Paestum, Cumae and Caserta tours: how to build a second day
Nine Paestum tours, eight for Caserta and three for the Campi Flegrei, from 35 to 312 EUR, with closing days and what is shut on 4 November 2026.
The Paestum, Cumae and Caserta tours here come to 20: 9 go to Paestum, 8 to the Reggia di Caserta and only 3 to the Campi Flegrei. That split is roughly the order we would plan a second day after Pompeii: temples first, palace second, the volcanic coast when the calendar allows and the bookings are in. The median price is 122.5 EUR, and almost nothing is sold at that price. Seven of the nine shared tours cost 35 to 45 EUR, and nine of the eleven private ones cost 168 to 312. The Italy page compares these places with Pompeii; this one plans the day after. Where a figure comes from an aggregator or the press and not from the operator, the text says so.
The figures come from the 20 listings: 7 include the entry ticket, 8 name an archaeologist, and 11 are private. Oplontis and Stabiae are left out because no tour here visits them; the park that runs them is on the Pompeii page. Day one belongs there, on Herculaneum or on Naples archaeology, and everything below assumes you have it. Prices are as listed, mostly per person. The official tickets are 15 EUR at Paestum, valid three days, 18 EUR at Caserta for palace, park and English Garden, and 5 EUR for one Campi Flegrei site or 10 EUR for the four-site circuit. Cuma and the Caserta apartments close on Tuesday, the Baia museum on Monday, and Paestum names no closing day. The chart separates shared tours from private ones, because the two groups are not comparable and the median hides that. Hours and closures are as of 4 November 2026 and change by month, and Paestum's posted timetable stops at 21 September, so for a day that matters, check the park's own page the evening before.
Baia Double Dive for Certified Divers among Sunken Roman Mosaics and Villas
Two dives from the Subaia hub at the Port of Baia, five minutes by boat from the site, among the mosaics, columns and statues of the underwater Roman park.
Baia Snorkeling Tour with Expert Guide, Two Sites among Submerged Roman Remains
Snorkelers follow an expert guide over Roman domus and architecture about 5 meters down in the Baia archaeological park, with two stops at different spots.
Baia Submerged Park Guided Dive for Certified Divers from Bacoli by RIB Boat
A dive of about an hour at the sunken Roman city of Baia, under five minutes by boat from a dive center in Bacoli, with equipment and park ticket included.
Baia Submerged Park Snorkeling Trip by Boat with Personal Guide and Safety Lesson
Snorkeling over Roman villas four meters underwater at Baia, with a safety lesson, a boat ride to the park and a personal guide, then showers at the center.
Campania Artecard Cultural Pass for Museums, Monuments and Archaeological Sites
One pass for museums, monuments, galleries, theaters and archaeological sites in Campania, with 1, 2 or 5 admissions by card and discounts at other venues.
Campi Flegrei Full-Day Guided Bike Tour from Naples: Lakes, Baia and Solfatara
Full-day ride with a guide, bike, helmet, water and snacks included, past Lake Avernus, Baia and Solfatara. Riders need solid experience on open roads.
Caserta Royal Palace and English Gardens Small Group Tour with Shuttle Bus
Skip-the-line entry to the Reggia of Caserta, a shuttle to the English Gardens and a three-hour guided visit led by a local expert guide for a small group.
Caserta Royal Palace Guided Tour in English with Admission Included
English-speaking guide and palace admission are included in this 2 to 2.5 hour visit to the Baroque Royal Palace of Caserta, including its theatre and library.
Caserta Royal Palace Private 2-Hour Walking Tour with Skip-the-Line Tickets
A private two-hour walk through Vanvitelli's palace at Caserta with skip-the-line tickets. The palace is closed on Tuesdays, 25 December and 1 January.
Caserta Royal Palace Tour from Naples with Round-Trip Transfer and Entry Ticket
Round-trip transfer from Naples, a guide and palace entry are bundled in this tour, which departs three times a week at 08:00 and spends about two hours inside.
Cuma Archaeological Park Private Guided Tour with Acropolis and Sibyl's Cave
A private guided visit to Cuma, the oldest Greek colony in Campania, with the Acropolis, its temples and the Sibyl's Cave. Entrance tickets are not included.
Discover Scuba Diving in Baia Submerged Park for Beginners aged 10 and over
A 45-minute first dive with a dedicated instructor in the Baia Submerged Park, open to non-divers from age 10, with a certificate valid for a PADI course.
First Scuba Dive in the Baia Submerged Park with Photo and Video Service
A beginner dive at 3 to 6 meters in the Baia Submerged Archaeological Park with one instructor per diver, eight photos and two videos taken by an operator.
Paestum Archaeological Park Guided Tour with Archaeologist and Museum Entry
An archaeologist leads a two-hour walk from the Annunziata basilica through Paestum's Doric temples and amphitheatre, with park and museum admission included.
Paestum Evening Tour with Ceramic Workshop, Buffalo Farm and Illuminated Temples
A ceramic workshop, a buffalo farm with mozzarella and buffalo-milk ice cream, and the Paestum temples lit at night, with private transport from Agropoli.
Paestum Guided Tour of the Greek Temples and National Museum in English, Italian or French
Guided in English, Italian or French, this two-hour visit starts at the National Museum, home of the Tomb of the Diver, then walks through the Greek temples.
Paestum Private 2-Hour Guided Tour: Greek Temples and Tomb of the Diver
A private guide leads two hours through Paestum's Greek temples and the museum that holds the Tomb of the Diver. The park ticket is not included in the price.
Paestum Private Day Trip by Air-Conditioned Minivan with Hotel Pickup
A private day trip to Paestum by air-conditioned minivan, with hotel or port pickup and drop-off and commentary on board. Lunch and gratuities are not included.
Paestum Private Tour: Doric Temples and Archaeological Museum, Tickets Included
A private archaeologist-led visit to Paestum's three Doric temples and the National Archaeological Museum, with the Tomb of the Diver. Tickets are included.
Paestum Private Tour of the Doric Temples and Archaeological Museum, Entry Included
Admission fees and a certified archaeological guide are covered on this private Paestum tour, which ends at the museum and the Tomb of the Diver frescoes.
Paestum Skip-the-Line Ticket and 2-Hour Guided Walking Tour
This ticket gets visitors past the queue at Paestum, adds museum entry and a two-hour archaeologist-led walk past three Greek temples from the 6th century BCE.
Paestum Small Group Tour with an Archaeologist: Doric Temples and Museum
Two hours in Paestum with a licensed archaeologist and skip-the-line entry, taking in three Doric temples and the museum's Tomb of the Diver frescoes.
Private Car Tour of Campi Flegrei and Naples: Baia, Cuma and Monte di Procida
A local driver takes up to three travelers around Baia, Cuma, the Fusaro lake and Monte di Procida, with morning and evening versions of the private route.
Private Caserta Royal Palace and Gardens Guided Tour with Garden Shuttle
A private guide leads three hours through the palace and the English Gardens, with a shuttle between them and entry tickets already included in the booking.
Ratings collected by Viator, Tripadvisor, Tiqets and Civitatis
Paestum, Cumae and Caserta tours: which day for whom
The three share little except that a day at any of them ends back in Naples. Paestum is a Greek city on the Gulf of Salerno, Cumae the first Greek colony on the Italian mainland among volcanic craters, and Caserta a Bourbon palace inland. The time column is our planning budget: only the Reggia says anything about length, about four hours for the park alone.
| Site | Best for | Allow | Know before booking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paestum | Three Doric temples and a museum | About 7 hours from Naples and back | No booking needed; the Heraion is shut |
| Cumae and the Campi Flegrei | A Greek colony, a famous cave, Roman baths | A morning for Cuma, a half day for Baia | Cuma and the Baia museum need a reservation |
| Reggia di Caserta | Royal apartments, a park of about 120 hectares | Most of a day | Closed Tuesday; the park closes first |
Pick one for a single day. Paestum is about 93 km south of Naples by road, per route planners, and Caserta lies inland to the north, so they are two trips and not a morning and an afternoon. The Campi Flegrei combine with nothing, since booked entries already cap the day. No source we read times Cuma plus Paestum, so that exclusion is judgement, not a timetable.
In November the Caserta park takes its last visitor at 14:30, while the apartments stay open until 19:15.
Paestum: three temples, a museum and no booking
Paestum
The temple still labelled Neptune's
Hera II, the temple in the picture, is the youngest and best preserved of the three Doric temples, and older signs and many listings still call it Neptune's. Beside it stand the Basilica, really a second temple of Hera, and the one called Ceres, really Athena's. Those names date from the eighteenth century, and a guide who treats them as facts is repeating them. The museum holds the Tomb of the Diver frescoes, from about 470 BC, but its Diver room has been closed for rearrangement since 30 October 2023 and we could not find whether it has reopened. Ask before you plan around it.
Paestum has nine tours. Three are shared, at 39.50 to 40 EUR for about 2 hours with a guide. The two listings we opened include the entry ticket and meet you in Paestum, so the train is extra. The park says booking is not required, so the skip-the-line wording sells the guide, not a place in a queue. The other six are private, from 125 to 312 EUR, and one lasts 9 hours where the rest last 2.
Cumae and the Campi Flegrei: booked entries and closed sites
Baia
Baia, from the terraces above the gulf
On terraces above the Gulf of Naples, the halls once called the temples of Mercury, Venus and Diana were bath rooms of a Roman resort, and the harbour of Portus Iulius was built here in 36 BC. The museum is in the sixteenth-century castle, closed on Monday, entry by reservation. One site costs 5 EUR, the four-site Circuito Flegreo 10 EUR for three days. The Ministry of Culture lists those prices; the list of the four sites comes from local press, since the park's own price page was unreachable on 4 November.
Cuma is a separate stop west of Pozzuoli. The Greeks founded it in the 8th century BC. The 131 m gallery called the Sibyl's Cave is what most people come for, and only 25 people go in at a time. Italian Wikipedia sees no certain proof that it is the cave Virgil describes. Entry needs a reservation on the Ministry's portal for everyone, and the park is shut on Tuesday.
The catalogue has three Campi Flegrei tours, which shows how thin the offer is: a private car tour at 99 EUR a person for up to three travelers, a 7 hour bike tour at 120 EUR, and a private archaeologist at Cuma for 230 EUR a group. The car tour's evening route and the bike tour both list the Solfatara among their stops, and the car tour also lists the Rione Terra. The Solfatara has been shut since 2017 and the Rione Terra, by press reports, since the July quake, so ask what replaces them before you book.
Caserta: a palace whose park closes first
Reggia di Caserta
The water axis behind the palace
Vanvitelli's palace was begun in 1752 for Charles of Bourbon, and behind it a long axis of water, the great cascade, climbs toward the hill. Three main tickets exist: 18 EUR for palace, park and English Garden, 12 EUR for the apartments and Court Theatre only, sold only when the park is shut, and 9 EUR for park and garden, each plus 1 EUR online. Hours change monthly. In November the apartments open until 19:15, but the park's last entry is 14:30 and the English Garden's 14:00. Do the park first and the rooms after; a lunchtime arrival gets you the rooms and not the water.
It is also the one of the three you can reach straight from Rome, by high speed, in the time the table below gives. The station faces the palace.
Closing days, and what is shut on 4 November 2026
Monday and Tuesday are the days that go wrong. Cuma and the Caserta apartments close on Tuesday, the Baia museum on Monday. A Tuesday second day points to Paestum, the only one of the three whose site names no closing day. Its posted timetable ends on 21 September 2026, and a 2025 notice on the park's home page announced Monday closures from 20 October to 15 December, so confirm the day before you go.
| Place | Closed | Reservation | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cuma park | Tuesday | Required, Ministry portal | Ministry listing |
| Baia museum | Monday | Required | Ministry listing |
| Caserta apartments | Tuesday, 1 January, 25 December | 1 EUR to book online | Reggia pages |
| Paestum | None declared; posted timetable ends 21 September 2026; Mondays closed in winter 2025 | Not required | Park site |
| Place | What is closed | Since | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paestum | The Heraion at the Sele | 6 October 2026, no end date | Park notice |
| Solfatara | The crater | 2017; no reopening date | Local press, September 2026 |
| Rione Terra, Pozzuoli | Underground visits | After the quake of 31 July 2026 | Local press only |
| Metro line 2 | Pozzuoli to Campi Flegrei | 21 June 2026, works | Local press, 24 September |
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake hit the Campi Flegrei on 31 July 2026. We found no official notice closing Cuma, Baia or the amphitheater, so as far as we can tell they are open, and the reservation is the moment to ask. The next first Sunday is 6 December: Paestum and Caserta are free, and the English Garden is shut.
How far each one is from Naples
Naples is the hub for all three, and the Campi Flegrei are the odd one out: you reach them on the Cumana, a separate line from Montesanto. Every figure below comes from aggregators, the press or a listing, not from operators.
| Route | How | Time | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naples to Paestum | Regional train, station 800 m from the site | 1 h 11 to 1 h 19, 8 to 18 EUR | Aggregators; park for the 800 m |
| Naples to Cuma | Cumana from Montesanto, then a change of line and a walk | About 40 minutes on the first leg; the rest depends on the line | A local blog; no EAV timetable read |
| Naples to Caserta | Regional train, station faces the palace | 40 to 50 minutes | Aggregators |
| Rome to Caserta | High speed | 1 h 13 to 1 h 19 | Aggregators |
A second day, hour by hour
| Step | Paestum | Caserta | Campi Flegrei |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best day | Tuesday works; confirm the winter timetable | Monday, Wednesday to Sunday | Wednesday to Sunday |
| Morning | Temples, alone or with a 2 hour guide | Park from 8:30, English Garden before 14:00 | Cuma and the Sibyl's Cave, booked |
| Afternoon | Museum, about an hour by a blog estimate | Royal Apartments, last entry 18:15 | Pozzuoli's amphitheater (check hours); Baia with a booked slot |
| Hard stop | The last train back | 14:30 for the park in November | The booked slots |
What the 20 tours cost against the official ticket
Each mark in the chart is one tour. Seven of the nine shared ones sit between 35 and 45 EUR. The eleven private ones run from 99 to 312, median 170 EUR. The overall median of 122.5 EUR sits between the two groups.
| Place | Official ticket | Tour | What the difference buys |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paestum | 15 EUR, museum included | 39.50 EUR, 2 hours, guide and entry | A guide for 24.50 EUR; no transport |
| Caserta | 18 EUR plus 1 online | 35 EUR, priority entry, digital audio guide | Audio for 16 EUR; no guide, no queue figure |
| Caserta | As above | 43 EUR, same plus train from Naples Centrale | The train, for 8 EUR more |
| Caserta | As above | 80 EUR from Naples, transfer, 2 hour guide | Transport and guide; three runs a week at 8:00, four people minimum |
Check the unit before comparing private prices. Viator lists seven of its 11 private tours per person and four per group, and one figure can mean either: a 2 hour private Paestum tour at 168 EUR is per person in one listing and per group in another. Only three of the 20 include pickup, so the train comes on top of most prices. The 4.86 rating leans on one Caserta tour with 670 of the 1,748 reviews; many private tours have 10 to 18.
At Paestum booking is not required, so a skip-the-line label there sells the guide, not a place in a queue.
Questions about Paestum, Cumae and Caserta
Can I do Paestum and Caserta in one day?
We would not. They are on opposite sides of Naples, 1 h 11 to 1 h 19 by train to the south for Paestum and 40 to 50 minutes to the north for Caserta, and each trip ends back in Naples. No source we read gives a door to door time for combining them, so this is judgement, not a timetable.
Is Paestum worth it after Pompeii?
It answers a different question. Pompeii is a Roman town, Paestum is Greek, founded around 600 BC, and its three Doric temples are the reason to go. Booking is not required and the park's site names no closing day, though its posted timetable ends on 21 September 2026. If you only want streets and houses, skip it.
Do I need to book Paestum, Cuma or the Reggia?
Paestum, no: the park says booking is not required. Cuma, yes, for everyone, on the Ministry portal, and the Baia museum too. For the Reggia we found no booking requirement, only 1 EUR extra to buy online. A skip-the-line label on a ticket for any of the three is worth less than it sounds.
Are the Campi Flegrei open after the July earthquake?
A magnitude 4.7 shock hit on 31 July 2026. We found no official notice closing Cuma, Baia or the amphitheater, but the press reports Rione Terra closed since then, and the Solfatara has been shut since 2017. Check the Parco Archeologico dei Campi Flegrei before you go.
Compare all nine sites in one table
The Italy page puts all nine places in one table. Day one is on the <a href="https://pompeii.museum/italy/pompeii/">Pompeii</a>, <a href="https://pompeii.museum/italy/herculaneum/">Herculaneum</a> and <a href="https://pompeii.museum/italy/naples-archaeology/">Naples archaeology</a> pages.
Before you book
Independent guides that answer the questions people ask before choosing a tour.
Data verified on . Tickets, hours and closures from the parks' own pages on 4 Nov 2026; Flegrei closures and train times from press and aggregators. 20 tours read the same day.