About us
My name is Nunzia Coppola, and I grew up between via San Biagio dei Librai and vico Figurari, that is, inside Spaccanapoli. This site is an independent guide to the lower decumanus: I don’t sell tickets, I don’t organise visits, and I have nothing to do with the council. I compare the guided walks and the interiors that open onto the street, and I say when you don’t need to book anything.
Who writes this
I worked for years in a bookshop on the street, one of those where tourists walk in asking where Spaccanapoli is while standing right on it. It’s the misunderstanding I’ve heard most often, and the one this site grew from: the name doesn’t appear on any sign, the street changes name six or seven times, and half the visitors think they’ve missed it. I wrote the reason in why it’s called Spaccanapoli. Now I write about Naples and walk the decumanus almost every morning, more out of habit than work.
Why this site exists
Because two wrong ideas circulate about Spaccanapoli. The first is that you have to pay to see it: the street is public, open, free, and at a slow pace you can walk it in half an hour. The second is that a guided tour is needed to access it. What you book is something else: someone who can tell you what you’re looking at, and tickets to the paid interiors, from the cloister of Santa Chiara to the Cappella Sansevero. I explain the difference in detail in is it worth it.
How I choose the tours
I only follow products that actually walk the lower decumanus or open the interiors that overlook it. There are six, and I review them all, including the one with the lowest rating and those with few reviews: when the numbers are weak, I write it at the top of the page, not in a footnote. The rating and number of reviews are the data GetYourGuide shows on the tour page, reported as they are. I never name the operator, because departures change management and what matters is the guide you get. The six pages are in reviews.
What you won’t find here
No figures. Prices change with the season, the language, and the number of participants, and a figure written today will be wrong in three months: the updated price is in the booking box, live. You also won’t find lists of neighbourhoods to avoid, which are the kind of advice that harms the city and helps no one; on the topic there’s is it safe, written from the perspective of someone who lives here.
Corrections
Church hours change, shops close, time slots shift. If you find something wrong, email me at [email protected] or go to contact: I’ll correct it and say so. How the site is maintained is explained in affiliate disclosure.