Nestled between Mount Vesuvius and the sparkling blue waters of the Mediterranean, Naples is a city of vivid beauty, intense street life, and world-famous cuisine, home to both the world’s original pizza and oldest opera house. On our culinary adventure in and around this fascinating metropolis, we’ll be exploring various layers of cuisine and culture, using the city’s famous cooking as a window into daily life. We’ll meet artisans who keep the city fed, sample from producers of specialty products such as buffalo mozzarella, and visit vineyards and farms with the volcanic soil of Vesuvius beneath our feet. We’ll explore hidden workshops tucked into the dark alleys of the city, where a cadre of old masters practice obsolete trades like umbrella repair and sign painting. Along the way, we’ll also dive deep into the spiritual side of the city, including venturing into an underground ossuary and visiting a street-side savant who’ll help interpret our dreams. And, of course, most importantly, we’ll experience the singular miracle of Neapolitan pizza.
Our partner, Culinary Backstreets: In order to create and curate this unique experience, we’ve partnered closely with Culinary Backstreets, a global guide to local eats that publishes restaurant reviews and features on local culinary culture. They bring these stories to life on culinary tours and special events, offered in 12 cities around the world, and have extensive international experience with all things gastronomical.
Gastro Obscura Trips: inspiring wonder and curiosity about the world through food and drink.
- Private visits into the kitchens, workshops and studios of some of Naples’s finest traditional artisans
- Hands-on cooking lessons in the restaurant kitchen of a classic Neapolitan chef
- Live performances at some of Naples’s most revered cultural institutions
- Deep dive into Neapolitan local customs, with exclusive visits to unique local religious ceremonies
- Visits with small-scale producers outside of Naples who are maintaining classic agricultural and culinary traditions
Itinerary
Day 1: Welcome to Naples
Arrive and check in at our hotel at your leisure. We’ll gather in the late afternoon for a stroll and aperitivo. While enjoying sweeping views over the city and the bay with Vesuvius lurking in the distance, we’ll get an overview of all that awaits us this week. Afterward, we’ll walk to dinner at a cozy local restaurant for our first taste of the iconic dishes of the Naples kitchen.
Day 2: Exploring the City's Kitchen
Today, we’ll delve into the city’s cuisine and the markets and street life that form its orbit. We’ll enter the kitchen and meet chefs of classic Neapolitan pastries, such as the baba au rum and sfogliatelle. Later, in a street market, we’ll meet third-generation bakers in their family bakery. Along the way, we’ll taste street food and other local delicacies such as salt cod, and stop into the studio of the city’s last market sign painter. We’ll finish the day with pizza at what is probably the city’s—if not the world’s—best pizzeria.
Day 3: The Cult of Naples
After breakfast, we’ll set out to explore the city’s religious practices and Neapolitan superstitions, beginning with a local Mass that’s known around town for its weekly miracle. Afterward, we’ll descend into catacombs where human bones are venerated, and even adopted, by locals. We’ll learn about the rituals and beliefs that live in these monumental sanctuaries. Lunch will be at a beloved neighborhood trattoria, followed by some time on your own. In the evening, we’ll head out for a hands-on workshop where we’ll learn the art of pizza- or pasta-making, step by step, from a true Napoli master. We’ll then sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor.
Day 4: Phlegraean Fields, Archaeology & Wine
Home of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, this volcanic zone is a netherworld of crater lakes, ancient waterways, thriving viticulture and seafood farming. Today, we'll be heading outside of the bustling alleyways and into the countryside—we’ll spend the day here learning about the agriculture, snacking on the local mussels, and lunching at a local winery accompanied by their unique wines and digging into the history of the place. We’ll get an in depth view of rich archaeological ruins in the area including the remarkably well-preserved basement of a significant amphitheater from which animals were released during gladiator games. And we’ll visit a tunnel, believed in ancient times to be a gate to hell.
Day 5: Handmade Napoli
Take this morning and lunch at your own leisure. We’ll gather in the early afternoon for a walking tour focused on the city’s craftsmen, visiting the workshops and studios of wood carvers, umbrella makers, luthiers, nativity scene artists, and much more. For our final evening, we’ll gather for a farewell dinner, held in a private home in one of the city’s most iconic buildings. In this stately setting, we’ll feast on course after course of Napoli staples, while musicians of the distinct Neapolitan tradition play their favorite songs. With ample local wine at the table, raise our glasses to a wonderful week, celebrating the Neapolitan way.
Day 6: Farewell & Departure
Today, head homeward or on to your next destination—or, if you'd like, spend a few more days exploring Naples. Until the next adventure!
Images of Taormina beaches
Images of Sorrento beaches
Images of Rimini beaches
Images of Portofino and Paraggi Beach