Pizza, Broken Metros, and 3,000-Year-Old Steps: Surviving Naples with 15 Worldschooling Families!

Lessons from a pop-up and the ancient keys, home exchanges, and community magic we found along the way

Phew! Naples, Italy is a city that does not ask for permission: it simply happens to you with a sensory blitz of roaring motos and crowded alleyways that define urban grit.

Last week our family descended on this historic corner of Italy for our latest pop up hub. We had nearly fifteen families with us including a brilliant crew of kids ranging from toddlers to young teens.

To say we experienced Naples would be an understatement because we navigated the logistics together and somewhat begrudgingly fell in love with the spirit of the place. We dealt with slow buses and closed metros while navigating streets that often felt more like a motorcycle race circuit than a sidewalk!

Still, when Naples rewards you it does so alongside a heap of sunshine and lemon gelato.

We managed to squeeze the absolute best out of the region despite the chaos. Capri, Pompeii and more!

We took the gondola to the highest point of Capri to watch the world shrink into the blue Mediterranean.

We tackled the three thousand year old Phoenician steps to reach a perfectly empty beach for a swim as the sunset approached.

From the ancient streets of Pompeii to the deep underground caves of the city itself we were constantly transported through time. The days were full but ever more important were the friendships made along the way.

This trip also marked our first reciprocal home exchange which added a whole new layer of local immersion to the experience. While this family enjoyed our apartment in Sevilla we settled into their beautiful space in Naples.

It was located in an older building with a giant metal key that looked like it belonged in a Harry Potter film but the place itself was lovely and local!

Even though it was not in the center of the city it was easy enough to navigate using the train and our hosts even left us a jar of delicious homemade jam to welcome us.

Embracing home exchange is one of my favorite travel strategies because the money we saved on lodging in the city meant we could splurge on three nights along the Amalfi coast before the pop up started. We found a simple place with a stunning view and breakfast and dinner included for 200 euros a night.

This view!! I could have sit out on the patio all day!

The weather was perfect and we quickly learned that the best way to enjoy the coast was to escape the crazy roads and head into the hills. We spent our days exploring ancient protected fern forests and climbing hundreds of steps to find those iconic ocean views that make the region so famous.

Among the lemon trees as we approached Amalfi

The highlight of the entire week was sitting down for a lunch of fresh pizza served under a canopy of lemon trees in Amalfi. The lemons were truly amazing and that afternoon provided the quiet rest we needed before our worldschooling adventures.

Hosting can be both wonderful for a trip planner like myself but also a lot of work! But I do it for the amazing families from many different countries who are willing to step in and help each other. Our group bonded quickly while the kids played soccer in the plazas or worked together to solve an escape room.

While they were swimming to volcanic rocks the parents were doing some bonding of our own over chilled glasses of limoncello. This is exactly why I love pop ups. It is about a shared journey where we learn from one another and grow together while experiencing the very best of a local culture.

Have you checked out a worldschool pop up hub yet? There are so many coming up including ours in Osaka, Japan this October 11-17, 2026.

And if you’re interested in Home Exchange, I’ve shared some tips in this article. Let me know if you have questions!

Until next time, keep exploring! ~Suzy May

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