So you've booked your Naples hotel, researched what to see at Pompeii, and packed your walking shoes. Now comes the part that somehow trips up half the tourists who visit: actually getting there.

Fifteen miles. That's it. Naples to Pompeii. Should be simple, right?

Except Italy's regional transport system had other ideas. There are three different trains. Not three companies running similar services; three completely separate train experiences using the same basic route. Then buses that nobody really takes. Tours that cost ten times what trains cost. Private drivers. Rental cars navigate Italian traffic that makes Boston look calm.

The internet doesn't help much either. Travel blogs copy each other's generic advice until you've read "just take the train" seventeen times without anyone specifying WHICH train or WHY that particular one.

Here's what actually happens with each option. The real version, not the promotional brochure version.

The Circumvesuviana: Cheap, Crowded, Gets the Job Done

This commuter railway's been running since before anyone reading this was born. Probably before their parents were born. Trains leave from Napoli Garibaldi or Napoli Porta Nolana; both connect to the main Centrale station, so finding them isn't the hard part.

Basic facts worth knowing:

• Costs €3.30 one way
• Takes about 36 minutes (sometimes 40 when the train just... stops... for mysterious reasons)
• Runs every 20-30 minutes during busy times
• Drops you at Pompeii Scavi-Villa dei Misteri station
• Two-minute walk to the ruins. Seriously, two minutes.

That last point matters more than it seems. Some options dump you fifteen minutes away. The Circumvesuviana puts you right there.

Now the less fun parts.

July and August? These trains get absolutely packed. Standing room only. The kind of crowded place where you're making accidental eye contact with strangers because there's nowhere else to look. Air conditioning exists theoretically. In practice, it gave up somewhere around 2003. Windows open, which just lets in hot Mediterranean air that doesn't help much.

Pickpockets work these routes. Not on every train, but enough that warning signs cover the station walls in six languages. The usual precautions apply:

• Backpack goes on your front
• Wallet and phone in front pockets that button or zip
• Keep your actual attention on your surroundings instead of your phone.
• Don't flash expensive cameras or jewelry around.

Most journeys are completed fine. But awareness costs nothing and prevents most problems.

For €3.30 though? It's hard to complain too much. That's less than a basic sandwich costs in Naples. The Circumvesuviana moves thousands of people daily without major issues. It's just not particularly comfortable.

Campania Express: Same Route, Different Universe

Someone in the regional transport office apparently thought, "What if we made this experience not miserable?"

Result: Campania Express.

Same tracks. Same stations. Same 35-minute journey. Completely different passenger experience.

What You're Comparing
Circumvesuviana
Your ticket costs: €3.60
Getting a seat: Good luck
Air conditioning: Theoretical concept
Your luggage goes: Blocking the aisle probably
How clean it is: Used hard, shows its age
Trains per day: Dozens
When it runs: All year

Campania Express
Your ticket costs: €6
Getting a seat: Guaranteed—it's reserved
Air conditioning: Actually functions
Your luggage goes: Overhead racks designed for it
How clean it is: Serviced between runs
Trains per day: 4-5 departures per day
When it runs: March to October only

That €10 ticket costs almost triple the basic fare. You're paying for comfort, guaranteed seating, and not standing pressed against sweaty strangers for 36 minutes.

But here's the catch; limited departures. The Circumvesuviana runs constantly. Miss one train? Another comes in twenty minutes. The Campania Express runs maybe six times daily. Miss the 9:15 AM departure? Hope you didn't need to be anywhere before 11:30, because that's the next one.

Operates seasonally, too. Planning a November trip? Campania Express isn't running. You're taking the regular service whether you like it or not.

Who should pay the extra €6.40?

Families with kids find it worthwhile. Guaranteed seats matter when managing children. Elderly travelers appreciate the better conditions. Anyone carrying actual luggage instead of just a daypack avoids the nightmare of managing bags in packed standing-room cars.

Solo backpackers in April with just a small pack? The regular train works fine. That €6.40 buys dinner somewhere.

Trenitalia Regional Trains: The Option People Miss

Most Pompeii guides don't mention this option at all. Standard Trenitalia regional trains serve Pompeii as part of their regular southern routes from Naples Centrale.

Tickets cost around €3–€4. Trains run frequently. The cars maintain Italy's national rail standards; notably cleaner than Circumvesuviana, though not as nice as the Campania Express.

The important detail:

These trains stop at the "Pompeii" station. Not "Pompeii Scavi."

That means a 15-minute walk through residential neighborhoods before reaching the archaeological site entrance. Not terrible on a pleasant spring morning. Genuinely burdensome in August heat. Forget it if traveling with strollers, elderly family members, or hauling luggage after an overnight flight.

Quick snapshot:

• Leaves from Naples Centrale (main station—convenient)
• €3.20 one-way
• Arrives at Pompeii station (not the Scavi station)
• 15-minute walk to ruins through neighborhoods
• Book through Trenitalia app or Trainline
• Cleaner than Circumvesuviana, costs about the same

This occupies a useful middle ground. Better conditions than the budget train. Doesn't cost premium prices. Requires managing that walk-through.

American travelers often find the Trenitalia app more intuitive than Circumvesuviana's old-school ticket machines. Digital booking in advance, clear confirmation emails, the whole modern experience.

Whether that 15-minute walk matters depends entirely on individual circumstances. Able-bodied travelers with light packs won't care. Others will absolutely care.

Buses: They Exist, But Why?

SITA and EAV run bus routes between Naples and Pompeii. Tickets cost about €3–€6; basically the same as trains.

Journey time? Somewhere between 50 and 90 minutes, depending on traffic.

In Naples, traffic always assumes the worst. So plan on 90 minutes.

Trains do the same trip in 36 minutes. For the same price.

The math doesn't support buses unless trains aren't running (strikes, maintenance) or staying in some specific Naples neighborhood where the bus stop sits dramatically closer than any train station. Even then, walking to a train station often proves faster than waiting for a bus that then crawls through suburban traffic.

Buses exist as backup transportation. Not primary recommendations.

Guided Tours: When You Want Someone Else to Handle Everything

Guided tours with transport typically range around €50–€80 for a half-day, or €80–€120+ when combined with other sites. That seems expensive compared to a €3.60 train ticket.

Until considering what's included.

Standard tour package contains:

• Pickup from Naples hotel or central meeting point
• Round-trip transport in an air-conditioned bus
• Skip-the-line entry to Pompeii
• 2-3 hours with a licensed guide (often an actual archaeologist)
• Historical context throughout the visit
• Return to Naples by early afternoon.

Tours typically collect passengers around 8:30-9:00 AM. The bus reaches Pompeii in about 40 minutes. Then a licensed guide, sometimes an archaeologist, sometimes a trained historian, walks the group through the ruins while explaining what everything actually means.

Our Pompeii & Vesuvius private tours include comfortable door-to-door transport from Naples, skip-the-line entry, and expert archaeological guides. See details and book at our Pompeii & Vesuvius tour.

The House of the Faun stops being just another pile of ancient stones. It becomes the luxurious home of a wealthy Roman merchant family whose decorative choices reflected specific social ambitions and cultural values. The plaster casts of victims aren't abstract tragedy anymore; they're individual human beings whose final moments got preserved in heartbreaking detail.

What tours deliver vs. what they cost:

• Maximum historical context and educational value
• Zero planning required on your part
• Everything handled—tickets, transport, timing
• But also zero flexibility once you're there
• Groups move on fixed schedules.
• That fascinating mosaic? Five minutes, then moving on.
• Whether you're ready or not

First-time visitors without extensive Roman history knowledge benefit enormously from tours. Self-guided exploration often results in walking past significant sites without recognizing their importance.

Independent travelers who hate group settings and prefer exploring at their own pace? Tours will frustrate them constantly. Different strokes for different folks.

The education component either justifies the price or doesn't, depending on how much someone values structured learning versus independent discovery.

For a fully private experience with flexible timing and personalized historical context, explore our private Pompeii tours departing from Naples or your hotel.

Private Drivers: The Group Cost-Splitting Strategy

Private car services charge €150–€250 for a round-trip transport with waiting time. Drivers collect passengers from Naples hotels, handle the drive, wait up to four hours during the visit, then drive everyone back.

Solo traveler paying the full $240? That's rough when trains cost under five euros.

Four people splitting $240? That's $60 each.

Suddenly, that competes directly with mid-range tour pricing. Except for complete schedule control and routing flexibility.

Private drivers make sense when:

• Traveling with 3-4 people to split costs
• Managing young children who need flexibility
• Someone has mobility issues requiring door-to-door service.
• Combining Pompeii with Sorrento or the Amalfi Coast stops.
• Schedule needs don't match train times.
• Valuing convenience over absolutely everything else

Families with young children avoid the stress of managing kids through crowded stations and packed train cars. Elderly travelers get door-to-door service without navigating public transit. Groups wanting to visit Sorrento afterward gain routing flexibility that fixed rail lines can't provide.

Environmental impact matters to some travelers. Private cars consume more resources per passenger than shared public transit. Those factors are taken into decision-making for people prioritizing carbon footprint reduction.

Ultimately comes down to balancing convenience, cost sharing, special needs, and routing flexibility against environmental concerns and budget limitations.

Many groups combine private transport with a guided Pompeii visit for the best of both worlds. Check our tailor-made private tours that include Naples-to-Pompeii transfers and expert guides customized to your schedule.

Car Rentals and the Italian Driving Reality Check

Daily rentals in Naples start around $50-$70 for economy cars. The A3 autostrada connects Naples to Pompeii in 35-45 minutes when traffic cooperates.

What it actually costs:

• Base rental fee: $50-$70 per day
• Fuel for the trip: around $15
• Autostrada tolls: $5-$6
• Parking at Pompeii: €5-€7
• Your sanity navigating Italian traffic: priceless (and not in a good way)
• Total realistic cost: $75-$100+

Italian driving culture operates on unwritten rules that completely confuse visitors from countries with more... shall we say... orderly lane discipline.

Aggressive tailgating? Normal highway behavior, not road rage. Motorcycles splitting lanes at 80 mph? Barely worth noticing. Lane markings? Suggestions more than rules. Turn signals? Apparently optional equipment.

That cute little Fiat 500 from the rental counter becomes a tiny, vulnerable target surrounded by much larger vehicles driven by people who learned to drive in Naples. Which is essentially expert-level European driving.

When rental cars actually make sense:

Week-long Amalfi Coast road trips where Pompeii represents one stop among many destinations—Sorrento, Positano, Ravello, and scenic coastal drives. Having a car provides genuine advantages for multi-day itineraries.

When they don't make sense:

Dedicated day trips focused solely on Pompeii. The hassle of Italian traffic, parking challenges, and navigation stress rarely justifies the independence gained. Trains or tours handle logistics better for single-destination trips.

Getting the Timing Right (Because This Matters More Than Expected)

Most advice says "arrive early" without specifying what that actually means.

Here's the specific version that produces measurably better experiences:

Optimal timing breakdown:

• 7:30 AM—Board Circumvesuviana in Naples
• 8:10 AM—Arrive at Pompeii Scavi station
• 8:15-9:00 AM—Wait outside entrance (yes, 45 minutes of waiting)
• 9:00 AM—Gates open, first people inside
• 9:00-10:30 AM—Explore with almost nobody around
• 10:30 AM onwards—Tour buses arrive, crowds build fast
• Noon in summer—Heat becomes genuinely oppressive
• 1:00 PM—Hundreds of tourists everywhere, sun at peak intensity
  

Those 45 minutes of waiting outside closed gates? Worth it.

Being among the first hundred people inside means wandering through ancient Roman streets that actually feel ancient and abandoned. Not like an outdoor museum packed with tour groups taking identical photos.

Tour buses start rolling in around 10:30-11:00 AM. By noon during the summer months, the Forum fills with hundreds of tourists. By 1:00 PM, the heat across 170 acres of minimal shade becomes genuinely difficult to handle.

Early arrivals get roughly 90 minutes of near-empty ruins before the daily crowd influx begins. That window makes the early wake-up worthwhile.

The site demands a minimum of 3-4 hours for covering major highlights at a reasonable pace. Comprehensive exploration takes 5-6 hours. That's walking several miles over uneven ancient stone pathways that destroy new shoes and test unprepared feet.

What to actually bring (learned from experience, not generic lists):

• Broken-in walking shoes—new shoes cause blisters within an hour
• Two water bottles minimum—onsite vendors charge €4 for a single bottle
• High SPF sunscreen that you'll reapply every two hours
• Wide-brimmed hat providing actual shade
• Snacks or packed lunch—limited food inside, expensive when available
• Portable phone charger—taking hundreds of photos drains batteries fast
• Small backpack to carry everything comfortably
• Cash in small bills—some vendors don't take cards

Water consumption needs exceed the typical daily intake. Mediterranean sun plus physical exertion plus minimal shade creates dehydration risks that catch people off guard. Refillable bottles make both financial and practical sense.

Sunscreen application needs thoroughness and regular reapplication. Direct sun exposure combined with reflection off ancient white stone intensifies UV radiation. Severe sunburns happen regularly to unprepared visitors who underestimated the intensity.

Matching Methods to Actual Travel Situations

No universal "best" option exists. The right choice depends on specific circumstances.

Your Situation & Best Transportation Choice
Solo budget traveler
Best Transportation Choice: Circumvesuviana €3.60
Why It Works: Maximum savings, crowding tolerable for 36 minutes

Family with young kids
Best Transportation Choice: Campania Express or tour
Why It Works: Reserved seats, less chaos, predictable structure

First-time visitor
Best Transportation Choice: Guided tour
Why It Works: Historical context transforms the experience

Group of 3-4 people
Best Transportation Choice: Private driver
Why It Works: Splits to $60-80 each, total flexibility

Multi-day Amalfi trip
Best Transportation Choice: Car rental
Why It Works: Pompeii becomes one stop in larger itinerary

Mobility challenges
Best Transportation Choice: Private driver or accessible tour
Why It Works: Door-to-door service, no navigation stress

Budget-conscious solo travelers benefit most from standard Circumvesuviana trains. The 36 minutes of crowded conditions represent temporary discomfort for substantial savings that compound across multi-week European trips.

Families traveling with children avoid significant stress by choosing Campania Express or guided tours. Reserved seating eliminates managing kids in standing-room conditions. Structured schedules provide predictability that helps with children's needs.

First-time visitors wanting historical context gain disproportionate value from tours. The educational component transforms ruins from "old buildings" into meaningful historical sites with actual stories.

Groups of three or four people find that private drivers become cost-competitive when splitting expenses while delivering maximum scheduling flexibility.

Extended Amalfi Coast trips justify rental cars when Pompeii integrates into multi-day itineraries, where having a vehicle provides genuine advantages.

Travelers with mobility limitations require private drivers or specialized accessible tours. Standard public transit lacks proper accommodations, and the archaeological site itself presents significant accessibility challenges.

The question isn't finding the single best method for how to get to Pompeii from Naples. It's determining which method aligns with specific needs: budget parameters, group composition, comfort requirements, desired historical context, and personal travel philosophy.

Getting this match right means transportation functions as invisible infrastructure supporting the actual purpose: experiencing remarkably preserved ancient Roman urban life frozen by catastrophic volcanic eruption.

Getting it wrong means the journey overshadows the destination. Creates frustration that colors the entire visit.

Pompeii rewards visitors regardless of arrival method. Once inside those ancient gates, the transport choice fades completely. The ruins themselves command full attention.

Streets where Romans actually walked two thousand years ago. Homes where families lived normal daily lives. Businesses where merchants conducted trade. Theaters where crowds gathered for entertainment. Brothels where transactions occurred. Bakeries where bread was baking the morning Vesuvius erupted.

The journey there simply needs to match individual circumstances well enough that arrival happens without excessive stress, cost, or logistical complications.

Different travelers need different solutions. Understanding the real differences between options, not marketing descriptions but actual experiences, enables making informed choices supporting successful visits to one of the world's most extraordinary archaeological sites.

Because standing in the Forum at 9:15 AM on a Tuesday morning with almost nobody else around? That's what makes how to get to Pompeii from Naples worth figuring out properly.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to get to Pompeii from Naples?

Most options take 30 to 40 minutes. The Circumvesuviana train usually clocks in at 36 minutes, buses around the same, and driving takes about 30 minutes outside rush hour. Add extra time for walking from the station or traffic delays.

Is the Circumvesuviana train reliable for getting to Pompeii?

Yes, it runs frequently and is the most popular choice for day trippers. Trains depart every 20-30 minutes during peak hours, but they can get crowded, and delays happen occasionally. Always check the EAV website or app for real-time updates before heading out.

Can I go to Pompeii and return the same day from Naples?

Absolutely. The short distance makes it easy to do a full-day trip. Leave early (around 8-9 AM), spend 4-6 hours at the site, and catch a return train or bus in the afternoon or early evening. Many visitors do this without overnight stays.