If the time has come for you to organize an incentive trip to Naples, let us take a look at the city together.
We have 3 useful tips for you to start planning your next event in one of the most exciting destinations in Italy.
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Organizing events in Naples all year round
Naples actually has several points in its favor as a destination for events and incentive trips.
- It is a city on the rise. Over the last few years, it has garnered increasing interest and curiosity from Italian and foreign travelers. This is an essential fact for those who have to choose the destination of an incentive trip.
- It is seasonally adjusted. Hotels are always open, also because Naples was a conference city for a long time and hosted national and international conferences every month of the year.
- It has lots of potential activities to offer and is also a good starting point for exploring other surrounding destinations that are also famous: Pompei, Herculaneum, Vesuvius, Sorrento, and the coasts of Capri and Ischia.
- The city is a popular destination, but it is also excellent value for money.
- It is well located, easy to get to by high-speed train or plane. The airport is close to the city center.
One city, many souls
The historic center of Naples is big and has various points of interest, all worthy of a visit. Even outside the historic centre, there are many sites of great historical and artistic value, which are also interesting and entertaining.
For the guests on an incentive trip, it is ideal to enjoy a mix of the different atmospheres of the city, making for an immersive experience.
To simplify things as much as possible, let us take a tour of the city by dividing it into principal areas on the basis of atmospheres rather than the neighborhoods.
Ancient Naples, the heart of the historic center
This is the Decumani neighborhood, a dense maze of streets and alleyways where you might even meet some scugnizzo (street urchins). The atmosphere is extraordinary, almost timeless. It is worth organizing a stroll around this area to contact the heart of the city immediately.
In this part of Naples, you can see the Veiled Christ in the Sansevero Chapel, the Santa Chiara monastery, and the Treasure of San Gennaro at the Duomo. There is also an entrance to the Naples underground route for the more adventurous. For those interested, it is worth taking a stroll down the famous Presepi street – Via San Gregorio Armeno.
It is the perfect area to add opportunities to interact with Neapolitans, for example, by including a small competitive activity – an urban treasure hunt or a photo contest.
Remember that the streets are very narrow and often remarkably busy. So, if you think of making teams, they will need to be quite small.
Old Naples is also the perfect place for tasting street food: panzerotti, fried pizza, croquettes, and rustici. There are also the famous pizzerias but remember that most pizzerias in Naples do not take reservations, so you will have to queue.
The Archaeological Museum (one of the most beautiful in Europe) is also in this area. It houses artifacts of immense value and could be an exceptional cultural activity for a corporate program. The Archaeological Museum could also be part of an exclusive experience for an incentive trip.
Monumental Naples
Monumental Naples is an essential part of the historic center.
This area includes the Maschio Angioino, the Royal Palace of Naples, the San Carlo Theatre, the Basilica di San Francesco di Paola, and Piazza Plebiscito.
Here you can find the “Toledo” stop, one of the art metro stations in Naples that is home to the works of ninety famous international contemporary artists. Whether you only want to visit one or two stops on the metro, or you need to transport your guests around on the metro for a short distance, it is worth looking at these modern artworks that make a pleasant contrast with the city’s older monuments.
Here you can also find the Galleria Umberto I, built towards the end of the 19th century. At this time, taking an evening stroll through the galleries, one would have heard music, voices, and laughter coming from a grate in the ground.
That is right because underground was the famous café-chantant Salone Margherita which, for twenty years, was the central place of entertainment for Neapolitan nightlife. This café featured the likes of Matilde Serao, Gabriele D’Annunzio, and Francesco Crispi.
The streets in this area are broader and busier, and it is the perfect place to tell the history of Naples of its kings and nobles, maybe even including a visit to the Royal Palace itself with its imposing entrance staircase, golden throne, and court theatre. Or perhaps even eating a few sfogliatelle in the rooms of the historic Caffè Gambrinus.
For the more active, this area also lends itself to a guided bike tour, always in small groups and with some caution because there still is no cycle path. From here, you can get to the waterfront area.
The waterfront and the shopping district
There is, however, a cycle path along the Lungomare Caracciolo, which for a stretch is pedestrianized, and means one can peacefully enjoy the magnificent view.
This is where Neapolis was born, the Greek city founded on the Isolotto di Megaride. Today this islet is home to Ovo Castel and the distinctive Borgo Marinari, which is now just a place for tourists and hosts primarily bars and restaurants.
This waterfront area could be a good place to end the bike tour and organize a lunch or a Neapolitan pizza cookery course for your guests.
Alternatively, you could continue and pass in front of some of the oldest hotels in the city to get to Mergellina, one of the ports where you can catch the ferry to the islands.
You will find a long strip of relatively simple bars, called ‘chalets’: this is the place to try hot Neapolitan coffee and taste some graffe, the traditional big-fried sugar-coated doughnuts.
Heading back inland and leaving the sea behind, you can continue onto an area of restaurants, bars, and shops that get increasingly expensive and chic until you reach Via dei Mille, where there are a lot of high-end shops.
Posillipo: breath-taking views, restaurants, and canoeing
When you get to the Posillipo neighborhood, the view over the gulf really is exceptional. This is one of the most expensive parts of the city. There are also a sizeable number of restaurants with views specializing in seafood cuisine of distinctive styles from trattorie to more elegant restaurants.
If you are planning to invite many participants on your incentive trip, remember that Posillipo is logistically a bit complicated because many places are not accessible by coach. You will need to plan to get around in parts on foot or potentially in minibus shuttles.
At the tip of Posillipo, there is a protected marine area, the Gaiola. It is also an area of great archaeological interest because there are ruins on the seabed. A guided canoe tour can be organized here for the more athletic.
The hilltop district, the Quartiere Sanità neighborhood and so much more
As you know, Naples has so much more to see. To name a few of the most famous sites, there is Sant’Elmo Castle and the Certosa di San Martino, the Capodimonte museum and park, and the catacombs in Quartiere Sanità.
Then many historic and noble palaces are open for visits or exclusive events and unique venues suitable for the short meetings that sometimes need to be organized during an incentive trip. It is practically impossible to mention all the interesting places in and around Naples without writing an entire encyclopedia.
This wide range of choices allows you to create a programme adaptable to the diverse needs of those organizing an incentive trip or any corporate event.
Three tips to finish
Going back over everything that we have said so far, let us try and identify three tips for a successful incentive trip to Naples:
1. Create an itinerary allowing guests to interact with the actual city. There are thousands of facets of daily life in Naples, and traditions are still very present. Still, it is also a modern city with a vibrant artistic and musical scene waiting to be experienced.
2. Naples is a city that subjects visitors to thousands of visual and auditory stimuli. Some people love to immerse themselves in the clamor of the town, others less so. Mix incentive trip activities to include calmer moments in the programme, giving space to simply watch the sunset over the sea. After all, this is what Neapolitans do too.
3. Neapolitan cuisine is excellent and rich. Be careful to balance lunches and dinners to give your guests a chance to taste the most iconic dishes without feeling overwhelmed by the food.
One last tip: one should never buy oneself a lucky charm; they should be received as a gift. This is why it has become a tradition to gift incentive trip participants a cornetto rosso (red horn) symbol of good luck as a welcome token!
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