Naples to Pompeii Train

The train is the cheapest way from Naples to the ruins and, outside the mid-morning rush, a simple one: one line, no change, and a station by the gate. This guide takes the trip step by step through the parts that catch visitors out, from finding the platform at Garibaldi and stamping the ticket to the second station called Pompei, the crowded trains and the way back, and shows where a tour takes the trouble away.

The Circumvesuviana is a commuter railway, not a tourist service, and that sets what to expect on board. It is run by EAV, the Campania regional rail company, on the tracks that circle Vesuvius, and its trains serve the towns between Naples and Sorrento as much as the ruins. Carriages are plain, seats are not reserved, and on a busy morning you may stand with commuters and students for the whole ride.

The Sorrento line is the one you want, and four of its stations matter on this trip. Other branches leave from the same Naples stations for Poggiomarino and other towns inland, and their trains look exactly alike, so the destination on the board is what counts: board a train for Sorrento, the end of the line, and every station below is on its way.

The Campania Express Is Not Running

The Campania Express, the tourist train with reserved seats and a €15 supplement, has been withdrawn since October 2026 until further notice. Older guides and some hotel desks still recommend it. The ordinary Circumvesuviana runs as usual, so the plan in this guide is the one that works today: an ordinary train, an ordinary ticket and no booking.

The Pompeii train does not leave from the mainline platforms of Napoli Centrale but from Napoli Garibaldi, the Circumvesuviana station beneath them. From the main concourse, follow the signs for the Circumvesuviana down to Garibaldi, where you buy the ticket. Sorrento trains usually leave from platform 3, reached by stairs, so leave a few minutes more if you carry a suitcase.

From the Airport or Porta Nolana

From the airport, the airport bus runs to Napoli Centrale and Piazza Garibaldi, and from there the route is the same. Porta Nolana is one stop before Garibaldi. Because the trains start there, you board before the Garibaldi crowd gets on, and the ride is only a few minutes longer.

From a Cruise Ship

From the cruise terminal, take a taxi, or the metro from Municipio next to the port, to Garibaldi, and plan about an hour each way on your own. The ruins are about 25 km from the port, and a taxi for the round trip costs €80–150 per vehicle. The train is far cheaper but leaves no margin for a late train or a full platform before all-aboard; the shore excursions guide compares the tours that keep to the ship's timing.

Buy the ticket before you board; nothing needs booking ahead. At Garibaldi the machines and the ticket office sell a single to Pompei Scavi, and a tabacchi or the EAV app sells the same ticket. A return costs €6.60, exactly two singles, so there is no saving in buying it, only one less ticket to buy on the way back.

Tap&Go with a Contactless Card

The simplest ticket is your own contactless card. Tap it on the reader at the Tap&Go gate at Garibaldi and again when you leave at Pompei Scavi: the fare is worked out from tap-in to tap-out and costs the same as a paper single. Use the same card at both ends.

Validate a Paper Ticket

The train ticket covers the ride only; the entry to the ruins is a separate ticket, €20 for Pompeii Express. If you want the entry settled before you board, the ticket with a digital guide puts it on your phone together with a guide app, which you should download before you go in: the ruins have no free Wi-Fi.

A tour for thisSkip-the-Line Entry Ticket with Digital Guide

★4.2 (1,519)2 h

the entry to the ruins and a guide app on your phone, bought before the train

from€29≈ $32 · per personBook

Get off at Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri, the stop on the Sorrento line for the main gates. Three stations carry the name Pompei, on three different lines, and picking the wrong one is the most common mistake on this trip: it leaves you at the far end of the site or in the modern town.

The Santuario Trap

Pompei Santuario is on the Poggiomarino branch, which leaves from the same Garibaldi station as the Sorrento trains. Board a Poggiomarino train and you arrive by the modern town's sanctuary, about 1.7 km from Pompei Scavi, at the Piazza Anfiteatro entrance on the east side of the site. One Sorrento operator writes the rule to its guests in capitals: the stop is Pompei Scavi, and no other.

When Another Station Is Right

Santuario is the right stop in two cases: for the Amphitheatre end of the town, and for the park's accessible route, which starts at Piazza Anfiteatro. The mainline Pompei station, on Trenitalia, serves the modern town; use it only for the Sunday fast train from Rome. On a first visit, enter at Porta Marina and leave by Piazza Anfiteatro, as the map of the ruins shows from end to end.

Take a train before 9:00 if you can: a seat is likely, and you reach the gate as the park opens at 9:00. The first train leaves Garibaldi at about 05:40, and trains run until late evening, so you simply take the next one rather than plan around a departure.

The Timetable in Words

With a train about every half hour, you never need the timetable on the way out; you need it on the way back. The last trains from Pompei Scavi leave in the late evening, but published times disagree, so check the day's timetable on the EAV site or app before you stay for dinner or an evening opening. The park closes at 17:00 in winter and 19:00 in summer.

The Fullest Trains

Pickpockets

Crowded trains near Naples attract pickpockets. Keep bags zipped and in front of you, phones out of back pockets, and tickets and cards in an inside pocket. On a full train the doors and the aisles are where people press together, so keep a hand on your bag there.

The early train pays off at the gate too, if you join a guide as the site opens: the two-hour tour with an archaeologist runs through the day, from the opening on.

The walk is the shortest part of the trip: from Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri, the Porta Marina entrance is 50 meters away. Piazza Esedra, the lower entrance, is a few minutes further on the same side, and tour meeting points cluster there. If you got off at Pompei Santuario, use the Piazza Anfiteatro entrance at the east end of the site.

Before You Go In

The ticket allows one entry, so leaving for lunch or a café ends the visit. Toilets are at the three gates and at a few points inside, with long gaps between them, so use them at the entrance. The official audio guide costs €9 at the gate against an ID, and the park's map is worth saving on your phone before you enter.

One tour starts inside the station itself. The two-hour tour from the station meets at its office on the first floor of Pompei Scavi, facing Porta Marina, so you step off the train and into the group.

Travel light: the station, the train and the gate of the ruins each limit what you can bring, and the bags that do not get in have to wait somewhere.

Strollers

Operators advise against strollers on the ancient paving, with its high curbs and stepping stones at the crossings, and recommend a baby or backpack carrier instead. On the train a folded stroller is one more thing to carry up the stairs at Garibaldi. For a family day, the guide to Pompeii with kids covers routes, breaks and baby-changing points.

Wheelchairs

The train is the hard part of a wheelchair visit, not the ruins: Garibaldi has stairs to the platforms.

The accessible tours guide compares the ways in; for a door-to-door day, the wheelchair-accessible tour collects you from a hotel, the cruise terminal, a station or the airport.

The way back starts at the same station, from the platform for trains to Naples. Buy or tap a second ticket, and stamp a paper one, before you go through. Trains back run as often as in the morning, so you leave when the visit ends, not at a set time.

Herculaneum on the Way Back

Herculaneum lies on the same line, at Ercolano Scavi, so it fits on the way back to Naples. Its longer summer hours suit the order of the day: Pompeii in the morning, Herculaneum in the afternoon.

A guided small group makes that same trip: the small group of Pompeii and Herculaneum meets at Piazza Esedra, and its price includes the Circumvesuviana ticket between the two sites. The Pompeii and Herculaneum tours page compares it with the day trips that go by van.

A tour for thisSmall-Group Tour of Pompeii and Herculaneum

★4.8 (1,084)5.5 h

two guided visits and the Circumvesuviana ticket from Pompei Scavi to Ercolano Scavi

2 h + 2 h in two sites

from€63≈ $70 · per personBook

Vesuvius

Vesuvius is not on the line. The Vesuvio Express bus leaves from Ercolano Scavi station for Quota 1000, and there is no direct public bus from Pompei. Tickets for the volcano are sold online only, 50 for every 10-minute slot, and the last access is 15:00 in winter, so it needs a morning start or a day of its own; the Vesuvius from Pompeii guide has the timings.

The same line serves Sorrento from the other end: Sorrento is the last station, about 40 minutes from Pompei Scavi, for the same single fare. Trains start at Sorrento, so you board an empty train in the morning, and they run about every 30 minutes from about 05:30. Get off at Pompei Scavi, not before and not after.

At Sorrento station many tours meet at once, so know whom you are looking for. The return trip is the same line in reverse, and the timetable warning is the same: the last trains leave in the late evening, so check the day's times before you stay late.

From Sorrento the train itself can be part of a tour, which helps at a busy station: the Pompeii Express by train has a staff member in a red T-shirt waiting at the meeting point.

From Positano

From Positano there is no train: the bus to Sant'Agnello, near Sorrento, connects with the Circumvesuviana, about 1 h 30 in all. The tours from Positano page lists the small groups with pick-up, and the tours from Sorrento page the options from the coast.

The train is the cheapest way: €26.60 for the return fare and the Pompeii Express entry, and the whole day is yours. A train tour adds a guide and a meeting point for a little more; a tour with transfer removes the stations altogether. Choose by how much the guide and the logistics are worth to you.

How the Train Tour Works

Our pick, the train tour from Naples, meets at Napoli Centrale and hands out the return train tickets and the Pompeii ticket there.

Choose the live-guide option when you book: the cheaper options swap the guide for a digital app. Inside, the guided route takes about two hours past the Temple of Apollo, the Forum, the House of the Faun, the Lupanar, the House of Menander and the Forum Baths. Guests score the guide 4.4 of 5 and the transport 3.9, and some ask for clearer train instructions.

When a Transfer Tour Is Worth It

A bus tour from Naples takes about 3.5 hours door to door, with pick-up 30–55 minutes before the start, and the train, the stamping and the station mix-up drop out. The trade-off is time: return times are approximate, so leave at least an hour before a train or a flight, and the tour sets how long you stay. The tours from Naples page compares them all.

From Rome, take a fast train from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale, about 1 h 10 min by Frecciarossa or Italo, then walk downstairs to the Circumvesuviana: around 2 hours in all. The fast-train fare depends on the date and how early you book, so a guided day with the tickets included is often the easier budget to plan.

The Sunday Direct Train

Pompeii to Rome by Train

The way back reverses the trip: the Circumvesuviana to Garibaldi, then a fast train from Napoli Centrale. A fast-train ticket is for one set train, so allow a margin for a crowded Circumvesuviana. Day trips from Rome last 12–13 hours and leave about two hours in Pompeii, timed to the train back. The Pompeii tours from Rome page compares coach and train days.

Take the train, but take it early. Board a Sorrento train at Garibaldi before 9:00, tap a contactless card or stamp the ticket, and get off at Pompei Scavi: you are at Porta Marina as the gates open, ahead of the fullest trains and the mid-morning crowd at the Forum.

If the stations worry you, or you want a guide on a small budget, the train tour hands you the tickets and the route. If you travel with a wheelchair, heavy luggage or little time before a ship, skip the train and take a tour with transfer.