Elena Ferrante’s four novels of the series “My Brilliant Friend” has become an international literary phenomenon.
For passionate Ferrante readers we do make tours through Naples by following Lila’s and Elena’s traces.
We will take you first to the difficult working class suburbia where the girls grew up.
Then you will be walking through the other neighborhoods that they meet and know by going to school, by working in a library and in the shoe shop, along their walks with friends. Such meetings show them how different the reality can be from the one they knew since their childhood, and how deep social differences can be and divide people from each other.
While telling about Lila’s and Elena’s stories, your guide will show you several corners of Naples out of the beaten path: for this reason this tour is ideal to discover such a controversial city, that is never foreseen or expected but always surprising in its good and bad aspects.
Posted By : Lara_A
Our guide Giulio was kind, knowledgeable, and simply a lot of fun to hang out with. We started the day in an elegant private car, riding to the neighborhood that inspired Elena Ferrante. It was powerful to witness the pride the residents (and many artists from all over) have taken in the story and its genesis. There is a relatively new dedicated library in the neighborhood and you can see the exact spots where Lenu and Lila (and perhaps Elena Ferrante) would have lived, gone to school, and tried to walk to the sea—extremely moving for this superfan of the novels, and the accompanying street art is striking.
We spent the afternoon walking, eating Napoli street food, and learning the ins and outs of both history and contemporary life from a native Neapolitan. If you are looking for a calm, quiet, sterile presentation, this might not be for you. As Giulio put it, Naples is a “beautiful mess”; while the views are stunning, you will be immersed in a bustling place that keeps you on your toes. We loved it.
Among the colors, sounds, smells, architecture, graffiti, and teeming traffic, Giulio made us feel extremely welcome and taken care of. We ate very well and took plenty of breaks for gelato, browsing books, and shopping for souvenirs from local artisans. There were also a few My Brilliant Friend surprises along the way—it was a wonderful experience and the highlight of my time in Italy. I learned so much and I will be coming back to Naples as soon as I can.
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Posted On : 2023-09-28 16:40:32 
Posted By : lovetotravelalot2018
Massimo was an excellent tour guide. With a background in history and literature he was perfect for this tour. Great teacher, gracious, and he brought us to all the highlights of Naples. We saw and discussed many locations mentioned in Elena Ferrante’s books. Highly recommend.
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Posted On : 2023-08-15 17:19:49 
Posted By : Karen_R
Our guide , Calo, met us at our hotel with a driver and comfortable transport. All good so far.
Calo then said we were on the 3 hour My Brilliant Friend tour, it was sold as a 6 hour tour. This was hastily solved but from the start it was evident that Calo had limited knowledge about Elena Ferrante and the series of novels. We did start the tour at the housing project/scheme driving hastily past the tunnel but limited information was given and certainly nothing that we didn't already know from reading the novels and watching the TV series. Our disinterested guide then continued the tour asking us where we we would like to go, quite difficult having never been in Naples before
Yes the tour lasted 6 hours but no it wasn't an informative guided Elena Ferrante Tour. I would not recommend this tour to Ferrante fans.
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Posted On : 2022-10-23 16:23:34
Posted By : Charlotte B
This was such a fun tour! We visited many places that were featured in the book and the TV series. Our tour guide, Guilia, was an expert on the book and had actually watched the filming of many of the scenes for the TV series. She also took us on a day-long tour of the city of Naples and not only brought the book to life but also the city of Naples. We thoroughly enjoyed our day with Guilia!
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Posted On : 2021-10-10 12:50:49
Posted By : spyro62
After reading the book I asked my husband to do a trip in Naples .
We meet our guide Gulia in the lobby of the hotel she has no standard tourist routes, she likes instead to shape them according to each customer, making them different and considering their client’s needs and curiosity. In this way the tour “looking for Lila” started .
we started from the Rione Luzzatti, where the main characters were born and raised; then the Stradone, the main road that is Via Taddeo da Sessa; the tunnel that actually is small but in their childhood’s tales looked huge. Then Piazza Carlo III, where there is the classical gymansium attended by Elena, the Rettifilo, Poggioreale, Piazza dei Martiri, the same places of the books so well described and easily recognizable, thanks to the passion and enthusiasm of our guide , we jumped out from the book into the multicolored city of Naples ,we didn’t want to visit just the places but wanted to get to know the residents too, the ones that lived in the same period described in the in book, to understand and relive the same experience they‘ d had and at end we made it , and we also discovered our “Brilliant friend in Naples Gulia “ We will be back for another tour together!!!
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Posted On : 2020-04-22 06:55:18
