The easiest way to get to Pompeii from Naples is the Circumvesuviana train on the Napoli–Sorrento line, from Napoli Porta Nolana or Napoli Garibaldi (under the main Napoli Centrale station) to the stop Pompei Scavi – Villa dei Misteri, a short walk from the Porta Marina and Piazza Esedra entrances. It needs no booking, you can pay by tapping a contactless card at the gate, and it runs all day.
The Campania Express tourist train on the same line costs €15 one way. In winter (15 October to 15 March) the ruins open 9:00 to 17:00 with last entry at 15:30, and the Pompeii Express ticket costs €20. Everything below was checked on the official sites of the Archaeological Park and of EAV, the train operator, on 8 November 2026.
What is the easiest way to get to Pompeii from Naples?
Inside the walls of Pompeii, not everything is stone: rows of young vines and silver-green olive trees grow between the roofless houses, and Vesuvius fills the horizon behind them. That view is the reason for the trip, and the good news is that getting there is simple. The volcano that buried the town also gives the local railway its name.
The short answer for first-timers
Take a Circumvesuviana train heading for Sorrento and get off at Pompei Scavi – Villa dei Misteri. The Archaeological Park lists this stop for the Porta Marina and Piazza Esedra entrances. Book your entry ticket online the day before on the park's official seller, so you can walk straight to the turnstile.
How long it takes and what it costs
EAV's Campania Express timetable shows about 37 minutes from Porta Nolana to Pompei Scavi; regular trains call at the intermediate stations, so allow extra time. With Tap & Go, the system charges the cheapest fare that matches your journeys that day, so you never pay more than the right ticket. Add €20 for the Pompeii Express entry or €25 for Pompeii+, and you have the cost of the whole day.
Circumvesuviana: the local train to Pompei Scavi
Circumvesuviana means "around Vesuvius", and once you step inside the ruins the volcano is everywhere: its summit sits framed between two Doric columns, grey-blue against a clear sky, as if the builders had planned the view. The train that takes you there is an ordinary regional line: no reservations, no fixed departure to plan around.
Which station in Naples
The line starts at Napoli Porta Nolana and calls at Napoli Garibaldi a few minutes later. Garibaldi sits underneath Piazza Garibaldi and the Napoli Centrale mainline station, so it is the natural choice if you arrive by high-speed train from Rome.
Tickets, contactless payment and validation
EAV gives you three ways to pay. Tap & Go: tap a contactless Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Maestro or V Pay card (or the same card in your phone wallet) on the reader at the entry gate, then tap the same card again at the exit gate in Pompei. EAV warns that if you forget to tap out you are charged the maximum fare, and that two different cards count as two separate journeys.
GoEav app: buy the ticket on your phone before you reach the station. Ticket office: a paper ticket with a QR code, sold at the station counters.
Tap & Go readers are sometimes out of service, and EAV posts notices when they are. Keep the app installed as a backup so a broken reader does not cost you a train.
Getting off at the right stop
This is the mistake that sends visitors to the wrong side of town. The Archaeological Park lists two Circumvesuviana stops: Pompei Villa dei Misteri on the Napoli–Sorrento line, for Porta Marina and Piazza Esedra, and Pompei Santuario on the Napoli–Poggiomarino line, for the Piazza Anfiteatro entrance near the modern town. Check the destination on the departure board before you board: you want a train for Sorrento.
Is the Campania Express worth it?
The Campania Express is EAV's tourist train on the same tracks, with fewer departures and a higher fare. EAV's fare sheet, last updated in March 2026, lists €15 one way and €25 return to all destinations, and its timetable shows only a few departures a day from Porta Nolana, with a stop at Garibaldi four minutes later. The service and its timetable are published on a separate page from the regular trains, so check it for your date before you plan around it.
It is worth the money if a departure fits your entry time and you prefer a dedicated tourist service. For a simple return trip with a daypack, the regular train does the same journey for a fraction of the price, and runs more often.
Trenitalia, buses and shuttles: the other options
Beyond the Circumvesuviana, there are other ways to reach the site, each with its own landing point.
Trenitalia to Pompei town
Trenitalia: regional trains on the Napoli–Salerno line from Napoli Centrale stop at Pompei station, in the modern town. From there, the park's Pompei Link combines train and bus and reaches the Archaeological Park in about 15 minutes. It makes sense if you hold a Trenitalia pass or are continuing towards Salerno.
SITA buses
SITA: the park lists SITA coaches from Naples and Salerno among its official connections.
Taxi, private driver or car
By car: the A3 Napoli–Salerno motorway has an exit called Pompei Scavi, close to the entrances. Driving makes sense mainly if you are combining Pompeii with places the railway does not reach. Organised tours and private drivers usually include hotel pick-up; ask whether the entry ticket and a guide are in the price before you book.
Planning the visit once you arrive
From Porta Marina, the street climbs gently to the Forum, a long open square of white columns, red brick bases and broken stone, where you start to understand the size of the town. Seeing it well takes most of a day, so the timing of your train matters more than the train itself.
Opening hours and tickets
The park keeps two timetables. From 15 October to 15 March it opens at 9:00, last entry is at 15:30 and the gates close at 17:00. From 16 March to 14 October it opens at 9:00, last entry is 17:30 and it closes at 19:00. It is closed on 25 December and 1 January. Entry is free on the first Sunday of every month.
The Pompeii Express ticket (€20) covers the ancient city. Pompeii+ (€25) adds the suburban villas, Villa Regina at Boscoreale and the shuttle. The multi-site Pompeii Plus (€30) is valid for three days, with one entry to Pompeii, Oplontis, the Stabiae villas, the Stabiae museum and Boscoreale.
EU citizens aged 18 to 24 pay €2. Tickets carry the visitor's name and entries are capped at 20,000 a day; in the summer season they are also split into two time bands. The official online seller is Vivaticket, linked from the park's site.
Which entrance to use
Porta Marina, on Via Villa dei Misteri, is the closest to the Circumvesuviana stop and puts you in the Forum within minutes. Piazza Esedra, just below it, also serves the same station. Piazza Anfiteatro, at the other end of the town, suits visitors arriving at Pompei Santuario or from the modern town, and it is the closest to the Palestra Grande, where the plaster casts of the victims are displayed. Starting there and walking west means you end your visit near the Villa dei Misteri station for the ride home.
Bags, water and heat
Much of Pompeii is open stone under the sky: curved tiers of dark seating in the theatres, wide paved streets, the bare Forum. There is little shade, so carry water and a hat even in spring and autumn. The park only admits small bags, up to 30 x 30 x 15 cm, which rules out suitcases and large backpacks; if you are travelling on to Sorrento or the Amalfi Coast the same day, leave luggage at your hotel in Naples or plan a deposit before you set off.
Where to see the plaster casts of the victims
For many visitors, this is the moment that stays with them: a figure on the paving stones with one arm raised, another curled on its side with a hand over its face. These are not petrified bodies. In 1863 the archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli first poured liquid plaster into the hollows the victims had left in the hardened ash; once the plaster set and the ash was cleared away, the figures emerged, often with their bones still inside.
Since 12 March 2026 the park has a permanent exhibition on them, "The plaster casts of Pompeii: an itinerary through the eruption of AD 79", in the porticoes of the Palestra Grande, the large square building opposite the amphitheatre. It shows 22 casts of victims, chosen among the best preserved, next to sections on the eruption and on the animals, plants and objects it preserved. The visit is included in the entrance ticket, and the park recommends the Piazza Anfiteatro entrance for it.
The section with the human remains sits behind partitions with a warning, so each visitor decides whether to go in, which is worth knowing if you are travelling with children. About a hundred casts have been made at Pompeii since the 19th century, and some are still shown in the houses and buildings where the victims were found, so you may meet others along your route.
How do you get back to Naples after the visit?
The way out follows long straight streets of worn paving stones, under brick arches, with the mountains around Vesuvius rising behind the town. Going back is the same journey in reverse: tap out at Pompei if you came in with Tap & Go, then tap in again for the return, and pick a train heading for Napoli.
In winter, with last entry at 15:30 and closing at 17:00, you will be on a train in the early evening. If you are staying near the historic centre, Garibaldi connects with the metro at Napoli Centrale. Check the last trains of the day in the GoEav app before you start your visit, especially on Sundays and public holidays, and allow a margin: EAV publishes strike days and planned line closures on its site.
Can you combine Pompeii and Herculaneum in one day?
Herculaneum was buried far deeper than Pompeii, and the excavated town now lies well below the streets of modern Ercolano: you look down on its houses before you walk among them.
You can combine the two, because both sites sit on the same Napoli–Sorrento line. The Herculaneum Archaeological Park says its station, Ercolano Scavi, is a 6-minute walk from the entrance at Corso Resina 187. Since 15 October 2026 Herculaneum is on winter hours, 8:30 to 17:00 with last admission at 15:30.
Herculaneum is a much smaller site than Pompeii, which makes a shorter visit realistic. The workable order in winter is Herculaneum first, at opening, then the train on to Pompei Scavi before lunch. It makes a long day; if you only have one, Pompeii alone is enough. You can read more about planning a few days in the city in our Naples City Guide, and about the season in Naples in November 2026.
For hosts in Naples: helping guests plan the Pompeii day trip
Pompeii is a reason to stay in Naples, not just a stop on the way. According to the park's 2025 financial report, the Pompeii site received 4,000,090 visitors in 2025, down 3.7% from 4,153,910 in 2024. Across Pompeii, Oplontis, Boscoreale and Stabiae, April (522,046) and May (521,134) were the busiest months of 2025, November had 178,685 visitors and January 133,788. Hosts in Naples hear the same questions every day from guests heading there.
The daily cap matters on peak days. On the free first Sunday of 6 April 2025, the Ministry of Culture's preliminary figures counted 20,000 visitors at Pompeii, the full daily limit. A guest who plans a spring weekend or a free Sunday without a ticket can be turned away at the gate, so a short note in the welcome message (book on the official seller, the ticket carries the visitor's name) prevents a lost day and a disappointed review.
Read as a calendar, those numbers are a planning tool. March, April and May together brought 1,316,155 visitors to the park's sites in 2025, three times the 428,788 of December, January and February. Hosts who price by season can line up minimum stays and offers with this curve, and promote winter stays with the argument the figures support: the same ruins, with far fewer people at the turnstiles.
The most useful thing a host can give is one clear paragraph: the station closest to your property, a train for Sorrento, the stop Pompei Scavi – Villa dei Misteri (not Santuario), tap in and tap out with the same card, and the season's last entry time. Guests who ask about the plaster casts should know they are now gathered at the Palestra Grande, near the Piazza Anfiteatro entrance.
Guests who leave for Sorrento or the Amalfi Coast after Pompeii also need somewhere for their luggage because of the bag limit, so a late check-out or a luggage drop is a service worth offering and naming in your listing. If you run a property in the city, our Living in Naples page and the Top Hotels in Naples list show how we present the city to travellers.
Winter is the quieter season but not an empty one, and the shorter hours change the advice: with last entry at 15:30 from mid-October to mid-March, guests should leave Naples in the morning, not after lunch. For a different half day in the city once they are back, the Pedamentina steps are a good suggestion.
Pompeii from Naples FAQ
How far is Pompeii from Naples and how long does it take?
By Circumvesuviana, the Campania Express timetable shows about 37 minutes from Porta Nolana to Pompei Scavi – Villa dei Misteri, and regular trains call at the intermediate stations, so they take longer. Allow an hour door to door from the historic centre.
Do you need to book Pompeii tickets in advance?
It is strongly advised. Tickets are nominative, entries are capped at 20,000 a day and the park itself recommends buying in advance; online tickets are PDFs that open the turnstile directly. On free first Sundays and in April and May, booking is the only way to be sure.
Where can you see the bodies at Pompeii?
The plaster casts of the victims are gathered in a permanent exhibition at the Palestra Grande, opposite the amphitheatre, open since 12 March 2026 and included in the entrance ticket. It shows 22 casts; the closest entrance is Piazza Anfiteatro.
Can you do Naples and Pompeii in one day?
Yes, if you sleep in Naples. Leave in the morning, spend four to five hours in the ruins and be back for dinner. In winter, aim to arrive by late morning, because the last entry is at 15:30.
Can you use a contactless card on the train to Pompeii?
Yes. EAV's Tap & Go works on the Napoli–Sorrento line with contactless Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Maestro and V Pay cards. Tap in and tap out with the same card, or you pay the maximum fare.
If you are planning a longer trip, the same approach works for other day trips from Italian cities, such as Milan to Lake Como.
Official sources
Opening hours, tickets, entrances, bag rules and connections: Archaeological Park of Pompeii, pages "Timetables and tickets", "How to get there" and "Pompeii Arte Bus" (pompeiisites.org), checked 8 November 2026. Plaster casts: Archaeological Park of Pompeii, "The plaster casts of Pompeii: an itinerary through the eruption of AD 79" (16 March 2026). Visitor figures: Park of Pompeii, Relazione del Direttore generale al Rendiconto finanziario 2025; Ministry of Culture press release on the free Sunday of 6 April 2025.
Trains: EAV, pages "Tap & Go Ticket-less", "Biglietti – come e dove acquistarli" and "Orari e tariffe Campania Express" (eavsrl.it), checked 8 November 2026. Herculaneum: Herculaneum Archaeological Park, "How to get there" and winter hours notice of 15 October 2026. Fares and timetables change; check the operator's page on the day you travel.
Photos: Naples and Vesuvius at golden hour by Daniel Seßler; vines inside the excavations by Filip Chmielecki; columns framing Vesuvius by Lorenzo Moreno; the Forum by Cole Ciarlello; theatre seating by Juan Hayward; plaster cast in a glass case by Juan Hayward; street and arch by Paul Macdonald. All on Unsplash (Unsplash License). Historic photograph of a plaster cast: unknown photographer, Architekturmuseum der Technischen Universität Berlin, via Europeana (public domain). All with light colour and detail finishing by Holiplanet.
