the armchair traveller

Carthusia Brand Manager Virginia Ruocco shares her insider secrets of the 4000 year old city of Naples

Where should we stay?
For me, it has to be The Lungomare. The view from the hotel is amazing, and If you’re up early you can see the sunrise on the Gulf of Naples with the Vesuvio on your left, the Island of Capri in front of you, and Procida and Ischia to the right

Where’s the best place to get a cocktail or two?
If you are looking for somewhere very romantic, I would suggest the "Caruso Roof Garden" on the top of Vesuvio Hotel. Otherwise, a stroll along “barretti” where, as the name suggests, you’ll find many different little bars. People usually stay standing while chatting, drinking and sometimes even dancing

How about the buzziest restaurant table?  
There are a lot of buzzy restaurants in Naples, but one of my favourites is Nennella in the Spanish Quarter

Where to go for Naples’s best Timballo?
For the best Ragù or the best Pasta Patate e Provola, both dishes are very popular and traditional in Naples and Campania, head to "Signora Bettola”

What’s the one shop you couldn’t be without?
That’s an easy one! Carthusia, of course, in the centre of Naples is Piazza San Domenico Maggiore next to San Gregorio Armeno, the street famous all over the world for the countless shops dedicated to the Art of “Presepe”- crib

Where can we find the coolest local artists work?
Scuderie di San Severo, inside Palazzo San Severo, it is the headquarters of the atelier and laboratory of Maestro Lello Esposito. Here the works of the artist's private collection are exhibited. Mr Esposito has placed the relationship between

contemporary art and tradition at the centre of his research through the reflection and artistic reworking of the symbols of Neapolitan culture like Pulcinella, the mask, the egg, skull, volcano, San Gennaro and the horn

Your perfect Naples day?
It would start early with a morning walk along Lungomare Caracciolo heading to Chalet Ciro in Mergellina for breakfast with their famous Graffa! I’d finish the day watching a football match at San Paolo Stadium where my soccer team plays, FORZA NAPOLI. For the rest of the day you’d find me in sneakers walking the streets of Naples, which offers such a lot to discover

How does Naples influence your work?
Carthusia is culturally and geographically linked to Naples, a city of a thousand influences, Spanish, French, Norman, but which increasing accentuates its own identity. Wherever you wander, between the alleys of the ancient Spanish quarter, along the fascinating seaside promenade of Via Caracciolo or among the are accentuated, and the persistent smells mix with the perculiarity and diversity of the place

Best trip out of town?
The Island of Capri and its Blue Grotto

Don’t leave without seeing?
Cristo Velato, a real masterpiece of the 18th century

Something we must take Home?
A bottle of Carthusia perfume TERRA MIA. The sweetness of coffee is combined with hazelnut, vanilla, neroli and pink pepper. TERRA MIA translation as "My Homeland”. It’s the love for one’s own roots, the pride for the uniqueness which dominates each thought, hope and gesture. That self-awareness which nurtures the curiosity that’s essential to keep going, day after day