Where to stay in Naples: the best areas and hotels

The centro storico, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the beating heart of Naples: a grid of narrow streets first laid out by the ancient Greeks and sliced in two by the long, straight Spaccanapoli. Via dei Tribunali is lined with legendary pizzerias, Via San Gregorio Armeno with workshops carving nativity figures, and the National Archaeological Museum, home to the finest treasures from Pompeii and Herculaneum, stands at its northern edge.

Stay here for atmosphere, in small hotels and apartments carved out of old palazzi, some with rooftop terraces. For more polish, head down to Chiaia and the seafront Lungomare, where elegant streets and smart shops face the bay and the Castel dell'Ovo, or up to the Vomero hill, reached by funicular, for a calmer, residential feel and views from Castel Sant'Elmo. The Royal Palace and the vast Piazza del Plebiscito lie in between.

The grandest hotels line the waterfront, with the bay and Vesuvius filling the windows, while the streets around Via Toledo and the port put the old town, the Royal Palace and the ferries on your doorstep. Boats leave Molo Beverello for Capri, Ischia and Procida, and the airport is a short drive from the centre.

Pompeii, buried by Vesuvius in AD 79 and slowly uncovered ever since, is one of the most famous archaeological sites on earth, and it is enormous. Day-trippers from Naples and Sorrento pour in by mid-morning, so staying in the modern town of Pompei lets you stroll in at opening time and have whole streets of frescoed villas almost to yourself.

The town itself is pleasant rather than pretty, centred on the huge Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary, a major pilgrimage church. Hotels are mostly comfortable three and four-stars, several within a short walk of the site, and the Circumvesuviana railway puts Naples and Sorrento within easy reach. It's also a handy base for the climb up Vesuvius.

Herculaneum was destroyed by the same eruption as Pompeii but buried far deeper, under metres of volcanic debris that preserved it in extraordinary detail: upper floors, mosaics, painted walls and even carbonised wooden furniture. It's smaller and easier to see in a morning than Pompeii, which makes it the better bet with children.

The modern town of Ercolano sits right on top of it, climbing the lower slopes of Vesuvius. Hotels range from small B&Bs steps from the excavations to a park hotel with views across the Bay of Naples to the Sorrento Peninsula, and neighbouring Portici, between the volcano and the sea, has more B&Bs. Naples is a short ride away on the Circumvesuviana.

Torre del Greco, famous for centuries for its coral and cameo carvers, spreads out between the sea and the flanks of Vesuvius. The town is workaday, but up on the slopes, hotels look out over vineyards and the whole sweep of the Bay of Naples to Capri and the Sorrento Peninsula.

It's a peaceful base if you have a car, with Herculaneum and Pompeii each within about a 15-minute drive and the road up to the crater close at hand. Hotels have personality: one blends Japanese and Mediterranean design, another fills its rooms with contemporary art.

West of Naples lie the Campi Flegrei, or Phlegraean Fields, a vast volcanic caldera of steaming craters, hot springs and half-sunken Roman towns. Pozzuoli, the main town, is a busy fishing port with a huge Roman amphitheatre and the columns of the so-called Temple of Serapis, really an ancient market hall, standing in the middle of town.

Hotels here are calmer than in the city, from spa hotels looking out to Capri and Ischia, one just back from a sandy beach, to an intimate B&B overlooking Roman ruins. Ferries run from Pozzuoli to Ischia and Procida, and Naples is a short train ride away. Further north-west, around Giugliano, hotels are close to the ancient sites of Cuma and Baia.

High in the Lattari Mountains above the Amalfi Coast, Agerola is a scattering of villages known for their dairy, above all the local fior di latte cheese, and as the starting point of the Sentiero degli Dei, the Path of the Gods, a spectacular cliff-top walk towards Positano.

It's a cooler, simpler and quieter base than the coast below, with family-run hotels and B&Bs, many with terraces looking out over the mountains or down to the sea. Amalfi is down a road of thrilling hairpins, and you'll want a car to get the most out of it.