People often make a fuss about visiting famous sites like Pompeii, Versailles, the Colosseum etc. All of these visits are honestly very straight forward and not as complicated as people like to make them seem. This post will be a quick and uncomplicated guide to visiting Pompeii from Naples.
Before You Go: Getting Tickets for Pompeii
Getting Tickets from the official website of Pompeii
The first step is to get your tickets. This seems complicated, but I promise it is not. The official website for Pompeii tickets can be found here —–> Pompeii Tickets. It is a “ticket one” site and you may look at it and think it doesn’t look legit. I did the first time. But I promise it is. I receive NO commission from this site, just genuinely want you to find the right info and not get scammed. If you want the official site with all the INFORMATION that you need, you can find that here —–> Pompeii Site.
Make sure you take your time to read the info and know what kind of tour/ticket you want to book. They are split into morning & afternoon time slots and you can enter any time during your time slot.
Taking a guided or skip the line tour of Pompeii
Of course if you don’t want to visit Pompeii on your own you have plenty of options. There are almost limitless types of guided tours to see Pompeii. You just have to find the one that works best for what you want to get out of your visit.
If you are less confident, or just don’t want the hassle of a DIY day, you can find a plethora of guided tour options here —–> Pompeii Tours
How to get to Pompeii
There are a number of options for getting to Pompeii. As always, you need to choose what best suits you.
Getting to Pompeii By Taxi (my personal preference)
Personally, I found a taxi to be the easiest way to make this trip. A taxi costs about 70 euro each way and takes you directly to the site. I actually hired a taxi in advance to drive us and take us back to Naples. The total cost was 180 euro for the day. It is more costly but overall was completely stress free and worth it to me. We were able to arrive to and leave the site exactly when we wanted with no hassle. This left us with plenty of time to spend the later part of our day exploring Naples.
Getting to Pompeii By Train
It is also quite easy to take the train from Naples to Pompeii. The train journey takes about 45 minutes to an hour and will involve a bit of walking. Depending on where you are staying in Naples you’ll need to get to the train station. You will take the train to Pompeii Scavi station and take a very short walk to the site. You can purchase train tickets on site or online. I often use Rail Europe to book my train tickets because they have a nice app that is easy and straightforward to use. You can also book directly through the train line you are riding on.
Getting to Pompeii by Shuttle Bus
There are also a number of bus options for getting from Naples to Pompeii and you can find some choices here ——> Bus Options
Things to Know INSIDE the Pompeii Site
Check the weather for Naples
Many people (like myself) are visiting Pompeii in the summer. This is really not ideal, but it is what it is. This is the time the Amalfi Coast is popular and so is passing through this area of Italy. Make sure you are prepared for heat and sun! Many blogs will tell you there is no shade at Pompeii and that is not quite true. We went around 10 am and stayed till about 1pm. We were able to walk in areas of shade, rest in areas of shade, and take breaks when needed. There are also some areas where you can walk into “villas”, baths, or other special areas that are shaded. The bottom line is, shade can be found, but it is still HOT.
If you’re visiting in the Fall, Spring, or Winter I am sure it would be much more enjoyable and pleasant to walk around.
You can stay all day or stay for a few hours, it’s really up to you
Pompeii is an astonishingly large site. We couldn’t believe how big it actually was when we got there. There are some major things that you absolutely should see. There are also honestly a lot of things that are more of the same. How long you want to stay at Pompeii truly just depends on your interest level and how fast you move.
You could absolutely spend a full day here if you wanted to see every last detail. We spent about 2 full hours and we MOVED the entire time. We were able to see A LOT of the site this way and felt very fulfilled by the time we were leaving. You could honestly even do it for a shorter time and just hit the main spots and get a feel for it.
Guided vs Self Guided Tour of Pompeii
Just like the amount you want to spend in the park, going guided or self guided is a matter of preference. We learned so much in the park just walking around and reading signs. But if this is of high interest to you, guides are a WEALTH of information! I think if I were to go again I would hire a guide just to learn more about the area.
If you’re interested in a guided tour you can check some out here —–> Pompeii Guided Tours
There are cafes inside the park (even if you don’t need food, go up for the views)
I read a lot online that you can’t get food or drink inside, which just isn’t true. Personally, I didn’t eat or drink anything in the cafe. Therefore I can’t speak for whether or not it was good. But I can tell you it was very much there. You can get some shade, use the toilets and get a snack and a drink if needed. The cafe is also elevated over the park. You can get some pretty amazing views from up there and I highly recommend taking a peek!
Bring a reusable water bottle
There are water refill stations throughout the site and you can easily fill up whenever you pass them.
Pompeii can be done with mobility issues, but it wont be easy
We saw a number of people with mobility issues making their way around the site, so it is possible. But it did not look easy, and I wouldn’t want you to think its EASILY accessible. The cobblestones are large and bumpy, there are some ramps, but it looked very challenging to navigate. Be prepared for it to take a bit of time, and to move through the site slowly and carefully.
There are not petrified bodies everywhere
This may come as a shock to you, as it definitely did to some people. But you aren’t just seeing a bunch of bodies frozen in time. What actually is on display are plaster casts of the shape of bodies from the site made by archaeologists. There are not many on display, and they are all found in the indoor portions of the site.
You can see Vesuvius from all around the site and it is magnificent
Vesuvius is both impressive and admittedly kind of terrifying. You realize it could just blow and this could all happen all over again. It is really an odd feeling to see it towering over the site of what it destroyed.
There is SUCH a surprising amount still in tact or rebuilt
I was shocked at how much there actually was to see! I don’t know why I assumed it would just be so much rubble and maybe a few ruins. There are still complete buildings, streets, temples, baths, and more. I can’t express enough how impressive the site actually is. When you are wandering around you can really imagine what life must have been like.
I hope this is helpful for your visit to Pompeii. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions at planformdani@gmail.com or planforme.dani on instagram I am always happy to help!
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