Culture
How to order coffee like a Neapolitan
Standing at the bar, paying first, drinking in three sips, leaving one paid forward.
The order
Walk in. Pay at the cassa first — €1.30 in most bars in the centre. Take the receipt to the barista at the bar. Tell them 'un caffè'. Anything else is foreign.
It arrives in a heated cup with the sugar packet on the saucer. Stir it in, drink in three quick sips, put the cup down. Total elapsed time: under two minutes.
Caffè sospeso
Ask the cashier for 'un caffè e uno sospeso' — you pay for two, drink one, and the next person who can't afford a coffee gets the second for free. It's an old Naples habit that survived the 20th century and is back in the centro storico.
Where to stay
Our homes in Naples
The beating heart of Southern Italy — three millennia of layered history, the world's pizza capital, and a UNESCO old town that hums from dawn to midnight.
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