Pompeii is a day trip for almost everybody who goes.
Very few people stay in the modern town. They come out from somewhere else, spend a morning or a day, and go back. Which means the single most important decision about your visit is one you make before you get anywhere near the gate: where you are coming from, and how.
The four common starting points are wildly different in difficulty. Two of them are easy. One is manageable. One is a long day that people routinely underestimate.
From Naples
The easiest of the four, and the reason so many people base themselves in Naples.
Take the Circumvesuviana from Napoli Centrale, direction Sorrento, and get off at Pompei Scavi. About forty minutes. The station is a two minute walk from the Porta Marina entrance, which is to say you come up the steps and the gate is there.
Trains run frequently through the day. The line is a commuter service rather than a tourist one, which means it is not glamorous, it is often full, and it does not always run precisely to timetable. It is also cheap and completely straightforward.
A word on the Circumvesuviana: it has a reputation for pickpocketing on the tourist stretch, particularly on crowded trains in summer. Keep your bag in front of you and do not put a phone in a back pocket. That is the whole of the advice.
Leaving Naples at half past eight puts you at the gate close to opening, which is the best thing you can do for yourself.
From Sorrento
Just as easy, in the other direction, and slightly shorter.
The same Circumvesuviana line runs from Sorrento to Pompei Scavi in about thirty minutes. Sorrento is the end of the line, which has one significant practical advantage: you board an empty train and get a seat.
If you are staying on the peninsula and thinking about basing yourself somewhere for a few days that gives easy access to both Pompeii and the coast, Sorrento is the strongest option. Thirty minutes to the ruins in one direction, boats to Capri from the harbour in the other.
From the Amalfi Coast
Manageable, but it is a drive rather than a train, and the drive is the constraint.
From Amalfi it is roughly an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half, depending on where exactly you start and what the coast road is doing. From Positano or Ravello, allow an hour and a half. The route runs east along the coast, up through Salerno, and onto the motorway north.
There is parking near the site.
The coast road in July and August is its own weather system. What takes seventy minutes in May can take two hours in August behind a coach on a hairpin. Build that in, and leave earlier than feels necessary if you want to be there at opening.
There is also a SITA bus and ferry-plus-train combination for those who would rather not drive, but it involves changes and it turns a manageable trip into a long one. If you are on the Amalfi Coast without a car, consider whether Pompeii is better done as a stop on the way in or out rather than as a day trip.
From Rome
This is the one people underestimate.
It is entirely possible. It is not a relaxed day.
Take a high-speed train from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale, which takes a little over an hour. Then change to the Circumvesuviana for the forty minutes to Pompei Scavi. Total transit, terminal to gate, is around two hours each way with the connection.
Leave Rome at seven and you are at Pompeii around nine or half past. Leave Pompeii at four and you are back in Rome by half past six. That gives you six hours on site, which is genuinely enough.
What makes it hard is not the arithmetic. It is that you spend four hours on trains, in heat, and you arrive at one of the most demanding sites in Italy already tired. People do it, enjoy it, and are wrecked by evening.
Book the high-speed leg in advance. Walk-up fares are several times the advance price.
If you have the option, an overnight in Naples turns a hard day into two easy ones and gives you the archaeological museum, which holds most of the best things taken out of Pompeii.
Which base is actually best
Naples if you want the shortest journey and a real city in the evenings, and if you intend to see the museum.
Sorrento if you want a seat on the train, a softer place to come back to, and Capri within reach.
The Amalfi Coast if the ruins are one item on a coastal trip rather than the reason for it, and if you have a car.
Rome only if you have no alternative. It works. It costs you a day.
Combining Pompeii with something else
With Herculaneum. Fifteen minutes apart on the same line. Pompeii in the morning, Herculaneum after lunch. The second site is small enough that this is comfortable rather than punishing.
With Vesuvius. A bus runs to the crater car park from the Piazza Anfiteatro entrance. Book the crater slot in advance, because it is timed entry and tickets are not sold on the mountain.
With Naples. Ruins in the morning, the archaeological museum the next morning. The museum has the Alexander mosaic, the bronzes from Herculaneum and the material that was locked away from public view until 2000. Seeing the site first and the objects second is the right order.
Do not attempt Pompeii, Herculaneum and Vesuvius in one day. People try. Something always gets sacrificed, and it is usually the reason they came.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you get from Naples to Pompeii?
The Circumvesuviana railway from Napoli Centrale towards Sorrento, alighting at Pompei Scavi. About forty minutes, and the station is a two minute walk from the main Porta Marina entrance. Trains are frequent, cheap and crowded.
Can you visit Pompeii as a day trip from Rome?
Yes, though it is a long day. A high-speed train to Naples takes a little over an hour, then the Circumvesuviana adds forty minutes, so allow around two hours each way. Leaving Rome at seven gives you a full six hours on site. Book the fast train in advance, since walk-up fares are far higher.
How long does it take to get to Pompeii from Sorrento?
About thirty minutes on the Circumvesuviana. Sorrento is the terminus, so you board an empty train and will get a seat, which is not true in the other direction from Naples.
Is it better to stay in Naples or Sorrento for Pompeii?
Naples is closer to the site and gives you the archaeological museum. Sorrento is a more restful base with easy access to Capri and the coast. For the ruins alone Naples wins on convenience; for a week’s holiday that includes them, Sorrento usually wins.
How far is Pompeii from the Amalfi Coast?
Around an hour and a quarter by road from Amalfi, and closer to an hour and a half from Positano or Ravello. Allow considerably more in July and August, when the coast road is slow, and leave earlier than you think you need to if you want to arrive at opening.
Read also: Climbing Vesuvius, and How to Combine It With Pompeii | How Long Do You Need in Pompeii? | The Ancient Ruins of Pompeii: Everything You Need to Know
