Pozzuoli and the Campi Flegrei

Pozzuoli is a port town in the Campi Flegrei, the Phlegraean Fields, a volcanic caldera area west of Naples in Campania, Italy, about 15 km from the city centre. Metro Line 2 (Trenitalia) from Napoli Centrale, Piazza Cavour or Mergellina reaches Pozzuoli in about 25 minutes for roughly EUR 1.70-2.00, and the EAV Cumana railway from Napoli Montesanto also takes around 25 minutes and continues to Lucrino and Baia. The area was an important Roman port, and its main sights are clustered in and near the town. The Flavian Amphitheatre at Via Nicola Terracciano 75 is one of the largest Roman amphitheatres in Italy, with well-preserved underground chambers. The Serapeum, actually a Roman market building, famously shows marks of the area's bradyseism, the slow rise and fall of the ground. The Rione Terra, the old fortified quarter on the promontory, can be visited on guided tours of its Roman streets below the modern town. The Solfatara crater at Via Solfatara 161 has steaming fumaroles and sulphur vents, though access and opening have been restricted at times. Further along the Cumana line, Baia has a castle housing an archaeological museum and a partly submerged Roman town accessible by boat or snorkel tours. A suggested one-day arc is to see the amphitheatre and the Serapeum in the morning, lunch on seafood along the harbour, tour the Rione Terra, and in the afternoon continue to Baia or Lake Averno, returning by metro or Cumana. Spring and autumn are most comfortable. Some areas are periodically restricted because of bradyseism and volcanic monitoring, so visitors should check campiflegrei.beniculturali.it for closures and tickets before travelling. Individual sites cost a few euros each. Hydrofoils from Pozzuoli to Procida and Ischia make it possible to extend the day with an island stop. Food stops include seafood restaurants at the harbour and pastry shops in the town centre. Hiking shoes are not required, but comfortable walking shoes are advisable.