Maschio Angioino - Castel Nuovo

Castel Nuovo left me a little frustrated, less from the site itself than from the tactics used to wheedle small amounts of money out of me.

Arriving without an appointment I was told that I needed to book one. I used my phone to book the last time available that day (around 5pm), returning around 1 hour later to enter.

Arriving at Castel Nuovo I stood in a short line to enter and pay. I was told that the visit was free to those over a certain age (which I was) but - surprise - not for non-residents. This part I learned at the ticket window. I paid the entrance fee then - surprise again - there was another window. This is where one goes to pay (cash only) for entrance to the castle. Wait. What had I just paid for? Admission to the art museum, apparently.

This wasn't going at all as I expected but I paid at each window then was handed a slip of paper on which someone had written the start time of my castle tour. There was just enough time between my entrance and the castle tour for me to get halfway through the art (the first half is ancient art in desperate need of restoration; some images are so dark they are barely viewable).

The castle tour was three stops inside the castle which I estimated at approximately 3.5 euro apiece: A plexiglass floor enabling you to view the old ruins (and corpse bones) below, a dungeon with more skeletons, and then a hike up a multi-level staircase ("there's an elevator but we cannot use it" the guide said) to a lovely view from the top of the castle. At no stop was anything explained; we were simply walked to each place and invited to enter.

And then it was closing time at Castel Nuovo.

Pardon me if I was underwhelmed.

Castel Nuovo is a huge presence along the Naples waterfront and if you are anywhere in the vicinity of Molo Beverello (a busy port), you will likely be tempted to visit. It's neither compelling nor bad, simply something to check off the list, something you did in Naples. Without much context on the Castle's place in Naples' history I was left somewhat indifferent to it while also a bit miffed about the whole entry fee rigamarole (every other reviewer had said that it was free to enter and the person manning the front had not been quite forthright with me).

The price of entry isn't much and the place is so big and imposing that you may as well give in to the temptation to visit. If it impacts any other plans I'd say you can skip it but really? Standing inside an ancient castle isn't a bad thing to be able to say you've done.

This is what a castle should look like or did at one point. It's a massively fortified structure, but less boxy.

Also free entry. Optional tours available, might help if you want to know a bit more of the history of this castle. I was content just browsing around.

The inside is used as a museum or art gallery.

Great attraction. We had a blast visiting this beautiful castle during our visit to Napoli.

You're greeted with beautifully carved pillars and arches with details that tell you stories. The massive doors are dramatic! Do some neck and shoulder stretches before visiting because looking up and around is required.

It's a castle on the outside and a Civic Museum inside. For €6 entry, you get a lot for your visit. An audio guide is optional for €4 more. Note that you're able to get a brochure with a map in English.

After entry, you step into a huge courtyard. It appeared an event was being set up the day of my visit. I headed to the left toward the stone steps to start my self-paced tour into the:
BARON'S HALL - it looks like a courtroom. Awesome ceiling architecture!

Tried to follow the map; forget about going in alphabetical order. On the ground level you'll find the:
PALATINE CHAPEL - closed doors for preserving artwork; so full of emotion. No flash photography. Place your camera glass to glass against the doors.

Up more stairs to the:
1st FLOOR - find a bronze door with a cannon ball stuck in it. This floor has a lovely collection of religious paintings from 15th-18th centuries.
2nd FLOOR - you'll see more of paintings with war stories and lifestyles from 18th-20th centuries.
3rd FLOOR - modern day collections.

Note that these floor exhibits are not directly above each other. Refer to the map and legend on the brochure for your preferred route. Art lovers and appreciators can take their time.

Definitely a recommended visit for tourists. Don't forget to catch a breeze and take in views of the Tyrrhenian sea.

Okay, now this place was pretty cool. It is one of Naples' three castles, and one of the two interesting ones, or at least the ones that you can actually go inside and have a wander around. In fact this castle also doubles as not only the city hall but also and art gallery. Another great thing about this place was that it didn't actually cost anything to go insider and have a wander around. Discovering this castle really ended up brightening up my experience in Naples.

I didn't go inside the castle. But I did walk around it's walls and stopped by the front to take some pictures. It's absolutely massive and is an epic castle, if I was to imagine a castle this is something I'd picture in my head. Depending on the lighting, it could look pretty amazing - for example I walked by in the mornings and it looked gorgeous!

Originally I had planned to come here over the Castel del'Ovo. But this seemed to be more underwhelming and the Castel del'Ovo was closed for some international conference and we weren't allowed in. Sadface.

It is kind of difficult to get to just because of the sheer amount of construction going on in the area. But it does cost 5 Euros per person to gain entry. And there is a tour (that we didn't find out about until later on because the guy at the ticket office didn't tell us).

This was cool in the sense that it had a lot of history and the architecture was cool. The art museum located within the castle was pretty underwhelming and boring. Note that this is coming from an art fiend.

But the Hall of the Barons was nice, it had an interesting spider-like dome. And I found out from the tour guide that it used to house government council or parliamentary meetings. So it was filled with benches and had an Italian flag.

The Chapel of Santa Barbara was my favorite part of the castle. I loved looking at the frescos, but it's just too bad that pretty much all of them were damaged by the earthquakes so they'd fallen off in sheets and pieces.

We ended up accidentally bumping into the tour guide, I guess we looked lost and he asked us if we knew about the free tour and we didn't so, he told us to tag along and we ended up getting access to other areas of the castle that we wouldn't have known about otherwise. So take the tour! You paid for it! :)

The tour took us above the Hall of Barons and we got to walk around the dome. And we got to see some behind-the-scenes staircases built by the Spanish. They were super windy and narrow, it was pretty cool. And we ended the tour on the roof of the castle where we could take pictures of the city of Naples and parts of the Bay.

Our tour guide was cool, just make sure you find information about the tour. He spoke English which was nice, I think he actually spoke the best out of the many Italians we encountered in Italy, so it does help to know some Italian! He actually was leading a tour of Italians, but after we started tagging along he was kind enough to add a bit of English time to the tour.

Originally was going to give the castle 3 stars, but +1 star for the cool tour guide.

A lovely castle to explore. We spent a little over an hour and a half here and I wish we would have done the guided tour. There was some information available but the guided tour would have been more beneficial I'm sure. Even if you don't do the tour, you'll enjoy exploring.

We think this is a must see in Naples. Wonderful guide, very informative and personable. Only 10€ each and well worth it. Great views as well.

A bit dreary on a rainy day in Napoli, but it's not too expensive (~5 euros) and you can get some great views from the battlements if you keep going up the stairs.

There's some art inside, and an optional tour, but I had more fun looking out to sea.