Friday, early afternoon. You leave your bags in the suite, step out onto via Chiaia, and in about three minutes you are in piazza dei Martiri; in seven, by the sea. In November and December the light goes early, and the first afternoon of a weekend in Naples is best spent there, with the Gulf in front of you.
**Naples in 2 days, with two nights, divides like this: the afternoon you arrive for Chiaia, the seafront and piazza del Plebiscito; the full day for the historic centre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995; the morning you leave for one last walk.** All of it on foot from Follaky Secret Garden, a boutique B&B in Chiaia, with the minutes measured from our door.
A Naples weekend: Friday to Sunday or Saturday to Monday?
Check-in is from 15:00 to 20:00, and check-out is by 10:00: two nights mean an afternoon, a full day and a morning, and between the two options only Sunday changes. If you leave on Sunday, your full day is Saturday. If you arrive on Saturday and leave on Monday, the full day falls on a Sunday, when the Santa Chiara cloister closes at 14:00; in return, on Monday the luggage storage, on request, gives you a few more hours in town.
Day 1: Chiaia, the seafront, the Royal Palace and an evening at the San Carlo
After check-in, head for the sea first, while there is still light: from Follaky, piazza dei Martiri is about 3 minutes on foot, the seafront of via Caracciolo about 7, Castel dell'Ovo about 17, with the Borgo Marinari beside it. Look back at the city from the sea side as the first lights come on; to go inside the castle, check first that it is open.
Then walk up to piazza del Plebiscito, about 9 minutes from Follaky, and to the Royal Palace, Palazzo Reale, about 7. Once it is dark outside, it is time for an indoor visit: the Royal Apartments are open from 9:00 to 20:00, last entry at 19:00, and the visit takes about an hour on average; a full ticket costs €15, online or at the ticket office, with no booking needed (visitor information). The Palace closes on Wednesdays, on 25 December and on 1 January; for a restoration, since 1 October the Hall of Mirrors and the Hall of Hercules have been closed until the works end (Palace notice).
In the evening, walk through the Galleria Umberto I, about 8 minutes away, under its iron and glass roof, to the Teatro di San Carlo, also about 8. If your weekend coincides with a performance, that is the evening of the trip: in December The Nutcracker is also on stage on Sunday 27 at 17:00; other dates are in Naples in November and Naples in December. For dinner there is our restaurants page.
Day 2: what to see in Naples in 2 days, in the historic centre
The full day belongs to the historic centre, on foot: by metro, Line 1 from Toledo to Dante plus an 11-minute walk still takes about 25–30 minutes. The Santa Chiara monumental complex is about 24 minutes away: the Majolica Cloister is open Monday to Saturday from 9:30 to 17:00, on Sunday from 10:00 to 14:00; the €7 ticket is sold only at the complex's own ticket office (hours and prices).
The Cappella Sansevero, home of the Veiled Christ, is about 31 minutes away: open every day from 9:00 to 19:00 except Tuesday, last entry half an hour before closing, standard ticket €12. Booking is compulsory: online tickets are released 60 days ahead, with a date and a time slot, and a further batch opens two days before; they are non-refundable and not valid on another day (access rules). Book it first and build the day around that time.
Via San Gregorio Armeno, the street of nativity workshops, is about 32 minutes along via Toledo; in December it can be very crowded, and for the workshops there is San Gregorio Armeno and its nativity scenes. The Duomo, about 37 minutes away, ends the walk; it is a working place of worship, and during services silence is kept. On the way back, from 6 November, you can stop at via Toledo 177, about 10 minutes from Follaky, for the exhibition of women painters at the Gallerie d'Italia.
If archaeology is your preference, the National Archaeological Museum (MANN) can take the morning instead of Santa Chiara: it is about 32 minutes on foot, about 25–30 by bus. It is open from 9:00 to 19:30, with the ticket office until 18:30, and closes on Tuesdays; a full ticket costs €20. Until 30 November 2026 the Mosaics and the Secret Cabinet are closed for reinstallation (collections opening plan).
A Naples weekend in November and December: dates to know
- On Sunday 1 November and Sunday 6 December the MANN is free for everyone: tickets only at the ticket office, and the Egyptian collection, the Secret Cabinet and Magna Graecia stay closed (hours and tickets).
- The Cappella Sansevero stays open until 20:30 from 31 October to 2 November, from 5 to 8 December and on 26 and 27 December; on 24 and 31 December it closes at 14:00 (opening calendar).
- On 25 December the Cappella Sansevero, the Royal Palace and the MANN are closed; on 1 January the Royal Palace and the MANN.
The morning you leave, Sunday included
The suite is vacated by 10:00. If you leave on a Sunday, check-out is from Vico Monteroduni 16, and the porter's desk is closed: luggage storage is not available, so the last walk stays close by, before 10:00. If you leave on a Monday, luggage storage, for a fee, on advance request and subject to availability, follows the porter's desk hours until 13:15: time for a morning at the MANN, which is open on Mondays. The conditions are in the house rules, the way back to the station in getting here.
If two days are not enough
With three nights you have two full days, with four you have three: the comparison is in Three or four nights in Naples. This weekend follows the first two days of our Itineraries, with routes to open in Google Maps; to get around without a car there is Naples without a car, to choose the neighbourhood Chiaia or the historic centre, for more visits what to see in Naples.
A suite in Chiaia for the weekend
Follaky Secret Garden is a boutique B&B in Palazzo Giovagnoni, inside a private residential park in Chiaia; Monica and Fabio welcome you in person, and the Follaky Breakfast is included, with quality products. You come in from Via Chiaia 149F on foot, with the park's private lift, or from Vico Monteroduni 16 with taxis and luggage (the entrances). The Suite Chiaia Deluxe Garden View is the more intimate, with a glass wall looking onto two neighbouring private gardens; the Suite Toledo Deluxe Private Patio is larger and brighter, with a private patio. For four, Double Suites – Exclusive Use brings the two suites together for exclusive use.
In a two-day weekend the hours in your suite are few, and they count: the green beyond the glass or a patio kept for you. Once you have chosen your two nights, compare the suites and check your dates.
