Naples Canals

Naples is a neighbourhood of three small islands in Alamitos Bay, connected to the mainland by bridges and to each other by the canal system that defines the place. The streets are narrow, the houses crowd the water, and walking the canal-side paths is one of the more unusual urban experiences in Southern California. You are surrounded by expensive real estate, pleasure boats, and the sound of water in a city that is otherwise very much a car town.

The canals are best seen on foot or from a kayak — rentals are available nearby. Gondola Getaway offers traditional Venetian gondola rides through the canals with Italian songs and a bottle of wine, which sounds touristy but turns out to be genuinely pleasant. The surrounding streets have a good collection of restaurants and casual bars, though the neighbourhood itself is primarily residential.

things to do neighbourhood
A story
Naples was developed on marshy tidal flats starting in 1905, with the canals dug to drain the land and create the three islands that now make up the neighbourhood. The developers named the place after Naples, Italy, and hired gondoliers to pole visitors through the new canals as a marketing stunt. The gondola tradition never entirely died out — Gondola Getaway has been running romantic canal tours from the same dock for decades, arguably the only authentic Venetian gondola experience in the US outside Venice Beach.

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