Naples Underground

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

Naples preserves an entire city underground. A tour through cisterns, tunnels and wells 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 subway 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 travelers who want to see the city from end to end. This tour is ideal for these travelers, 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 of, at that time, Via della Pace.

You will be able to walk through this tunnel full of history and atmosphere that was never finished, but 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 tour is captivating and, at times, heartbreaking, as you can still see inscriptions with handwritten messages of hope and desolation of 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 motorcycles that were abandoned during the war years.
This tour takes place in groups of 20 people maximum and the price starts at 14€. Don't miss the opportunity to experience the history of Naples in a way that you had not imagined, but that you will definitely enjoy.

Interesting details

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

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

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

Naples is a particularly picturesque city, and one of the best activities is to simply lose yourself among its handicraft stores, 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 tourist spots, such as Piazza del Municipio, Galleria Umberto I and Piazza del Plebiscito.

They also usually visit other major monuments, such as the Castel Nuov andthe Royal Palace.

After a walk 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 to listen to the guide without difficulties during the tour.

Details of interest

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

Visiting the Catacombs of San Gennaro is the third most frequented tourist activity in Naples by those travelers who dare to know it underground. This is the site where most of the Neapolitans were buried during the early Middle Ages.

The particularity of this visit is that you can 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.

In addition, you will be able to learn much more about the patron saint of Naples, San Gennaro, 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 subway city. These works of art are believed to represent the birth of the Pompeian style, and are the first Christian paintings in southern Italy.

In these catacombs also took refuge the bishop Paul II, in the 8th century during the iconoclastic struggles. It is truly amazing 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, which goes from the tomb of San Gennaro to his treasure. On this tour you will discover subway basilicas, important frescoes and mosaics and walk through one of the oldest districts 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 Rione Sanità neighborhood you will enjoy the diversity of sounds, colors and faces.

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.

Interesting details

• Price: from 15€.
• Duration: 3 hours
• Advantages of this option: you will enjoy a tour of the subway part, but you can also visit representative monuments.

This tour includes the entrance to this subway world and a live guided tour. If you wish to enter this fantastic setting 40 meters deep, 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 under 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 nearly 23 centuries.

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

This tour has a duration of 1 hour and a half and prices start at 14€, which includes the service of a guide who will accompany you on this wonderful adventure.

More 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 that you bring some type of coat, as you may get cold in the tunnels.
• If you are claustrophobic or do not like enclosed 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 that you wear comfortable shoes. The ground, at times, is not quite firm for walking and there is a lot of humidity, due to the weather conditions in Naples and the depth.
• If you are traveling with children it is a family-friendly activity. You just have to take into account if they will be comfortable with some conditions. There are sections of the tunnels that are quite dark, and the tour 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 you want in advance, since the spaces are limited and the activities are very popular with tourists. The tours are conducted in different languages so remember to check in advance if they are available in the language and time you want.

Taking a tour of subway Naples will allow you to experience a completely different environment, and immerse yourself in the history of the city. Visiting on your own will only allow you to walk through the tunnels, but doing it with a guide will allow you to relive the history as you go through them.

While you can do many other activities in the city, visiting its subway part is something very characteristic, and that you can not do in other cities in Europe, or 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 bring you cultural and historical value. Besides, the experience of being so many meters underground is something you must live 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.