In the 20th century, trailblazing cultural icons such as Hemingway, Pablo Neruda and Andy Warhol were seduced by Naples. Today, trendsetting young artists and writers are drawn here too, some enticed by the vital and uncompromising portrayals of the city in Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend and Roberto Saviano’s Gomorrah.

What makes Naples’ nightlife cool is not a slew of hipster bars furnished with pallet furniture and bare light bulbs, but the very absence of these kind of places. At night Neapolitans spill out onto the streets and cluster around the galley bars and cafes of Piazza Bellini. On the west side, students gather at Caffè Dell’Epoca for the famous €2 Aperol spritz, then head on to the buzzing Afro-beats nightclub Teranga. Those in search of cocktails and live music find it in sophisticated bars on the east side of the square, such as Nea, which is an art gallery by day, and leafy Intra Moenia, which doubles as a publishing house.