Searching for the Castles of Naples
Andy and I did very little research about Naples before we arrived. I think we just decided it was a famous Italian city, and we were headed from Bologna to the Amalfi Coast, so it seemed like a reasonable stop. There are plenty of things to do in Naples, and we soon discovered there are three castles in the city. Since we’re both such big fans of castles, we made it our task to search for all three castles in Naples one day.
I’ll be honest, we didn’t actually go inside the castles. We decided that most castles tend to be better to look at from the outside, and we were only barely in the mood for sightseeing anyway, so admiring them from the outside was plenty for us that day.
Castel Sant’Elmo
First on our list was Castel Sant’Elmo, which is high up on a hill. It’s the youngest of Naples’ castles, built in the 16th century. It’s 5 euros to enter and free after 4PM, but we were there much earlier in the day.
If you go in, apparently you can get a really great 360 view of the city. But if you’re like us and don’t go in, you can at least get a good view of one side of the city with Mt. Vesuvius looming in the background if you continue walking down the street from the castle.
Castel Nuovo
Castel Nuovo, or the New Castle, was completed in the late 1200s. It’s not even the newest castle in Naples since Castel Sant’Elmo was built centuries later. This one really looks like what I picture castles to be, so it’s my favorite of the three. Again, we didn’t go in, but we walk through the towers where we could see some of the detailed carvings on the walls, and we got a view of the courtyard. It costs 5 euros to get in.
Castel dell’Ovo
The oldest of the Naples castles, Castel dell’Ovo, Castle of the Egg, juts out into the water from the coastline. Andy and I viewed this one from the beach towards the end of the afternoon, the last of our castle hunt. Entry is free if you want to go inside.
As we were leaving, we noticed we had a view of Castel Sant’Elmo from the beach. Located on the top of a hill, it’s not surprising you can see it from other parts of the city.
For more information about the castles and directions for getting there, click the links below:
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July 11, 2013 @ 9:10 PM
I agree that most castles tend to be very similar on the inside. But they usually do have spectacular views!
July 12, 2013 @ 4:18 PM
We’ve definitely seen variations of the interiors of castles, but even with the best ones, I still like the outside the best. We probably should’ve gone inside the first one for the views, but oh well.
July 11, 2013 @ 10:31 PM
That looks lovely. I have always wanted to visit Naples. I don’t know why. I think the volcanoes fascinate me.
Love the Darth Vader hat. 🙂
July 12, 2013 @ 4:19 PM
We honestly weren’t so crazy about Naples. It is a convenient base for Pompeii and Vesuvius though. Thanks Carmel!
July 12, 2013 @ 9:48 AM
Love the photo with Mt. Vesuvius in the background! I’m a big castle lover as well so all of these are being added to my list 🙂
July 12, 2013 @ 4:20 PM
Thanks Lauren! That’s probably my favorite picture too. It was pretty cool to get to see 3 castles in one day in Naples!
July 13, 2013 @ 9:01 AM
I’ve been to Naples but I didn’t even realize it had castles… so obviously you two did better than I did on the research front! 😉
July 13, 2013 @ 12:52 PM
I think that’s the only thing we did any research on for Naples. We had the hardest time finding someplace to eat for just about every meal!
July 13, 2013 @ 5:00 PM
I just love the backdrop of the volcano!
July 13, 2013 @ 5:11 PM
Me too! I loved being able to see Vesuvius from almost anywhere in Naples.
July 16, 2013 @ 8:35 PM
Oooh – I like the look of the New Castle. If I had to choose just one to go into, it would be that one!
July 17, 2013 @ 11:48 AM
Yeah, that one was my favorite castle of the day too!