As usual my memory is foggy, I took very few notes and pretty bad photos, but because Molise and Abruzzo are not covered much here, I thought I’d share what I have from a three-week trip I took in July and August 2025. Not a day-to-day, each meal report. That would be way too long, given how verbose I am.
I traveled solo, flew into Naples and out of Rome. The itinerary was:
Naples - 5 nights
Ischia - 3 nights
Isernia (Molise) - 3 nights
Scanno (Abruzzo) - 1 night
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo) - 3 nights
Sulmona (Abruzzo) - 3 nights
Rome - 4 nights
Lucked out and had unseasonably mild weather for all but the last few days in Rome! In any case, because of my job, it’s much easier for me to travel in the summer, so I have gotten accustomed to being sweaty on vacation.
When in Naples in the summer I prefer to stay by the water because if it’s sweltering, the sea breezes do help. So I stayed again at a modest hotel a block off the Lungomare, towards Santa Lucia. Discovered that since my last visit, the dining scene in Santa Lucia seems to be improving.
Non sequitur: I had a very tasty lunch at Brigida Cucina Napoletana, a new-to-me restaurant not in Santa Lucia. Wonderful service, a chill place, slightly on the more elegant side, in tourist-central Napoli. High-quality ingredients cooked with care. I’ll return for sure.
Bruschetta with semi secche pomodorini
Ravioli stuffed with eggplant, provola (and more?) in a light tomato sauce
Semifreddo pastiera (no photo)
And a glass of Tuscan red, recommended by my waitress when I told her what I planned to order
One evening I was wandering by a restaurant in the aforementioned Santa Lucia and there was a long line out front. The whole thing looked like a scene. Well, I suffer from severe FOMO, so of course I later Googled and discovered that this place is the newest location of one of Diego Vitagliano’s pizzerie. He is a pizzaiolo of some standing and I had never tried his pizza. I was able to book an early dinner for a Tuesday night. Looked like walk-ins were able to be accommodated as well, at least early on a weeknight.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a huge appetite–I would have/could have eaten the bread they bring to your table for days. It’s light but with good chew, a nice bit of char…
I tried to offset my constant bread-pasta-and-pastry eating in Naples with occasional salad. This was tasty and light--good semi-dry tomatoes, good tinned tuna in oil--but you know, it's salad.
These are the semi-dry tomatoes that hang in the stores in big clusters? As I recall they were really tasty.
Thank you for making this report, by the way. Its super hard to remember long after the fact however, but if you can give us some color on what you enjoyed in these locations that would be really worthwhile.
I imagine you had a car for this trip, right?
We spent 10 days in gorgeous Sulmona a couple of years ago and ate very well. We have plans to be in L’Aquila for a week in early April.
Looking forward to the rest of your report.
A few years ago I had a delicious, impromptu meal at Signora Bettola while poking around Chiaia. Welp, they have expanded and opened an outpost in Santa Lucia, about 3-minutes from my hotel (and three minutes from Diego Vitagliano). It is a well-run, popular but not too chaotic, casual spot churning out the Naples hits. Wry, busy, and slyly funny servers.
To start I ordered the Fritti di Signora Bettola con Verdure Pastellate. I’m not one to avoid fried foods in Naples, and these did not disappoint, in particular the verdure (light, salty!) and the arancino with meat sauce, peas and carrots. The crocchè patate and fried cheese–very good, but heavy. As a solo diner, I tend to over order, but oh well. I made a valiant effort. Also had excellent fried polpette in a ragu served with melanzane. Not a light meal, but very satisfying.
Note about Signora Bettola–I did think to myself, is this similar to when European friends come to the U.S. and tell me, “We had a wonderful dinner at this typical, very authentic American restaurant last night.” And I ask them, “Oh, where did you dine?” And they say, “Applebee’s! Have you heard of it?” But I asked my Italian teacher, and she claimed “no, no way. You would know the difference and anyway, we don’t have places like that in Italy!” (She is from Naples.)
Had dinner one evening at Cap e Fierr, right on the beach, my toes in the sand. I can’t remember where I had read about this place, but it’s quite casual for breakfast and lunch, and serves more refined food in the evening. Reservations advised. For my primo I took the mezzi paccheri with raw and cooked tuna, breadcrumbs, and peppers that I don’t think were frigitelli but had more heat (not Serrano-levels). I loved this dish, a great combo of flavors and textures, with a subtle brininess to the sauce. Also really enjoyed ____ fish, tender, perfectly cooked and served over a not-chimichurri sauce. But the winner for me was the paccheri with tuna.
These were not frigitelli peppers, I don’t think. From what I read in an old blog post, the wife is Bolivian and brings some South American sensibilities to the menu.
The grilled veg on the side look uninspired but they were actually pretty good, in particular the peppers which were a bright foil to the mild ____ fish.
Hotel notes: I stayed in Ischia Ponte, towards the castle. My Italian teacher had recommended a hotel she and her family had used recently, “molto carino," the Mareblu Terme, so that’s where I booked. Prices on Ischia in late July were getting steep, so I chose the lowest category of room, a single with internal courtyard view. Ended up in a nice double with balcony and (lateral) view of the castle. Lovely grounds, two pools, lido/beach access via the sister hotel across the street. However, I spent my days exploring the island and hiking, so I didn’t avail myself of many of the services except for quick dips in the pools.
All of the above in this post looks delicious - the caponata seems cut into rather large pieces though.
How did you like the museum? (one of my very favorites) Are all the wonderful pictures back from Paris?
Yes, the caponata didn’t look like caponata to me, but when I asked for (pointing) “quell’insalata,” the woman behind the counter said, “Caponata?” It had big chunks of potatoes in it too.
Museo di Capodimonte is better than I remember it. Had last been in 2016 and it’s certainly better organized, with many more rooms open (at least the day I was there). Everything/most is back from Paris, though of course with a collection as large as Capodimonte’s, some works are always under restoration.
Currently there is a small, excellent exhibit: Capodimonte Doppio Caravaggio, which was the reason I made a point to revisit. l’Ecce Homo, which Caravaggio painted in Naples, is on loan from the Prado next to Caravaggio’s Flagellazione di Cristo.
I was sorely tempted by a number of pasta primi on the menu, but told my server I definitely planned to order the coniglio all’ischitana (1/2) and that my eyes are often bigger than my stomach. She recommended the polpo salad. Yes, she was right, and yes, the polpo was delicious, perfectly cooked, not rubbery at all, with a tiny bit of potato cream, basil, datterini, parmigiana, and oil and vinegar. [I still wish I had an extra stomach to accommodate a pasta as well.]
L-l-l-l-o-o-o-oved the coniglio all’ischitana. The light acidity and brightness of a tomato-wine-herb sauce really balances the richness of rabbit for me. This was so homey and finger-lickin’ good that I think I could have eaten a full portion. But I’m sure I would have regretted it.
Dessert - “cheesecake.” I’m a big dessert person, but here I would have rather had another savory course. The dessert was good, but the savory courses were excellent.
Note: this is a noticeably Anglophone-friendly restaurant. There were buckets of my fellow Americans dining all around me, which was not my experience anywhere else this trip (except maybe in Rome). I suppose it is to be expected at such a discovered restaurant and the cooking deserves all the press and praise it receives.
2nd Note: I took the bus there and back, but the line I took to the restaurant was not the one my server recommended I take on the return (after 10:30pm). She advised that it would be better to walk down Via Monte della Misericordia and catch the more major line that runs along the coast as the inland bus I had taken to arrive has spottier service on off-hours. I mention this only because it’s actually super-easy to take the bus rather than a taxi to/from Casamicciola, at least in high season. It is a downhill walk, so I asked her if it was safe–I meant will I twist my ankle in the dark and she thought I meant is it safe for a (-n astonishingly beautiful and glamorous ) woman to walk alone. So, yeah, don’t worry about walking alone. And yeah, I turned on my cell flashlight and it was fine.
If you cannot tell, I mostly play my dining by ear. I do a little research and book less, preferring flexibility to certainty. This yields mixed results, of course, but I’m a flake, what else can I say? I wanted a not-a-big-deal thing to eat one evening after traipsing across Ischia sightseeing. So I googled and found Pizzeria di Scala, which sounded promising. My report: It is a hole in the wall with good pizza. Very casual. Inexpensive. Lots of folks picking up to take out. Don’t expect an elegant dining room.
No question that this is among the best reports ever too rich this site!!!
Fantastic, Leely!! And it’s also good that you have the appetite to try all these dishes.
cool about the caravaggio exhibition! the first time i saw that museum it was on a beautiful Sunday morning - unsure how to get public transport I walked up from the centro. I had the privilege of viewing the paintings on my own (there were no other visitors) for the first hour or so, and precious few thereafter. or on a subsequent visit.
) woman to walk alone. So, yeah, don’t worry about walking alone. And yeah, I turned on my cell flashlight and it was fine.
