Napoli currently has two medical schools with English programmes offering many international students who want to study medicine in Italy a choice. One of the Italian medical schools is the historic Federico II, and the other is the modern Luigi Vanvitelli. Napoli is a vibrant, historic city with many areas to see and pick up awesome food, so here is a rough guide to hopefully help you settle in for the next 6 years!
If you want to find out more you can read out comparison of Luigi Vanvitelli and Federico II!
Considerations about Living in Napoli
Inside vs Outside the City
Napoli is a pretty big city with even more neighbourhoods outside of the main districts, however since most are in remote areas, a car would be necessary. As in other places in Italy, outlets, shopping centres or malls (Centro Comerciale) are located outside of the centre.
Just like many other historical cities that have expanded, Napoli also has a historical core (Centro Storico) that is actually listed in the UNESCO World Heritage site! There are also little residential towns outside of the main city district, found nestled between Napoli and Caserta. Caserta is a small town to the north of Naples, where the main campus of Luigi Vanvitelli is located (LV IMS does not have classes there thankfully!). Some students with families in these towns opt to commute to classes, however in general, students tend to stay in the main city district.
Navigating the Terrain
Napoli is quite terraneous, and can have some areas with a lot of steep hills. It’s important to consider that some of the areas in Naples are at sea level like the Porto area and the historical centre, while the rest of Naples is on hills, such as Vomero, Posillipo or Pozzuoli. Frankly, if you want to have a night life and live in areas other than the historical centre, you should either have a car or get used to taking taxis, as the metro only works until 10pm. While there are the night buses, they run with considerable delays sometimes up to an 1 hour or more!
Amenities and Facilities
Nightlife: Lungo Mare, Bagnoli, clubs and bars in Centro Storico and Pozzuoli.
Napoli is a vibrant city that turns touristic in the summer months. It has many areas for night life with plenty of bars & clubs, as well as cozy restaurants and cafes to chill out with your friends, or even upscale restaurants for a special night out! On weekends the historical centre never sleeps!
For a more relaxed and peaceful evening drink where you want to sit down with your friends, the best option would be bars and pizza restaurants in the Lungo Mare area (along the seafront) – it is also a good destination for dating on a budget! If you want a fun night out on a student budget, you will definitely come across Piazza Bellini and Piazza Orientale with true student and Erasmus energy. Here you can find the cheapest drinks with the price of a beer being as low as €1.00 Euro! If you enjoy wild nights out the clubs in Bagnoli and Pozzouli would be perfect for your weekend revelry.
Average Napoli Accommodation Prices
The average price of a single student room in Napoli can vary between €300 to €350 Euro. It can be lower or higher than this estimate depending on the location and type of the apartment, as well as if it’s larger or smaller, has many rooms or not etc.
- Doppia (double room) is a large room with two separate beds, and are cheaper than single rooms. Prices range around €200 – €250 Euro, but remember that you will be sharing a room, and some people prefer their own room and space for privacy.
- The price of a private room depending on the area can be anything up to around €350 Euro.
- Monolocale are studios, which are small apartments that include a kitchen area and a private bathroom. Pricing varies from €450 – €700 Euro depending on if the bills are included or not, and the location of the flat.
Popular Areas for Federico II Students
For Federico II students, the campus is located in an area called Policlinico, where there is a big hospital campus consisting of different departments, and many residential areas around it. Areas that are closer to the campus are Rione Alto (1), Policlinico itself, and Coli Aminei (2). Federico II students have a better chance to find a room or a studio in the neighbourhoods mentioned above compared to the historical centre, due to more free spaces available since these areas were constructed later.
Materdei (3): This area is like the heart of Naples, where you will find truly Napolitan families and culture. One of the most famous pizza restaurants of Napoli is located here!
Popular Areas for Luigi Vanvitelli Students
For students of Luigi Vanviteli (Purple X above), the medicine faculty is near Museo metro station, and is considered part of the historical centre (Purple Area: centro storico) region of the city. Some of the famous areas in this area are:
- Piazza Cavour that has a metro station for both line 1 and line 2.
- Piazza Bellini that is only 3 minutes away from the faculty is known for its night life and bars
- Piazza Università where the Federico ll main campus is (it’s only for the engineering and economy faculties and the secretary, but the medical faculty is in Policlinico)
Garibaldi (Turquoise X): This is where main train station of Naples is located. This district has the characteristics of any area around central train stations in European cities, namely it is much busier and there are more tourist traps. The buildings may look a little run down from the outside, however most of them have been renovated recently and are very liveable. A huge plus point of this neighbourhood is that since it is so centrally located, you will have no problems with public transport at any point of the day to any part of the city.
Metro Map to Understand Layout of City
How to Find Housing in Napoli
Websites
Facebook Groups
To find Facebook groups, you should search for the terms “affittasi” or “affitti studenti Napoli”. These 3 keywords can show you many Facebook groups for room renting in Naples.
There are usually also university based facebook groups focused on renting together.
Real Estate Agencies (Advantages & Disadvantages)
Like all cities in Italy Napoli has many real estate agencies that can help facilitate the process, however this is not a very common choice amongst students. The main issue with using an agency is that the fees are quite expensive usually costing a full month of rent, and can even be 10% of a full year of rent as a payment JUST TO THE AGENCY. This of course can be quite expensive for students when you consider that you will need to pay:
- At least 1 month of rent as a deposit (possibly 2)
- The first month of rent
- Agency fee which is more than 1 month of rent
- Total: 3-4 months of rent upfront without moving in!
Most agencies also only advertise for a whole apartment with multiple rooms and some studios. It is not a very common practice to find just a room with an agency. A way more popular option is to find classmates/friends you would like to move in with at the end of your contracts, and find a full house together with multiple rooms. This makes the process so much easier, and you can split the cost of the agency fee making it cheaper!
Another consideration is that a lot of agencies will also require a lot more documents if you’re a student (especially an international one). You might need to provide proof of sufficient income/savings belonging to you, or your parents. Different agencies of course have different policies and this might not be completely necessary.
Strange Considerations
Legal Contracts
Some areas make it easier to get an official contract, which might be important depending on what document processes you need to complete. Residential areas especially around the Federico II campus, as well as other areas like Vomero, Posillipo and Policlinico in particular are better choices for a more official status. Sometimes in the historical centre they won’t give you an official contract to get a residenza with, or they might ask for more money to make it official.
Landlords can give you a non-official house contract, which is not valid for the questura (official police checks and municipality registration) which is an incredibly important point to consider if you are a Non-EU student. You need valid registered contracts if you want to register for a residency permit, which has its own set of benefits.
Always check the room or the apartment before getting the keys! Many apartments are old and need repairs, but some landlords will try to get the repair costs from you, and your deposit. Keep everything documented with pictures, and show damaged or broken areas to your landlord before you rent the property! We would recommend taking pictures and emailing it to them so there is a dated record.
It is a good idea to ask about the comune (municipality district) and its rules from your friends or upper years, as each comune has different rules with the bureaucracy and certain types of documents.
Male Students
Landlords tend to prefer female students over male ones, as they believe that female students keep the apartment cleaner, are less noisy and tend to pay the rent on time. Many apartments are advertised as female only.
You can find a couple of friends, and try to rent a full apartment all together. You should always be considerate of your neighbours, as there are a lot of elderly people living in every neighbourhood, and partying into the late hours in residential areas is very frowned upon.
Renting out your Room
This is known as sub-letting, and a lot of contracts will expressively forbid this. However it is possible with the permission of your landlord to sub-let your room to someone else especially during the summer vacation to save a little bit of money while you’re not in Napoli.
Mistakes to Avoid
Always ask if the landlord has a spare pair of keys to your room or apartment! Even though it’s against the law to come to the house with no prior permission sometimes landlords don’t respect your privacy and barge in. Be clear with them about privacy, but avoid being rude!
Always check the room in person before handing over any sort of payment. Never judge the room based on the images on the websites, and if they ask you for an up front payment for example to “book” or hold the room absolutely refuse. This is a very common scam that international people might fall for.