The Naples Islands Worth Visiting (It's Not Capri)
We asked Miriam which parts of the bay most visitors are getting wrong, and where she would actually send someone. Here is Naples, in her own words.
Skip Capri in summer. The Bay of Naples has two better islands almost no first-timer reaches: Ischia, which is larger, with thermal springs, forest hikes up Monte Epomeo and beaches; and Procida, a working fishermen's island of pastel houses around a single harbour. Both are an easy ferry from Naples. Spend a full day in Naples itself first, base in Sorrento for the Amalfi Coast, and visit in April-May or October-November to escape the heat. Eat real mozzarella di bufala from a proper dairy.
Miriam Ayaba
Hi, I’m Miriam! With a soul split between Lake Garda and Naples, I’m probably the most "all-around" Italian guide you’ll find. I’ve spent 3+ years showing the secrets of Naples to curious travelers.As a singer-songwriter who started performing on these very streets as a child, I know every corner of
If you ask which island in the Bay of Naples to visit, almost everyone says Capri. Miriam di Criscio, who was born and raised in Naples, has a different answer.
Miriam lives in Naples and advises travellers through The Voyage Co.
Which islands in the Bay of Naples do most visitors never consider?
Q. What's one place near Naples that tourists often miss but really shouldn't?
Ischia and Procida, and I mean both of them. Ischia is the largest island in the bay, considerably bigger than Capri, with thermal springs you can swim in, hiking through forest up to the crater of Monte Epomeo, beautiful beaches, and a character that feels nothing like a curated resort. Procida is the smallest and the most local: a real working island, still anchored in its fishing tradition, with a cluster of pastel houses around a small harbour that has been photographed a great deal but has not yet been significantly changed by the photography. Both are accessible by ferry from Naples, both can be done as day trips. If you want one recommendation: Procida is the one that surprises people most.
Q. And what about Capri, is it actually overrated?
In my opinion, yes, at least in summer. The natural scenery is genuinely exceptional and the Blue Grotto is one of those things that photographs cannot fully capture. But Capri in peak season is very expensive and very crowded, and the experience can feel more like being on an overcrowded yacht than somewhere wild and beautiful. If you are choosing between Capri and the other islands and have limited time, I would not necessarily say Capri first.
How to spend 48 hours in Naples and Campania
We asked Miriam to plan two days for a first-time visitor.
Naples city first, then Sorrento, then Pompeii. Naples needs at least a full day: the historic centre, the pizza, the energy of the streets around Spaccanapoli, the coffee that is its own argument for the city's greatness. The people who leave Naples most enchanted are usually the ones who gave it proper time and let themselves get a little lost in it.
From Naples, Sorrento makes a natural base for the Amalfi Coast: a cliff-top town with a beautiful historic centre, good food, and ferry connections to the islands. Pompeii rounds out the two days. The Roman city, frozen at the moment of the eruption and uncovered slowly over centuries, is one of the most extraordinary things in southern Italy, and it deserves more than the rushed half-day many visitors give it.
What visitors consistently get wrong about Campania
We asked Miriam what she sees most often from tourists.
They miss the experience of living like a local. She is aware this can sound vague, and she is honest that it is difficult to achieve without knowing someone from there. The things that make Campania genuinely extraordinary, the fish market at six in the morning, the neighbourhood gelateria that has been in the same family for forty years, the way Sunday lunch works in a Neapolitan household, are not things you find on a tourist itinerary. Getting closer to them requires slowing down, talking to people, and resisting the urge to move from sight to sight without pause.
The best time of year to visit Naples
We asked Miriam when she would personally recommend coming.
April and May, or October and November. The weather is at its best in these windows, comfortably warm without being exhausting, and the tourist numbers are significantly more manageable than in July and August. Naples in summer is not impossible, but the heat makes the city harder to move through and the most popular places on the Amalfi Coast become genuinely overwhelming. Come in spring or early autumn and you get the same extraordinary place with room to actually breathe.
What to eat in Naples
We asked Miriam for the food experience visitors should not leave without having.
Mozzarella di bufala, and she is precise about the provenance. The mozzarella made from buffalo milk in Campania is not the same product as the mozzarella most people have eaten elsewhere. It is softer, wetter, richer, and it comes from animals that live in the flat coastal plain south of Naples where the dairy tradition has been running for centuries. Buy it from a proper dairy or a good salumeria, eat it the same day, with nothing on it but perhaps a little olive oil. It is so specific to this place and this tradition that eating it here is very much the point.
If you take the ferry to one island in the Bay of Naples, take it to Procida or Ischia, not to Capri. Give Naples city a full day before anything else, base in Sorrento for the coast, and come in spring or autumn. The bay rewards the visitor who looks past the famous photographs.
Naples islands travel FAQ
Explore more Naples insights and Amalfi Coast insights to plan your next trip with locals.
