1 day in Naples is a full-body experience. The MANN (world's greatest Roman art collection). The Cristo Velato (the sculpture that breaks your brain). Spaccanapoli (the street that splits Naples in half, unchanged since 600 BC). Pizza at €4. Sfogliatella at €1.50. Espresso at €0.80. Naples is the cheapest, loudest, most intense, most rewarding city in Italy. 8 hours is enough to fall in love. A lifetime is not enough to understand it.
9:00am: MANN (Museo Archeologico Nazionale) (€18, pre-book). The Farnese Collection: Farnese Bull + Farnese Hercules (colossal marbles from Caracalla). Secret Cabinet: Roman erotic art (request access). Pompeii mosaics: Alexander Mosaic. 1.5h. 10:30am: Walk down Via dei Tribunali to Cappella Sansevero (15 min walk, €10 pre-booked). Cristo Velato. 30 min. Your life divides into before and after this sculpture. 11:00am: Spaccanapoli walk — the decumanus (Greek-Roman street grid, 2,500 years old). Churches: Gesù Nuovo (facade of diamond-point stones), Santa Chiara (majolica cloister, €6). Via San Gregorio Armeno (presepe artisan street). 1h walking.
12:00pm: PIZZA. L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele (the original margherita + marinara, €4-5, queue 20-40 min) OR Sorbillo (Via dei Tribunali, slightly less queue, equally legendary). 1:00pm: Coffee + sfogliatella. Gran Caffè Gambrinus (Piazza del Plebiscito — Naples' most famous café, espresso €1.50, sfogliatella €2.50). 1:30pm: Piazza del Plebiscito + Palazzo Reale (exterior — the 8 dynasty statues). Walk through Galleria Umberto I (glass-roofed arcade). 2:00pm: Lungomare walk — seafront from Castel dell'Ovo to Mergellina. Vesuvius across the bay. Capri visible on clear days. 3:30pm: Napoli Sotterranea (underground tour, €12, 1.5h — Greek-Roman aqueducts, WWII shelters, 40m below the street). OR: Capodimonte (bus C63, Caravaggio's most violent painting). 5:30pm: Return to centro → aperitivo in Chiaia (Baretti district) → dinner.