Bella Napoli

Guess what? The streets of Naples are not choked with rubbish. There were a few full bins - but nothing more than you'd see near my home in north London - and trucks were spotted collecting garbage.

Which means this edgily real Italian city is ready for holidaymakers to enjoy.

As Berlusconi and friends struggle with the Europe-wide problem of what to do with the increasing amounts of household waste we produce, the capital of Italy's Campania region continues to offer visitors culture, character and of course pizza.

From the young lovers strolling in the parks to the gap-toothed fishermen bringing in their little wooden boats along the waterfront of the Santa Lucia district, Naples is a city for living and enjoying.

Legend has it that the fate of Naples rests on an egg - one placed in the bowels of the Castel dell 'Ovo by Virgil no less. But it's the hazy, looming bulk of Vesuvio that really holds the future of the region to ransom.

The "egg" castle was built in the 12th century by the Norman rulers on the foundations of the original settlement - it juts out into the sea and a former fishing village nestled beneath its walls is now a great place for an early evening apperativo.

Settled by the Greeks, controlled by the Romans, and subsequently submitting to domination by Ostrogoth, Byzantine, French and Spanish rulers over the centuries, the culture and language of Naples have been infiltrated to create a unique and vibrant blend.

A good place to start an exploration of the old historic centre is along Spaccanapoli - starting from the Piazza del Gesu Nuovo. This narrow road has been in existence since Roman times and "splits" (the meaning of spacca) the city in two.

It buzzes with scooters, antique sellers, mozzarella shops and patisseries such as the famous Scaturchio.

Just around the corner, San Gregorio Armeno is lined with workshops making the hugely popular nativity scenes and is thronged with shoppers before Christmas.

Shocked-looking wise men, gnarled crones putting pizza in the oven, singers caught mid-note - choose your figures and create your own nativity scene Napoli-style, where the crib is a sideline to the drama.

A number of the many remarkable churches in this area, such as the Basilica di Santa Chiara, were once palaces of overblown baroque splendour, but bomb damage during the Second World War has seen them stripped back to their original clean and elegant interiors.

In the Cappella Sansevero a knobbly-kneed Jesus reclines under his diaphanous shroud, the crown of thorns and the nails pulled from his hands and feet lying at his side. This exquisite sculpture by Giuseppe Sanmartino was completed in 1753 for the Sansevero princes and placed in an ornate Baroque chapel.

Downstairs in the crypt things get a bit odd. Confronted with two upright skeletons in a glass case I thought I had perhaps slipped into a modern art gallery, or a morgue. Each skeleton is covered with a structure of twig-like tracery representing blood vessels.

The creation of Prince Raimondo de Sangro di Sansevero, these figures are surrounded with gruesome legends involving murder and alchemy.

The Posillipo neighbourhood enjoys views over the Gulf of Naples and is home to gracious villas with gardens stretching down to the bay. The Rosiella restaurant, set amid vineyards and orchards, is a place for a special occasion meal. Salvatore uses produce from his gardens in the kitchen and even makes his own wine.

At the top of another hill is the Palazzo Reale di Capodimonte, a former Bourbon royal hunting lodge set in what are now public gardens and home to a rich collection of European art.

On the first two floors the Galleria Nazionale contains major works by Raphael, El Greco, Lippi, Bellini and Breughel among many others.

Titian's papal portraits and a softly sensuous Danae are the stars of the 15th-century rooms, while upstairs Caravaggio's Flagellation of Christ and Judith and Holofernes by Artemesia Gentileschi exhibit more dramatic use of dark and light.

Further on the 18th-century royal apartments are full of elaborate furniture, porcelain and majolica, and a mosaic floor that was apparently lifted from the villa of the emperor Tiberius on Capri.

So plenty of culture and character - but what about the pizza? That crust that's thin in the middle and softly doughy around the edge; real buffalo mozzarella; and do you remember what real tomatoes taste like?

Yes, Naples is the traditional home of pizza and the making of this famous peasant dish is strictly regulated. In the historic centre the Ristorante Europeo on Via M Campodisola serves the best pizza - hunks of fresh cherry tomatoes, a few leaves of basilico, a drizzling of oil - mmmm.

For more information on holidays in Naples and the Campania region see the tourism website.

Natasha von Geldern