Street food tour with spritz: my review
In short. Two and a half hours from piazza Bellini to via Toledo eating: meatballs, fried pizza, liqueurs, a dessert at piazzetta Nilo, babà at San Domenico Maggiore. Tastings, drinks and tips are included. Rating 4.9 out of 1,556 reviews, the highest along with the centre tour. It’s held in English: that’s the first filter, even before appetite.
What the tour is like
Meeting point in piazza Bellini, next to the Greek ruins at street level. You start with meatballs, go down via dei Tribunali for fried pizza, there’s a liqueur tasting, then piazza San Gaetano and via San Gregorio Armeno. At piazzetta Nilo, you get a dessert or ice cream, you pass through Spaccanapoli, the babà is at piazza San Domenico Maggiore and you finish between piazza del Gesù Nuovo and via Toledo. The list of things you’ll encounter along the way, with or without a tour, is in what to try on the street.
Tips are included, and it’s not a detail: in the fried food shops in the centre, handling money slows down the group and makes those without small change uncomfortable. Here, you don’t have to think about it.
Usually included
- Guide for the entire route
- All tastings listed in the programme
- Drinks, spritz included
- Tips
Not included
- Full meals at restaurants
- Admission to churches, cloisters and museums
- Transfers
What works
- You eat seriously: there are many stops and they’re well distributed
- Drinks and tips included, no bill to split on the street
- The route still crosses the decumanus and San Gregorio Armeno
- 4.9 out of over 1,500 reviews: consistent over time
What to know
- It’s held in English: if you don’t follow it, you lose half the story
- It’s a food tour, not an art history tour: you don’t go inside churches
- Two and a half hours eating while standing, often in the middle of crowds
- With serious dietary restrictions, write before booking: the menu is fixed
Who should book it
Those who arrive halfway through the day hungry and don’t want to choose between ten stalls. Those who speak English and are travelling as a couple or with friends. Those who have already walked the decumanus and now want to understand what to eat and where. Those who are in Naples for just one evening and want to finish with a spritz without doing research.
Who shouldn’t book it
Those who don’t understand English: take the centre tour in Italian. Those who want to enter the cloister of Santa Chiara or the Cappella Sansevero, because here you don’t go inside anywhere. Those with strict allergies or intolerances, given that the stops are fixed. Those travelling with small children who eat little and tire quickly: read Spaccanapoli with children first.
What the reviews say
Bharrathi, from the UK, had Daniela and describes her as energetic and fun: on a food tour, the guide must also keep the group together between one stall and the next. Carmen, from the Netherlands, talks about an enthusiastic guide and nice stories about the centre. Frank, British, focuses on the number of stops and tastings. Mario, from Latvia, on traditional dishes explained well. No one writes that they were left hungry, which was the most reasonable doubt.
Don’t eat lunch beforehand. The stops are many and come in quick succession: those who arrive full leave half the food on the plate and then regret it.
Other tours of the decumanus
Most bookedNaples: city centre tour with Veiled Christ and Santa Chiara Cloister
Origins and legendsNaples: guided tour of the historic centre between origins, cults and legends
All yoursNaples: private walking tour of the historic centre
Frequently asked questions
Do you eat enough to skip dinner?
There are seven or eight stops, from meatballs to babà, with drinks included. Those who arrive on an empty stomach usually don’t eat dinner in the evening. The full list of what you’ll encounter is in what to try on the street.
Is the tour held in Italian?
No, this is kept in English. For an Italian-language guide, see the downtown tour with the Veiled Christ or the other departures listed in tours in Italian and other languages.
Are tips and drinks included?
Yes, tastings, drinks, and tips are all included: you won’t need to take out anything while walking. What affects the price of a tour and what doesn’t is explained in how much it costs.
Do we stop to see anything, or is it just eating?
We pass through piazza San Gaetano, via San Gregorio Armeno, Spaccanapoli, and piazza San Domenico Maggiore, but without entering any paid interiors. For those, you need the tours with tickets: I compare them in all tours.