5 foodie reasons to visit Naples

table with pizza overlooking city on visit to Naples
Featured photo © elvirkin/Adobe Stock

Love delicious Italian food? Looking for your next adventure? Look no further and discover our five foodie reasons to visit the beautiful Naples!

1. Pizza – of course!

Margherita pizza in Naples
Naples is well-known for its pizza. Photo © Vincenzo Rampolla/Adobe Stock

You can’t visit Naples without sampling the delights of the ubiquitous pizza!

Naples saw the creation of the Margherita pizza during a royal visit to the city in 1889.

To celebrate King Umberto I and Queen Margherita’s visit, Raffaele Esposito created a pizza topped with tomato, mozzarella and basil, echoing the red, white and green on the flag belonging to the newly reunited Italy.

The pizza was then named after the Queen.

2. Napoli street food

Naples street food - fried seafood, vegetables, cheese balls, potatoes folded in paper bags
Naples offers a variety of humble but delicious street food. Photo © siete_vidas1/Adobe Stock

Naples is renowned for its ‘fast food’ with its roots in cucina povera.

You will find no shortage of street food as you explore the city, such as freshly cooked focaccia, crispy fried vegetables, and pall’ ‘e ris (rice balls) – all delicious snacks to enjoy on the move.

3. Delightful desserts

gelato ice cream kiosk with lemons in capri, naples
Gelato is a popular sweet treat in Naples. Photo © Antonio Gravante/Adobe Stock

Dolci should never be ignored when in Naples. Gelato is, of course, a popular choice, with so many tempting flavours to choose from.

Sfogliatella is a speciality cake of the city, filled with ricotta and candied fruit, and scented with cinnamon.

It is available in different forms, all of which you should try!

4. A good, strong coffee

Strong neapolitan coffee with sfogliatella pastry naples food
A strong Neapolitan coffee and sweet sfogliatella pastry go hand-in-hand. Photo © nolonely/Adobe Stock

Coffee is taken very seriously in this cosmopolitan city.

Once well-known for its unique way of brewing coffee in a napoletana – a stove-top coffee maker – the specialist coffee-making device is now a thing of the past, but the Neapolitan liking for short, very, very strong coffee is certainly not.

5. Refreshing limoncello

Bottles of Limoncello in the street market. Food from Amalfi Coast in Naples, Italy
Limoncello is a specialty of Naples’ Amalfi Coast. Photo © Jiri Hera/Adobe Stock

Once you’ve sampled the food delights that Naples has to offer, finish off your meal in style with a taste of limoncello.

The famous lemon liqueur is a speciality of the Amalfi region, from local lemons, water and sugar.

It’s traditionally served in a frozen glass after dinner.

Ready to take a trip? Read our Amalfi Coast travel guide