What is Vico Equense known for?

Two-meter pizza invented by Luigi Dell'Amura, called Gigino, in the 1930s; his pizzeria in the centro still serves it the way it was first made. Former cathedral built in the early fourteenth century on a clifftop, with a Gothic interior and a Baroque facade, see suppressed in 1818. Limestone massif behind the town at 1,131 meters, reached by a 1952 cable car from Castellammare, a Lattari summer escape from the coast.

When is the best time to visit Vico Equense?

May–Sep. May through September is the working season for Vico Equense. June and September are the best months: warm sea, fewer day-trippers than July and August, and the Monte Faito cable car operating on a full schedule. July and August are crowded and hot at sea level, though the Faito plateau stays cooler at around twenty-two degrees. November through March is quiet, often rainy, with several beach concessions and lower-end hotels closed. The pizzerie in the centro stay open year round. The patronal feast of Santi Ciro e Giovanni falls on 31 January. Lemon harvests on the Lattari slopes run heavy from February into May.

Where is Vico Equense?

Vico Equense is a comune in the province of Napoli, Campania region of Italy, about 48 kilometers from Napoli.

How do I get to Vico Equense?

From Napoli, Vico Equense is roughly 48 km by road.

Vico Equense, Napoli

Known for

PIZZA AL METRO
Two-meter pizza invented by Luigi Dell'Amura, called Gigino, in the 1930s; his pizzeria in the centro still serves it the way it was first made.
ANNUNZIATA
Former cathedral built in the early fourteenth century on a clifftop, with a Gothic interior and a Baroque facade, see suppressed in 1818.
MONTE FAITO
Limestone massif behind the town at 1,131 meters, reached by a 1952 cable car from Castellammare, a Lattari summer escape from the coast.
PROTECTED PRODUCTS
The commune lies inside the Provolone del Monaco DOP and Limone di Sorrento IGP production zones.

When to visit

Best · May–Sep

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

Why come

Vico Equense sits on a block of tuff and limestone above the Bay of Napoli, twenty-five kilometers from the city and the first town on the Sorrento peninsula coming from the north. A seventh-century BC pre-Roman necropolis predates the Latin Aequana that Roman patricians built here for their villas, and the finds from that older settlement, funerary objects excavated in the 1960s and 1970s, sit now in a museum founded in 1966. The medieval town that survives was walled by the Angevins after 1284, when Charles II ordered a fortress built on the cliff as both stronghold and residence, and the diocese's cathedral rose on a neighboring clifftop in the same century, before losing its status as a see in 1818.

Behind the town, the limestone mass of the Lattari range closes off the land side, reached since 1952 by cable car from the coast at Castellammare. Pizza by the meter, the town's best-known export, was invented here by Luigi Dell'Amura, called Gigino, in the 1930s, and his restaurant in the centro still serves it. What holds the town together is the sequence itself: a pre-Roman settlement, a Roman villa town, an Angevin fortress and a bishopric, and finally a twentieth-century dish, each layer built on a narrow shelf of rock between the mountain and the bay.

What to see

Chiesa dell'Annunziata
The church stands at the edge of the cliff, its Gothic interior at odds with the Baroque face it was given later. The old cathedral of a diocese that no longer has a seat here.
Castello Giusso
Angevin castle built between 1284 and 1289 at the order of Charles II of Anjou, with a Renaissance residential wing and gardens above the bay.
Antiquarium Silio Italico
Archaeological museum founded in 1966, with funerary objects from a seventh-century BC pre-Roman necropolis excavated in the 1960s and 1970s.
Monte Faito
The massif closes off the town from behind, a wall of limestone that hikers cross into the Lattari range once the cable car has done the climbing for them.
Pizzeria Gigino
The pizzeria still operates in the centro, serving the pizza in the same lengths it was first cut to, up to two meters, in a room that has not changed the recipe.

We recommend

Where to eat and stay

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

Torre del SaracinoRistorante
Two Michelin stars for Torre del Saracino, along with three Gambero Rosso forks (93/100) and a place in L'Espresso's Top 300, among other nods.
Antica Osteria Nonna RosaRistorante
Antica Osteria Nonna Rosa carries one Michelin star, plus two Gambero Rosso forks (87/100).
Il BikiniRistorante
Il Bikini holds two Gambero Rosso forks (81/100) and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
L'AccantoRistorante
L'Accanto carries two Gambero Rosso forks (82/100), plus a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Cannavacciuolo CountrysideRistorante
Cannavacciuolo Countryside holds one Michelin star.
La Casa di Lella - Villa RosaRistorante
La Casa di Lella - Villa Rosa carries a place in L'Espresso's Top 300.
La TradizioneBistrot
La Tradizione carries two Gambero Rosso tables.
Laqua CountrysideRistorante
Laqua Countryside holds two Gambero Rosso forks (85/100).
MaxiRistorante
Maxi holds a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Nonno LuiginoTrattoria
Nonno Luigino holds two Gambero Rosso prawns.
Villa Rosa - La casa di LellaTrattoria
Three Gambero Rosso prawns, at Villa Rosa - La casa di Lella.
Hotel Capo La GalaHotel
Hotel Capo La Gala has one Michelin Key to its name.

Through the year

What happens here

Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.

Sagra del Riavulillofood festival
usually held in August. Napolike - Sagre in Campania (calendario)
Pizza in Vicofood festival
usually held in September. sagritaly.com

Living here

Population 20,254
Commuter belti
Pharmacy in town
High school within a 30-minute drive
Train station in the comune
Nearest airport Naples / Salerno, 1 h 1 min drive
Regional capital Napoli, 55 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

Elevation: 90 m
Population: 20,254
Surface area: 29.38 km²

On the map

Google Maps Apple Maps Directions from Napoli

These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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