Start your tour with a pickup from your centrally located Naples hotel or, alternatively, from Naples train station. Then, set off in your comfortable, air-conditioned minivan with your expert guide for your small-group tour of the highlights of this vibrant city — the third largest in Italy. As you travel, hear how Naples is one of Europe’s oldest cities, with roots stretching back to the 4th century BC, and how its historical center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its handsome plazas, palaces and castles. Visit Naples Cathedral (Duomo di San Gennaro) the 13th-century church dedicated to the city’s patron saint Gennaro and see inside its fresco-coated Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro. As you admire the mural, hear all about the vials of Gennaro’s blood kept in the chapel, and how they’re brought out three days a year, usually liquefying in what’s seen as a good omen.

Peep inside the nearby Basilica Santa Restituta, the original 6th-century church that stood on the cathedral site and then continue by minivan along the city center to the Piazza Municipio to see the Castel Nuovo, known locally as Maschio Angioino. Take photos at the stone battlements and crenellated turrets of this striking medieval castle and hear how, after being constructed by the kings of Anjou in the 1200s, the castle was rebuilt by the Aragonese in the 1600s before becoming home to Naples’ royals in the 18th century.

Drive up Posillipo hill, a famous viewpoint west of Naples. Absorb the sweeping views down over the city with Mt Vesuvius in the distance.

Lastly drive back to Piazza del Plebiscito, the large public square named after the plebiscite that saw Naples become part of a unified Italy in 1863. Admire the outsides of the royal palace of Naples, the Basilica of St. Francesco di Paola and San Carlo theatre. Ends your tour with a drop-off in central Naples.

Guide in the last part of the tour will show you and give some details about the royal theatre and Umberto I gallery.