Parks in Naples
Naples is a city of stone and noise, but it also has royal parks, seafront avenues and hilltop lawns with views over the Gulf. These are the green spaces where Neapolitans go to slow down, and most of them are free to enter.
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Villa Floridiana
Vomero's royal park, built by King Ferdinand for his second wife: shaded avenues, camellias, sunbathing turtles, a ceramics museum and a belvedere over the whole Gulf of Naples. Free entry to the park.
Many of the city's parks began as royal property. The Bourbons laid out the Real Bosco di Capodimonte as a hunting estate around their palace, and King Ferdinand built Villa Floridiana on the Vomero hill for his second wife. Villa Comunale, the long avenue between Chiaia and the sea, started life as a royal garden too, open to ordinary Neapolitans only on certain days.
Other parks are all about the view. From Parco Virgiliano, at the end of Posillipo, you look out over Nisida, Procida and Capri, and the sunsets draw a crowd every evening. The terrace at Floridiana frames the whole Gulf, from Vesuvius to Posillipo.
Locals use these places every day: a morning run, a Sunday walk with the family, a book on a bench in the shade. In summer, go in the late afternoon, when the light softens over the sea; in winter, the middle of the day is warmer and just as bright. Either way, check closing times first, as many parks close around sunset.
Looking for nature reserves and hikes outside the city, such as the Astroni crater? You'll find them under Outdoors, in our Activities section.