Spanish Quarters Underground Tour

The Spanish Quarters underground tour is La Napoli Sotterranea, an hour in the cisterns under the hillside lanes above Via Toledo, used as air-raid shelters in the Second World War, with a guide in English, Italian or Spanish. It is run by the LAES cultural association from Vico Sant’Anna di Palazzo 52 and sold as the Spanish Quarters Underground Guided Tour, from US$20 a person (checked October 2026), rated 4.8 out of 5 from 6,002 reviews, the best rating of the four Naples undergrounds.

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What the hour covers

The cisterns here were cut into the tuff to hold the city’s water, and when the bombing came the families of the neighbourhood moved down into them. The guide takes you through the shelters, where the walls still carry what people wrote and drew, past the small altar they set up and down a narrow passage or two. It is a shorter visit than Napoli Sotterranea in the old centre, and it stays on one theme, the city’s water and the war, which is part of why recent guests rate it so highly. The operator gives the temperature below as about 17 degrees all year, with humidity around 90 percent.

Not the same as Napoli Sotterranea

The names are almost the same, and visitors mix them up every day. This route is under the Spanish Quarters, near Via Toledo and Piazza del Plebiscito. Napoli Sotterranea is entered from Piazza San Gaetano 68 in the old centre, about a 20-minute walk away, and adds the Roman theatre to its cisterns. If you only do one, this one is shorter and better rated; Napoli Sotterranea covers more ground and more history. The comparison guide sets all four side by side.

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Prices and review counts as listed on GetYourGuide in October 2026, not a quote.

With a street art walk on top

The Spanish Quarters are also where Naples paints its walls. A local operator, Naples bay tour, runs a 2 to 3-hour street art walk through the Spanish Quarters past murals by Cyop & Kaf, Bosoletti and Mandragora and the Maradona mural, with a one-hour underground visit as an option you choose at booking (in English or Italian only). It is rated 4.8 from 1,124 reviews. One French guest this October warned that the catacombs are not part of it; the underground option is a visit of the cisterns and shelters. The street art walk page has the route.

Practical points

The visit is not suitable for wheelchair users, people with reduced mobility or people with claustrophobia, and there are stairs down. Bring shoes with grip and a light layer. Free cancellation runs up to 24 hours before, and you can reserve now and pay later.