Naples Underground

There are so many things to see in Naples that you could spend days exploring the city and being amazed every day. You're sure to have planned a visit to the Naples Cathedral, you'll want to gaze out to sea from the Castel dell'Ovo, and you'll want to feel the authentic atmosphere of the city in the Piazza del Plebiscito. But beyond the main attractions, a visit to underground Naples is an incredible thing to do in the city.

Naples preserves an entire city underground. A tour through cisterns, tunnels and shafts make this experience a unique attraction in the city. If you are thinking about what to do in Naples, I recommend you to include a visit to its underground part and be part of this journey through 2400 years of history.

While there are many tours and excursions in Naples, there are some more curious travellers who want to see the city from end to end. This tour is ideal for these travellers, as they will be able to tour theBourbon Gallery.

This tunnel was built in 1853 by Francis II of Bourbon, who was very worried about an imminent rebellion and decided to order the construction of an escape route from the Royal Palace to the barracks on the then Via della Pace.

You can walk through this tunnel full of history and atmosphere that was never finished, but which in every period of history was used by different people for different purposes. It was a military hospital, a World War II shelter and even a judicial warehouse.

This walk is captivating and, at times, heartbreaking, as you can still see inscriptions with handwritten messages of hope and also of desolation from all the people who have lived there.

In the tunnels you will also find statues from the fascist period and a unique exhibition of cars and motorbikes that were abandoned during the war years.
This tour takes place in groups of maximum 20 people and costs from €14. Don't miss the opportunity to experience the history of Naples in a way you might not have imagined, but will definitely enjoy.

Interesting details

• Price: from €14
• Duration: 3 and a half hours
• Advantages of this option: it is a unique activity in Naples and at a very good price.

This city tour of Naples is perfect for those who wish to take a walking tour of the city, but are also interested in seeing the underground part of the city.

On this 5-hour tour of Naples, you will start by getting to know the famous historic centre.

Naples is a particularly picturesque city, and one of the best activities is to simply wander around its craft shops, take a tour (if you can) to sample its street food and marvel at the antiquity and state of preservation of its churches.

This type of walking tour usually takes in the main sights, such as Piazza del Municipio, Galleria Umberto I and Piazza del Plebiscito.

Other major monuments, such as the Castel Nuov andthe Royal Palace, are also often visited.

After a stroll along Spaccanapoli, the main avenue, and along the popular Via San Gregorio Armeno, the visit to the buried ruins of the ancient city of Naples begins.

A great advantage of this tour is that your guide is a professional art historian, with whom you can learn all the curiosities and interesting facts about this unique tour.

In addition, the group size is limited to a maximum of 25 people so that you can make this tour as comfortable as possible. You will also be provided with headphones so that you can listen to the guide without difficulty during the tour.

Interesting details

• Price: from 40€.
• Duration: 5 hours
• Advantages of this option: this tour includes both a tour of the historic centre and the underground city.

Visiting the Catacombs of San Gennaro is the third most popular tourist activity in Naples for those travellers who dare to go underground. This is the place where most of the Neapolitans were buried during the High Middle Ages.

The peculiarity of this visit is that you will be able to identify different types of burials, ranging from small chapels for bishops and important personalities of the time, to the tombs of anonymous people buried directly in the ground.

You will also be able to learn much more about the patron saint of Naples, San Gennaro, who is so loved by all the inhabitants of the city.

This tour of Naples will give you the chance to discover impressive 9th century Byzantine frescoes and paintings preserved in this underground city. These works of art are believed to represent the birth of the Pompeian style, and are the first Christian paintings in southern Italy.

These catacombs were also the refuge of Bishop Paul II in the 8th century during the iconoclastic struggles. It is truly incredible to walk through these sites that tell a story in every corner.

Interesting details

• Price: from 9€.
• Duration: 45 minutes
• Advantages of this option: the tour is done in a group of maximum 6 people.

The Sacred Route of Naples is a tour of religious and historical importance, from the tomb of San Gennaro to his treasure. On this tour you will discover underground basilicas, important frescoes and mosaics and walk through one of the oldest neighbourhoods of the city: Rione Sanità.

This tour lasts 3 hours, where you can immerse yourself in the history and evolution of an area of the city influenced by many strong cultures over the centuries.

Walking around Naples is an experience in itself, but in the neighbourhood of Rione Sanità you will enjoy the diversity of sounds, colours and faces.

The tour stops include a visit to the Catacombs of San Gennaro, the Basilica of San Gennaro extra Moenia, the Basilica of S. Maria della Sanità and the Basilica of S. Severo, monuments of utmost importance to the city.

Details of interest

• Price: from 15€.
• Duration: 3 hours
• Advantages of this option: you will enjoy a tour of the underground part, but you will also be able to see representative monuments.

This tour includes the entrance to this underground world and a live guided tour. If you want to enter this fantastic setting 40 metres below the surface, this option is for you.

Your guide will take you through history passing through different stages of the city, from the air-raid shelters of World War II to the dressing room of the controversial Emperor Nero. It is curious to imagine yourself beneath the depths of a city with streets as busy as Naples.

This tour will allow you to enjoy relics of antiquity, including the Hypogeum Gardens, which date back to the 4th century and are priceless ancient works.

You can also take a walk through the cistern system and imagine what the city's water distribution and supply was like for almost 23 centuries.

The visit is crowned with a short tour of the remains of the ancient Roman Theatre of Neapolis, where you can even clearly identify where Nero had a private dressing room for when performances took place. It is amazing how many of the things we consider everyday have their origins so many years ago.

This tour lasts an hour and a half and prices start from €14, which includes the service of a guide who will accompany you on this wonderful adventure.

Details of interest

• Price: from 14€.
• Duration: 1 hour and a half
• Advantages of this option: it is a very well preserved tour where you can enjoy different attractions in a single tour.

• It is recommended to bring some kind of warm clothing as you may get cold in the tunnels.
• If you are claustrophobic or do not like confined or narrow spaces, this may not be a recommended activity for you. However, you can still see all the wide galleries and avoid the place where you enter through the narrowest holes, if you prefer.
• For safety, I recommend wearing comfortable shoes. The ground is sometimes not very firm for walking and there is a lot of humidity, due to the weather conditions in Naples and the depth.
• If you are travelling with children, this is a family-friendly activity. You just have to consider whether they will be comfortable with some of the conditions. There are sections of the tunnels that are quite dark, and the route has stairs in several sections. But beyond these details, they will enjoy it as much as the adults.
• I recommend you to book the tour of your choice in advance, as spaces are limited and these activities are very popular with tourists. Tours are available in different languages, so remember to check in advance if they are available in the language and time you want.

Taking a tour of underground Naples will allow you to experience a completely different environment, and immerse yourself in the history of the city. A self-guided tour will only allow you to walk through the tunnels, but a guided tour will allow you to relive the history as you walk through them.

While you can do many other activities in the city, visiting the underground part of the city is something very characteristic, and something you can't do in other cities in Europe, or in the world. The ruins, moreover, are perfectly preserved. And a restoration process is underway to make it even better.

Depending on the tour, the prices are quite similar to other types of activities, but this visit will provide you with cultural and historical value. Plus, the experience of being so many metres underground is something you have to experience for yourself.

No, the reality is that the ruins are part of a conservation project in which access is allowed only with guided tours, in order to limit visits and control the itineraries and routes of tourists.

There are tours of different themes, and in different places, as we have detailed in these sections, but there is no possibility to do them on your own.