Pompeii from Naples: the Circumvesuviana, the named ticket, what is open and the tours

In this guide

💡 The Short Version: Take the Circumvesuviana from Napoli Garibaldi to Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri: 36 minutes, every 30 minutes, €3.30 each way, and the stop is at the Porta Marina entrance. Book the €20 Pompeii Express ticket at pompeii.vivaticket.it. It carries your name, so bring matching ID, and it allows one entry only. Last entry is 15:30 from 15 October and the site closes at 17:00, so take a morning train. On the first Sunday of the month entry is free and there is no booking. Or book a tour: the guided day trip with transport from Naplesad is €49, about €22 above doing it yourself, and adds the guide and the transport (GetYourGuide).

Tickets and prices

Tickets are sold by the park through pompeii.vivaticket.it and at the ticket offices inside the site, at Porta Marina, Piazza Anfiteatro and Piazza Esedra. These prices have applied since 12 January 2026 (pompeiisites.org).

• Named tickets. Every ticket carries the holder’s name, and staff may ask for ID at every entry. If the names do not match you are refused and not refunded. Names and dates cannot be changed, and tickets are refundable only if the park closes unexpectedly.
• A daily cap of 20,000. From 16 March to 14 October, 15,000 may enter between 9:00 and 13:00 and 5,000 from 13:00 to 17:30.
• Free first Sundays. There is no booking and no named ticket; you queue at the gate. The next are 1 November and 6 December 2026.
• The Campania Artecard includes the Pompeii Express ticket as one of its free entries, with a reserved entrance at Piazza Esedra; the villas are the extra €8. Campania Artecard: is it worth it? has the sums.
• Other sellers. The ticket is the same price wherever it is bought. A search for Pompeii tickets returns sites with Pompeii in the web address that are not the park, and the guided tours below include the ticket in their price.

Tours worth paying for

On your own, the train and the €20 ticket cost €26.60 return. A tour adds a guide, and from Naples it also adds the transport. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices.

A guide at the site

From €49.49 · 4.8 stars from 24,735 reviews · 2 hours · entry included

Pompeii: Entry Ticket and Guided Tour with an Archaeologistad is run by Askos Tours. A small group of up to 20 walks the Forum, the Temple of Apollo, the House of the Faun, the Lupanar, the House of Menander and the Forum Baths with an archaeologist, and the Pompeii Express ticket is included. Against the €20 official ticket you pay about €29 for the guide. You meet at the site and get there by the Circumvesuviana.

Guided day trip with transport from Naples

From €49 · 4.5 stars from 5,919 reviews · 3½ hours · entry included

Pompeii Guided Day Trip with Fast-Track Entry, from Naplesad is run by WORLDTOURS. It collects you at one of ten points in central Naples, including Molo Beverello, the MANN and Starhotels Terminus, and drives 40 minutes each way. A stop at a cameo workshop comes before the two-hour guided visit, which has the entry ticket included. Group sizes depend on the option: VIP, small or regular. At €49 it costs about €22 more than the train and the ticket.

Pompeii and Vesuvius with a pizza lunch

From €53.25 · 4.8 stars from 10,029 reviews · 3½ to 8 hours

From Naples: Pompeii and Vesuvius Day Trip with Pizza Lunchad is run by HP Travel and meets at Starhotels Terminus on Piazza Garibaldi. The order is a 1½-hour walk up Vesuvius, a 45-minute lunch, then a two-hour guided visit to Pompeii. The Vesuvius guide says what the crater ticket involves.

Pompeii and Vesuvius, a full day

From €112 · 4.3 stars from 14,164 reviews · 7 to 7½ hours

From Naples: Pompeii Ruins and Mount Vesuvius Day Tourad is run by Project Napoli Service. It picks you up at a hotel, the cruise port or the railway station, visits Pompeii with a guide, stops for a pizza lunch, then drives to Vesuvius for a short walk, and returns to Naples at about 17:00. Some options come with an audio guide instead of a live guide, so check which one you pick.

What to see

Pompeii is a Roman town of paved streets, shops, bakeries, baths and houses with painted walls, buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. Allow three hours for the route below; the guided tours sold run two to three and a half hours.

The Forum at Pompeii, with the Temple of Jupiter and Vesuvius behind. Photo: Gary Todd, Wikimedia Commons.

1. The Forum. Enter by Porta Marina. The Forum is the town’s main square, with the Temple of Jupiter and the Sanctuary of Apollo beside it.
2. The Forum Baths, the Stabian Baths and the Lupanar. The men’s sections of the two bath complexes and the brothel keep shorter hours than the open ground: 9:15 to 16:20 from 15 October, last entry 16:00.
3. The House of the Faun and the House of the Vettii. Both are in the north of the town. The House of the Faun covers a whole block of about 3,000 square metres, and the statue of the dancing faun and the mosaic of Alexander and Darius in it are copies: the originals are in the Archaeological Museum of Naples, and the MANN guide says which of its rooms are shut. The House of the Faun opens 9:00 to 17:00 from 15 October; the House of the Vettii 9:15 to 16:20, last entry 16:00.
4. The Large Theatre. Open 9:00 to 17:00 from 15 October.
5. The Amphitheatre and the plaster casts. At the far end of the site by the Piazza Anfiteatro entrance, in the Large Palaestra, a permanent exhibition opened on 12 March 2026 with 22 plaster casts of victims of the eruption. The section for the human remains is behind screens with a warning notice at each end, and you can choose not to go in. The visit is included in the entrance ticket, and the park recommends the Piazza Anfiteatro entrance.
6. The Villa of the Mysteries. Outside the Herculaneum Gate. A fresco running round three walls of one hall shows a rite linked to Dionysus, and the villa has a wine-press area with a rebuilt wooden press. It needs the Pompei+ ticket or the €8 add-on. From 15 October it opens 9:15 to 16:30, with last entry 16:15, and the last access from the Herculaneum Gate is at 15:30.

The atrium of the House of the Faun, with the copy of the dancing faun. Photo: Carole Raddato, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

The order that works: the Forum and the baths first, while the houses are open, then the two big houses, then the villa if you have the time. Start with the amphitheatre and the casts instead if they are your reason for coming. What to skip: the houses marked on the map as visible from outside only, and, in a short winter day, the Villa of the Mysteries. From 15 August 2026 the House of Menander, the Fullonica of Stephanus, the House of Octavius Quartio, the House of the Tragic Poet and the House of Pansa are open daily 9:15 to 18:20 in summer; the House of the Ceii, the Lararium of Achilles, the House of the Silver Wedding and the Praedia of Julia Felix are closed (pompeiisites.org). Houses close at 16:20 from 15 October.

The frieze in the Villa of the Mysteries. Photo: Gary Todd, Wikimedia Commons.

Getting there from Naples

The Circumvesuviana is the local line run by EAV. The timetable below has applied since 17 October 2026 (eavsrl.it).

• Frequency: trains leave Napoli Porta Nolana at :00 and :30 from 5:30 to 22:00, and Napoli Garibaldi three minutes later. Garibaldi is the underground station under Piazza Garibaldi next to Napoli Centrale; Porta Nolana is the terminus a few minutes’ walk away.
• Back: trains leave Pompei Scavi at :05 and :35, the last at 22:35.
• Entrances: the Pompei Scavi stop is at Porta Marina and Piazza Esedra. The Napoli–Poggiomarino line stops at Pompei Santuario, by the Piazza Anfiteatro entrance (pompeiisites.org).
• Tap and go: a contactless card or phone works at the turnstiles. Tap in and out with the same card; if you do not tap out, you are charged the maximum fare (eavsrl.it).
• The Campania Express, the reserved-seat tourist train, has been suspended since 1 October 2026.
• From Napoli Centrale a regional train to Pompei station takes about 42 to 50 minutes from €3.50, but the station is not at the ruins: the Pompei Link bus covers the last 15 minutes. The Circumvesuviana is the easier way.
• The Pompei+ shuttle (Artebus) runs from Piazza Esedra to Boscoreale about every hour from 9:30 to 18:00.

Hours and rules

• Closed on 25 December and 1 January. Open on every other day, Tuesdays included, when Oplontis and the Stabiae sites are shut.
• Bags no bigger than 30 × 30 × 15 cm go in; larger bags and suitcases go to the left-luggage office.
• Audio guides may not be brought in unless they come from the park’s official concessionaires.
• No eating outside the designated places, no touching the walls or frescoes, and no bare chests. Dogs are allowed only if they weigh under 10 kg and stand under 40 cm.
• The one thing that ruins a visit: reaching the gate after 15:30 between 15 October and 15 March. A train from Garibaldi at 8:03 or 8:33 puts you at the gate as it opens or soon after.

Pompeii pairs with Herculaneum, 21 minutes back along the same line, where last entry is also 15:30. A coach tour can combine Pompeii with the Amalfi Coast. Day trips from Naples compares every trip, and Naples public transport has the fares and fines on the Circumvesuviana. If you are coming from Rome, the Pompeii day trip from Rome covers the fast train. Hotels near Napoli Centrale are beside the Circumvesuviana, and what to book before you go to Naples lists the closed days for the city’s sights.

Common questions

How do I get from Naples to Pompeii?

Take the Circumvesuviana's Napoli–Sorrento line from Napoli Garibaldi or Napoli Porta Nolana to Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri, beside the Porta Marina entrance. Trains run every 30 minutes, the journey from Garibaldi takes 36 minutes and the single fare is €3.30.

How much is a ticket to Pompeii?

€20 for Pompeii Express, which covers the ancient city, or €25 for Pompei+, which adds the Villa of the Mysteries, the Villa of Diomedes, Villa Regina at Boscoreale and a shuttle. Buy at pompeii.vivaticket.it or at the ticket offices inside the site. Tickets carry the holder's name and allow one entry.

What time is last entry at Pompeii?

15:30 from 15 October to 15 March, and the site closes at 17:00. From 16 March to 14 October last entry is 17:30 and it closes at 19:00. It is closed on 25 December and 1 January and open on every other day.

Is Pompeii free on the first Sunday of the month?

Yes, and on those days there is no online booking and no named ticket: you go to the gate. The cap of 20,000 visitors a day still applies. The next first Sundays are 1 November and 6 December 2026.

Is the Campania Express running to Pompeii?

No. The tourist train has been suspended since 1 October 2026. The ordinary Circumvesuviana trains run every 30 minutes from 5:30 to 22:00.

Is a Pompeii tour from Naples worth it?

For the guide, yes. On your own the train and ticket cost €26.60 return. The guided day trips with transport from Naples start at €49. A guide at the site with the ticket included is €49.49, about €29 above the official ticket.