Pompeii Archaeological Park

How to visit Pompeii from Naples: the Circumvesuviana train, which ticket to book, why a guide pays off, and the no-shade heat warning nobody mentions until you're sunburnt.

Written by the Departly editorial team Reviewed against GOV.UK on 8 Jun 2026

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Where

Naples, Italy

Opening hours

Summer (16 March–14 October): 09:00–19:00, last admission 17:30. Winter (15 October–15 March): 09:00–17:00, last admission 15:30. Closed 25 December and 1 January; some suburban villas close on Tuesdays. Confirm your date on pompeiisites.org.

Tickets

€20 standard (about £17) for the main city; €25 (about £21) for Pompeii Plus, which adds the Villa of the Mysteries frescoes and the suburban villas — or keep the €20 ticket and pay €8 at the Herculaneum Gate if the Villa is the only extra you want. EU 18–24s pay €2, and entry is free for everyone on the first Sunday of the month (expect crowds).

Time needed

Half a day — about 3–4 hours on site. A guided tour runs 2–3 hours; leave an extra hour afterwards to wander the streets it skipped.

In short

Visiting Pompeii Archaeological Park

Take the Circumvesuviana from Naples Piazza Garibaldi to Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri (about 35–40 minutes, ~€3.40 each way); the park entrance is a five-minute walk from the platform. Book a timed ticket online before you go — the site caps entry at 20,000 a day and named tickets are required. The €20 standard ticket covers the main city; pay €25 for Pompeii Plus if you want the Villa of the Mysteries and the suburban villas (or add €8 at the Herculaneum Gate on the day). There is almost no shade and the streets are baking stone, so bring water (refill fountains are dotted around), a hat and proper shoes. Allow a half day, and seriously consider a guide — the ruins are silent without one.

Getting there and getting in

From Naples, take the Circumvesuviana from Piazza Garibaldi towards Sorrento and get off at Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri — about 35 to 40 minutes for roughly €3.40 one way, with the park entrance a five-minute walk from the platform. The one trap to avoid: the mainline Trenitalia “Pompei” stop drops you in the modern town, a longer slog from the ruins, so it’s the Circumvesuviana you want. From Sorrento the same line reaches the site in around half an hour.

Book a timed ticket online before you go. The park caps entry at 20,000 a day and tickets are named, so turning up on spec in August can mean queueing or being turned away. The €20 standard ticket (about £17) covers the main city; pay €25 for Pompeii Plus (about £21) only if you specifically want the Villa of the Mysteries, whose near-life-size red frescoes are the best-preserved Roman wall paintings anywhere but sit out by the Herculaneum Gate, beyond the standard route. If that Villa is the only extra you’re after, keep the €20 ticket and pay €8 at the gate on the day instead. EU 18–24s pay €2, and the first Sunday of the month is free for everyone — and predictably mobbed.

The bit nobody warns you about, and the verdict

Pompeii is a roofless stone city with almost no shade, and the streets radiate heat. By the three-hour mark on a 35°C July afternoon you stop taking anything in. Go for an early slot, wear proper closed shoes for the uneven Roman paving, bring a hat and sun cream, and carry a refillable bottle — there are free drinking fountains dotted around the site. Allow a half day, around three to four hours.

It’s worth it, but strongly consider a guide. The site is vast and barely labelled, so on your own you drift through anonymous empty rooms; a two-to-three-hour guide turns the Forum, the baths, the brothel and the plaster casts of the dead into an actual story, then you can wander the rest yourself. If you’re already on the Amalfi Coast or in Sorrento, it slots neatly into a day; from Naples, pair it with the archaeological museum in town, where most of the best mosaics and frescoes from the site actually live now.

Planning the rest of your trip? See the Naples city guide.

More to see in Naples

National Archaeological Museum of NaplesCampania Naples UndergroundCampania Royal Palace of NaplesCampania

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Pompeii Archaeological Park FAQs

How do you get to Pompeii from Naples?

Take the Circumvesuviana train from Napoli Piazza Garibaldi towards Sorrento and get off at Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri — roughly 35–40 minutes and about €3.40 one way. The park entrance is a five-minute walk from the station. Do not confuse that stop with 'Pompei' on the mainline Trenitalia route, which drops you in the modern town centre, a longer walk from the ruins.

Do you need to book Pompeii tickets in advance?

It's strongly advised. The park caps entry at 20,000 visitors a day and requires named (nominative) tickets, so booking a timed slot online before you go saves you queueing at the gate and guarantees entry on busy summer days. The first Sunday of each month is free but heaving.

Is a guided tour of Pompeii worth it?

For most people, yes. The site is vast and almost entirely unlabelled, so without a guide or a good audio guide you're walking through anonymous roofless rooms. A two-to-three-hour guide turns the Forum, the baths, the brothel and the plaster casts into a story, and steers you away from the worst of the crowds.

Is the €25 Pompeii Plus ticket worth it over the €20 one?

Only if you specifically want the Villa of the Mysteries — its near-life-size Dionysiac frescoes are the best-preserved Roman wall paintings anywhere and sit out by the Herculaneum Gate, beyond the standard route. If the Villa is your one extra, skip Plus and just pay €8 at that gate with a standard ticket. If you're tight on time or energy, the €20 ticket and the core city is plenty.

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