.

People always say the best ruins are in Italy, and after Pompeii, yeah — I get it.

The best part is you don’t need to buy tickets for everything to see everything. You just need to wander. We accidentally walked into paid zones and restricted areas simply by taking a left instead of a right and realizing we were suddenly somewhere new.

That’s how Pompeii wants to be experienced. Not optimized. Not scheduled. Just explored.

It was brutally hot, easily in the hundreds, and for once I didn’t care. I kept dunking my head into fountains around the site where everyone else was cooling off too. No rush. No pressure. Just existing in it.

That night — our last in Naples — we went back into the city one more time. No plan, just wandering and trying to find food. For some reason everything was closed. Streets that had been chaos earlier were suddenly quiet, gates pulled down, lights off. We walked way longer than we meant to, hunger turning into that familiar low-grade travel frustration.

Eventually we ran into an Uber Eats driver. He barely spoke English, we barely spoke Italian, but between pointing at phones and a lot of hand gestures we somehow convinced him to bring us pizza to whatever random spot on the street we were standing on.

So we waited. On the curb. In Naples.

And then he came back with pizza.

It wasn’t fancy. It wasn’t plated. It was just hot pizza handed over on a dark street by a guy who absolutely saved the night. We ate it right there, standing, laughing at how ridiculous the whole situation was — and it felt perfect in a way no reservation ever could.

Our final day in the area was simple.

We started the day at the pool, easing into it, and then decided to walk to a local spot that supposedly had turtles and a bunch of other animals. After about a 2 km walk in the heat, we got there only to find out it was closed.

Classic.

So instead we just said screw it and went for a swim in the ocean before heading back to the hotel.

The rest of the afternoon was exactly what we needed: poolside, ocean swims, and letting the trip catch up to us. A thunderstorm rolled in while we watched from the water, dark clouds stacking over the coast.

Naples had been loud, messy, frustrating, incredible, and overwhelming — sometimes all at once. But by the end, sitting there watching the storm, it felt balanced.

Not perfect.
Just real.

The next morning, we packed up and decided it was time to leave the city behind for a bit and head to the island.

Ischia.