Gay-Odin (Via Toledo)

Gay-Odin is the chocolate maker of Naples, and its shops are a sweet alternative to the city's pastry counters. The company dates from 1894 and was born of the shared passion for chocolate of Isidoro Odin and Onorina Gay, whose names it still carries. It began as a shop on Via Chiaia and grew into a factory, and it now has several shops across Naples, as well as outlets in Rome and Milan. The company's base is on Vico Vetriera in Chiaia, where it also has a shop.

The best-known product is the Foresta, a bark-like log of fine, crumbly chocolate that looks like the branch of a tree and comes in dark and milk versions. Other specialities include the unwrapped cioccolatini Nudi, bars and tablets, nougat (torrone), the Gran Finale chocolate liqueur and a chocolate Vesuvio, a playful nod to the volcano. The range changes with the seasons, with special products for Christmas and Easter, when the shops are at their busiest.

The shop at Via Toledo 427 is the most convenient for visitors, on the city's main shopping street between Piazza Dante and Via Toledo's lower end. It is a shop rather than a café, so expect to browse, buy and take away rather than sit down; the shop is set up for gift buying. Prices are higher than supermarket chocolate but fair for a handmade product, and small bags of Foresta pieces make easy presents to carry home. In hot weather, ask for chocolate to be packed with care, as it melts quickly in a suitcase or a warm hotel room.

It suits anyone looking for a Neapolitan gift that is not a nativity figure or a bottle of limoncello, and children usually enjoy choosing a bag of chocolates. Allow ten to fifteen minutes.

From Via Toledo it is a short walk to Piazza Dante and the historic centre, and Dante and Toledo stations on metro Line 1 are both close by. Gay-Odin's other Naples shops include Via Chiaia, Via Carducci, Via Vittoria Colonna, Via Benedetto Croce on Spaccanapoli and two in the Vomero, so you are rarely far from one.