Naples to Pompeii on the Circumvesuviana

Naples to Pompeii by train: the Sorrento line of the Circumvesuviana

The Circumvesuviana is the local railway that runs round the Bay of Naples, operated by EAV, the regional rail company, and its Naples to Sorrento line stops right outside Pompeii. Trains start at Napoli Porta Nolana and call three minutes later at Napoli Garibaldi, the Circumvesuviana station on the lower level of the central station; 36 minutes after Garibaldi, you get off at Pompei Scavi-Villa dei Misteri.

Since the timetable of 17 October 2026, a Sorrento train leaves Porta Nolana every 30 minutes, on the hour and the half hour, from 5:30 to 22:00, every day of the week. Each of them stops at Pompei Scavi, so the old warning that some trains skip Pompeii no longer applies.

Pompeii’s tickets carry your name and an entry window, so buy yours before you board: the Express, for the ancient city inside the walls, costs €27.50, and our Pompeii tickets page explains the rest.

Pompei Scavi, Pompei Santuario or Trenitalia’s Pompei: which station

Three stations carry the name Pompei, and getting on the train for the wrong one is the classic mistake. Two of them are on the Circumvesuviana, and their trains leave from the same stations in Naples.

The Trenitalia trains are worth it only if you want to start at Piazza Anfiteatro, where Pompeii’s step-free route begins. A few regional trains take 31 to 42 minutes, and the “Metropolitano” trains, every 30 minutes from 6:18, leave from Trenitalia’s own underground platforms at Piazza Garibaldi, 9 minutes on foot from the main hall of Napoli Centrale, and take 48 to 50.

Circumvesuviana timetable and the last train back from Pompeii

The new timetable runs 34 trains each way, and in winter what matters is which of them gets you to Pompeii in time.

The 8:30 from Porta Nolana reaches Pompei Scavi at 9:09, just after the gates open, and gives you the whole day. The 12:30, arriving at 13:09, still gets you in well before the last entry at 15:30, enough for a half-day walk through the site; for the whole of it, aim to be through the gate by 11:00. On strike days EAV keeps a set of guaranteed trains, marked G on its timetable, roughly those of the early morning and the late afternoon, and it posts strike notices on its site.

Circumvesuviana tickets: €3.30 to Pompeii, or tap your bank card

EAV’s fares didn’t change on 1 October 2026, when the integrated UnicoCampania tickets went up. A single from Naples costs €2.60 to Ercolano, €3.30 to Pompeii and €4.60 to Sorrento, so a return to Pompeii is €6.60. If you’ll carry on by metro or bus in Naples, the integrated ticket to Pompeii, €4.30, lasts 140 minutes and covers the onward ride in the city as well.

You can buy at the station’s ticket office, which prints a paper ticket with a QR code, in the GoEav app, the UNICO Campania app or the Telepass and Urbi apps, and at tobacconists. We couldn’t confirm whether tickets are sold on board, so have one before you get on.

Or skip the ticket and use Tap & Go: tap a contactless card or phone on the turnstile going in and again going out, with the same card. Without the exit tap you’re charged the line’s top fare, which means paying the €4.60 fare to Sorrento for a trip to Pompeii. PostePay Visa cards don’t work. Beyond the city, fines follow EAV’s rules: without a ticket you pay the fare from the terminus plus 120 times the lowest single fare outside Naples, cut to 30% of that if you pay within five days and to half within 60.

Herculaneum, Vesuvius and Sorrento on the same line

The same train serves the other two places people come for. Ercolano Scavi, for Herculaneum, has been a stop for every Sorrento train since 17 October 2026: it’s 15 minutes from Garibaldi, €2.60, and the entrance at Corso Resina 187 is a 6-minute walk. Pompei Scavi is 21 minutes further on, and as both sites take their last visitors at 15:30 in winter, do Herculaneum first, from its 8:30 opening, and Pompeii from around midday, though Pompeii then gets the half-day version.

For Vesuvius, the shuttles up the volcano leave from Ercolano Scavi, and from Pompei Scavi there’s EAV bus 808. Sorrento is the end of the line, 75 minutes from Porta Nolana and 36 from Pompei Scavi, for €4.60.

The Campania Express is suspended: other ways to Pompeii

The Campania Express, the tourist train that older guides still recommend, has been suspended since 1 October 2026 until further notice, so the ordinary Sorrento trains are the ones to take. If you’d rather not use public transport, a return shuttle from Naples to Pompeii costs €20: transport only, with an audio guide on board, two departures a day in winter and no cancellations. Our guided day from Naples, at €70, includes the entry and a guide, and there’s a return bus to Herculaneum too.

Is the Circumvesuviana safe?

The worry to take seriously is pickpockets, around Garibaldi, at the station entrances and in the crush to board, and Pompei Scavi station fills up when the park closes, so keep your bag in front of you. The line’s reputation is for reliability more than danger: Legambiente’s Pendolaria 2025 report, the environmental group’s yearly survey of commuter rail, named it Italy’s worst railway for the tenth year running, for its fleet of trains about 30 years old, its breakdowns and its cancellations.

The fleet is being replaced, slowly: ten new ETR 300 trains were in service by 17 October 2026, out of 56 ordered for delivery by 2028, and EAV has video surveillance on board.

Pompeii and Herculaneum on the Campania Artecard, with the train paid separately

None of the cards we sell includes the train, but the Campania Artecard covers both sites on this line. Our tickets cost €27.50 for Pompeii and €19.50 for Herculaneum, while the 365 Lite version costs €31 and includes both, with the Archaeological Museum in Naples, the Royal Palace of Caserta and the region’s other state sites. Under-18s go in free at all of them, so you only need cards for the adults.