Naples in 3 days

A 3-day Naples itinerary, and the closing days that set the order

The plan below puts the old town, and what lies under it, on day one. Day two goes round the bay by train to Herculaneum and Pompeii, the Roman towns Vesuvius buried, and day three climbs from the Royal Palace by the water to the Vomero hill above it. Vesuvius, Capodimonte, Caserta and the islands each want a day of their own, and how to swap one in is at the end of the page.

The closing days decide the order. Tuesday shuts the Archaeological Museum and the Sansevero Chapel, which anchor day one, and the castle and the monastery on the Vomero, where day three ends. Herculaneum and Pompeii open every day, so a Tuesday goes to them, and the Royal Palace shuts on Wednesdays. On a Monday, day three goes without the Galleria Borbonica and Gallerie d’Italia, which are shut.

Two of the stops are worth booking before you go, and a third saves you a queue.

Naples airport is closed for runway works from 1 to 30 November 2026, with about a third of its flights moved to Salerno and the rest to Rome; if you land at Salerno, getting from Naples airport into the city has the way in from there.

Day 1: the Sansevero Chapel, the Napoli Sotterranea and the Archaeological Museum

Day one starts at the Sansevero Chapel, behind Piazza San Domenico Maggiore, on the first slot you can get, which is 9:00. Inside is the Veiled Christ, the marble Christ under a marble shroud that the young Neapolitan sculptor Giuseppe Sanmartino finished in 1753, and the visit takes half an hour to 45 minutes, crypt included. Phones stay in your pocket: photos are banned.

If you’ve time before the next stop, the basilica of Santa Chiara, just behind Piazza del Gesù, is a few minutes’ walk away and free to walk into. Then head for Piazza San Gaetano, on Via dei Tribunali, for the Napoli Sotterranea, whose guided tour takes about an hour and twenty minutes, Roman theatre included.

It’s 136 steps down and as many back up, with no lift, and one short candle-lit passage is optional. Our ticket gives you a set time, in English or Italian, so you skip the queue at the door.

Two visits by the cathedral come next. The Pio Monte della Misericordia, further along Via dei Tribunali, keeps Caravaggio’s Seven Works of Mercy over the altar it was painted for, and next door on Via Duomo the Treasure of San Gennaro’s audio guide takes you from the museum into the chapel in the cathedral, free to walk into, where the saint’s blood is kept.

The afternoon goes to the Archaeological Museum, by Museo station, where the finds of Pompeii and Herculaneum ended up. It’s the right order for tomorrow: the museum’s cork model of Pompeii, made in 1879, shows you the whole town the day before you walk it.

Until 30 November 2026 the mosaics, with the Alexander Mosaic, and the Gabinetto Segreto are closed, but the Farnese sculptures, the frescoes and the bronzes of the Villa of the Papyri are open. The ticket office sells until 18:30.

Day 2: Herculaneum and Pompeii on the Circumvesuviana

Day two is on the train. The Circumvesuviana’s Sorrento trains leave Napoli Garibaldi, below the central station, every 30 minutes and stop at Ercolano Scavi and Pompei Scavi, so one line does the whole day. A single from Naples costs €2.60 to Herculaneum and €3.30 to Pompeii, or you tap a contactless card at the turnstile on the way in and again on the way out.

Be at Herculaneum for the 8:30 opening, with nothing to book. Two to three hours take you through the streets, the baths and down to the old beach, and the last entry in winter is at 15:30, the same as Pompeii’s, which is why the smaller town goes first.

Pompeii is 21 minutes further along the line, and you want to be through its gate by midday: the gates close at 17:00. With the Campania Artecard, go in by Piazza Esedra, just below Porta Marina, and collect your named ticket at the ticket office there, with your ID. Then walk the half-day route from the Forum past the baths, the brothel and the House of the Vettii, out to the amphitheatre at the far end.

The Villa of the Mysteries, outside the walls, belongs to the five-to-six-hour version of Pompeii, with €8 to pay at Porta Ercolano, so on this day it’s the thing to leave out. The last train to Naples leaves Pompei Scavi at 22:35, and the station gets crowded when the park closes, so keep your bag in front of you on the platform.

Day 3: the Royal Palace, Via Toledo and the Vomero hill

Day three starts by the bay, at the Royal Palace on Piazza del Plebiscito, which opens at 9:00. Its royal apartment, up a grand staircase to the court theatre and the Throne Room, takes about an hour, and the Hall of Mirrors and the Hall of Hercules have been shut for restoration since 1 October 2026, so the route is a little shorter than older guides describe.

On a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, add the Galleria Borbonica, the Bourbon tunnel under the hill behind the square. Leave the square along Via Gennaro Serra, go down Via Monte di Dio, and Vico del Grottone is the second street on the left; the standard tour leaves at 10:00 and 12:00 in the morning and takes about an hour.

Gallerie d’Italia, at Via Toledo 177, opens its first-floor route with Caravaggio’s Martyrdom of Saint Ursula of 1610, his last painting, in a room of its own. Under-26s go in free, and it closes on Mondays.

From Via Toledo, the Funicolare Centrale climbs to Piazza Fuga on the Vomero, a short walk below the Certosa di San Martino; be there by about 14:00. In the museum, the Presepe Cuciniello, a Neapolitan nativity scene, sets some 800 figures under lighting that runs from dawn to nightfall, and the last entry is at 17:30.

Two to three hours there brings you out at the right time for Castel Sant’Elmo next door, which lets visitors in until 18:30. Get onto the ramparts for the sunset, between about 16:40 and 17:20 from November to January, and look back over the old town of day one, with Spaccanapoli running straight through it.

The Campania Artecard on this 3-day Naples itinerary

The Campania Artecard 365 Lite covers six of the stops: the Archaeological Museum, Herculaneum, Pompeii, the Royal Palace, the Certosa di San Martino and Castel Sant’Elmo. Our tickets for Pompeii (€27.50) and the museum (€24) alone come to more than the card’s €31, and Herculaneum (€19.50) widens the gap. The Royal Palace, the Certosa and Castel Sant’Elmo then come on top.

Under-18s go into the state sites free, so only the adults need a card. The rest of the plan sits outside the 365 Lite: the Sansevero, the Napoli Sotterranea, the Galleria Borbonica and the Pio Monte are tickets of their own, and the Treasure and Gallerie d’Italia are among the 7-day card’s picks rather than the Lite’s.

The City Card’s four tickets, bought one by one, cost about what the card does, so it buys convenience, not a saving. It overlaps with the Artecard only at the museum, and the Artecard still pays for itself on day two, since Herculaneum and Pompeii come to more than its €31. The calculator on Naples Pass and Naples city passes does the same sums for any list of sights.

Adding Vesuvius, Capodimonte, Caserta or Capri to 3 days in Naples

Vesuvius fits into day two in place of Herculaneum. In winter go up first, on an early slot, because the crater’s last access is at 15:00 and an orange weather alert can close it; bus 808 runs between the volcano and Pompei Scavi station, so Pompeii follows in the afternoon. Count three to four hours for each.

Capodimonte and the catacombs make a day of their own up the hill from the Archaeological Museum. The Catacombs of San Gennaro, on Via Capodimonte, are a short bus ride up from Museo station, and the Capodimonte Museum, with Caravaggio’s Flagellation, stands further up in a royal park that’s free every day. The catacombs and the museum both close on Wednesdays; the park stays open.

Caserta is a day out by regional train, 36 to 50 minutes from Napoli Centrale to a station opposite the palace. In November and December its park shuts at 15:30, so walk it in the morning and leave the royal apartments for the afternoon. The palace is shut on Tuesdays.

Capri is about 50 minutes by hydrofoil from Molo Beverello. In winter its Blue Grotto opens only on calm mornings, until 14:00, and the boatmen decide around 9:00 each day whether it opens, so keep the island for a day when the sea looks settled.