Away day Naples: Napoli, the Maradona and the city around it

away day naples is the trip that separates serious groundhoppers from tourists. The stadium sits in Fuorigrotta, west of the centre, and the city treats a matchday as a public event rather than a fixture: streets close, buses fill, and the whole district turns blue several hours before kick-off.

Napoli's ground holds 54,732 people and opened on 6 December 1959. It was renamed for Diego Maradona, whose years here still define the club's identity, and it is the fourth largest football stadium in Italy. For a visiting supporter the practical question is simpler than the history: how to get there, and how to get back at eleven at night.

Solving the napoli away day transport puzzle

the napoli away day begins with a decision about the metro, because Fuorigrotta is not on the city's main subway line. The route the club itself points visitors towards runs on the national network: the Trenitalia station at Napoli Campi Flegrei is the closest heavy-rail stop, and the EAV Cumana line has a stop at Mostra.

From the centre, Metro Line 2 runs from Piazza Garibaldi towards Campi Flegrei, and the operators lay on extra services after matches that finish after about ten in the evening, though you should confirm before relying on it. The bus route from the central station is the number 151, heading for Piazzale Tecchio, which leaves you at the stadium end of the district.

naples football trip: arriving by plane, train or car

a naples football trip by air lands at Capodichino, where the Alibus runs to Piazza Garibaldi for four euros and connects with Metro Line 2 or the 151 bus. By rail, the city's central station is the hub for both, and by sea the Molo Beverello ferry terminal is a short hop to the same routes.

Driving is the option to think hardest about. The tangenziale has exits at Fuorigrotta and Agnano, and the city runs a park-and-ride scheme for matchdays: a guarded car park at Bagnoli with a shuttle to the stadium, sold as one ticket for up to five people at three euros, with a journey of about ten minutes and no intermediate stops.

Inside the Maradona: the curva and the away sector

The Maradona is a concrete bowl with two huge curvas behind the goals, where the ultras stand and where the flags and the drums live. The curva is the loudest part of any Italian ground, and Napoli's is among the loudest in the country, with the whole stadium joining in for the songs that matter.

Visiting supporters are placed in a segregated section with its own entrances and, on high-risk fixtures, its own transport arrangements. Expect a police escort from the meeting point to the ground: it is slower than walking on your own, but on this fixture it is not optional, and arguing with it wastes the afternoon.

From terraces to an all-seater bowl

The ground opened in 1959 as a mixture of standing and seated sections, and it has since become an all-seater stadium, which is why the capacity sits at 54,732 rather than the bigger crowds the curvas once held. The roof covers the two main sides and leaves the ends open to the weather, so a winter evening here is a test of your coat as much as your patience.

That layout explains the shape of the noise. The curvas behind the goals are open and steep, the whole ground slopes towards the pitch, and when Napoli are playing well the sound arrives from three directions at once. It is the loudest single-tier atmosphere in Italy on a good night.

Eating, timing and the walk back

Naples is a city where food is a street activity, and the district around the stadium is famous for it. Pizzas, fried food and pastries are sold from counters all afternoon, and eating before the match is cheaper and better than anything inside the ground.

Timing is the risk to manage. Evening kick-offs here can end close to midnight, and the walk back to the metro or the Cumana line takes longer than the map suggests because the crowd moves as one body.

• Use Metro Line 2 to Campi Flegrei or the Cumana to Mostra, and walk the last stretch with the crowd.
• Take the 151 bus from the central station if you are arriving late and the metro is full.
• Consider the park-and-ride shuttle at Bagnoli if you have a car: parking plus return travel for up to five people.
• Keep to the escort arrangements for the away section, especially on the way out.
• Eat in the district before kick-off rather than betting on food at the ground.

Naples asks more of a traveller than any other away day in Italy, and it repays it with the most football-obsessed city in the country. Plan the transport, respect the escort, and leave the evening long: the point of the trip is not the ninety minutes.