Naples - what’s going on?

[u/guarrandongo]

First time here and I’d heard a million times that it was a bit run down & grubby etc., but I was shocked to see the state of large areas of the city centre. I’m Scottish and it reminded me of Edinburgh during the bin strikes 3 or so years ago - 8 foot high piles of rubbish everywhere. Even saw some decomposing rats lying around that had clearly been there for weeks. Was a full-time job trying to avoid standing on dog shit as well. Assuming it was dogs! One guy also definitely trying to get me to take my hands out of my pockets in an attempt to rob me, I’m in no doubt about that. It wasn’t happening, though.

I took plenty of advice from various people to find the ‘nice’ parts, but we wandered around those areas for a couple of hours and it was terrible.

Has it gone downhill recently, or has it always been like this?

Any further advice on some decent areas with nice bars etc. would be welcome. We only have tonight left and we’d like to try enjoy it as best we can. Had a great dinner last night so wasn’t a total write-off, but after it certainly was. I’d rather not go out than wander around these areas again.

What’s actually going on here?

[u/BellisBlueday]

I think in general, the further west you go from the train station the 'nicer' it gets, however it is a very lived in city.

[u/FelisCantabrigiensis → u/BellisBlueday]

"Lived in"... sounds more like "shat on", literally, from the OP's description.

[u/Repulsive-Philosophy → u/FelisCantabrigiensis]

The more I'm reading about experiences with Naples on reddit, the crazier the mental gymnastics get. Aside from "it's a big city so many litter... what can you do..." and "it has character", for me the winner is "it's not a city, it's a mindset" from a different thread. Bro...

[u/Blueson → u/Repulsive-Philosophy]

I have seen people on this sub defend Naples for "not being a gentrified shithole like Barcelona".

Went there once, there is a lot to enjoy there, but I doubt I am going back. Felt way too uneasy there.