Criminal Candy has run Naples' most famous queer night since 2009, currently held at the seafront Riva Club on Via Coroglio in Bagnoli, with drag hosts, guest DJs and a programme that swings between pop, electronic and traditional Neapolitan floors on Saturday nights.
Tip: Saturday-only programme through the dance season; pre-book through the Criminal Candy Facebook page. The Cumana train to Bagnoli then a short walk.
Address: Via Coroglio 154, 80124 Napoli, Naples
Lento Hi-Fi opened in November 2024 on Via Giovanni Paladino as the first listening bar in central Naples, with a custom-built sound system, vinyl-led DJ rotation by the Soul Express collective and a Japanese-izakaya-leaning kitchen reinterpreting katsusan and gyoza with Neapolitan ingredients.
Tip: The room is built around the speakers; reserve a sofa seat for the seven o'clock sets rather than a stand at the bar. The kitchen runs through the night.
Audioteca opened in October 2021 in San Giorgio a Cremano on Naples' eastern edge as Italy's first audiophile bar, with a custom-built Finnish birch column system, a tube amplifier, a Carmen by Condesa mixer and a vinyl-only programme by the Basic Club team.
Tip: The room is built around the speakers; the sweet spot is centre stage in front of the columns. Open Wednesday through Sunday, programme is vinyl all night.
Spazio Nea runs an art-gallery cafe and cocktail bar on Via Santa Maria di Costantinopoli at Piazza Bellini, opened in 2011 by Luigi Solito, with rotating contemporary art on the walls, a piazza terrace and a summer concert programme alongside cocktails and aperitivo plates.
Tip: The terrace on Piazza Bellini is the seat in the warm months; the gallery rotates roughly monthly. Cocktails run a smoky old fashioned and house signatures.
Perditempo runs an eclectic bookshop, record store and bar on Via San Pietro a Maiella near Piazza Bellini, with two scuffed inside rooms, sidewalk tables on the cobblestones and a student crowd drawn by cheap drinks and an alternative-leaning vinyl rotation past midnight.
Tip: Cash works best; the cocktails are cheap and pour heavy. Closed Mondays. The university crowd takes the piazza outside past 23:00.
Cammarota Spritz has anchored Vico Lungo Teatro Nuovo in the Quartieri Spagnoli as the city's canonical one-euro Aperol spritz counter, with a tiny inside room, a crowd that fills the alley outside and prices that have kept students and locals in line for a decade.
Tip: Cash only and queues build past 19:00; the alley is the room. The base spritz is one euro and the bar shuts when the Aperol runs out.
Libreria Berisio has run Via Port'Alba's second-hand bookshop quarter since 1956 and has doubled as a cocktail bar since 2014, with worn armchairs, dusty shelves, an alternative-leaning soundtrack and a programme that swings between book launches, jam sessions and DJ nights.
Tip: Drinks at the back armchairs are the seats to get; the front window opens onto Port'Alba on warm nights. The kitchen runs short snacks only.