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Greg McElhatton says “Naples made me hate life.” Leif Petterson says he went around looking for gems in Naples and found none. He ends his travelogue with a passionate suggestion “Don’t go to Naples!” Hal Licino issues a similar advisory “Avoid Naples” but in much stronger terms.
It brings out extreme reaction from visitors. Such abhorrence for a city is unbelievable. Never before I read tonnes of reviews about a place telling you not to visit it (except in cases where the place is in a war or experiencing political instability). But, in a country like Italy, there is a city that is so hated that people say they would not visit it even if paid to do so.
Here are four key reasons why people hate Naples so much!
1. Garbage – The foremost reason travellers dislike Naples is garbage. The locals are known to dump the garage onto the street. As you walk from street to street a glass bottle or a bag of something may just fall from the skies and land on your head. Tourists complain of hoards of trash mounted in front of buildings and houses and the constant smell that follows you around in the city. This place does not stand up to the Western standard of hygiene and sanitation. Here is an interesting article in Independent discussing just when the waste situation in Naples got bad.
2. Crime Scene – As you step out of the central train station in Naples and step onto the lanes leading up to Piazza Gabrialdi you see local and immigrant population walking around selling expensive gadgets for cheap. It makes you want to hold onto your back pack tight and run to your hotel room and hide there till its time to leave. Travel bloggers have reported being pick pocketed and robbed in the city. The danger is palpable. The threat feels real. Its no joke. Naples does feel like a really unsafe city. Besides, the smaller crimes perpetrated there is a situation of lawlessness with secret crime mafia Camorra operating in the city.
3. Neapolitan – People are said to be rude and mean in their attitude towards travelers who have reported back saying that they are not taken care of. Basically, people are said to be hostile and inhospitable.
4. Traffic – The taxi drivers drive too fast following no rules or signs and jumping the signals. You don’t want to be in their cab. The traffic will never stop for a pedestrian. So you don’t want to be outside of the car either. The traffic jams are so terrible that you don’t want to be driving around either. Basically, you don’t want to be in Naples at all.
It is the third largest city in Italy but undeniably the most hated one in Europe. I still five special reasons for loving the city. Watch this space…it is coming soon.
If you come from India, these things are a part Of life, all cities are like that