Plan Your Pompeii Trip

How do you plan a trip to Pompeii? Settle eight decisions in this order: how long to stay, where to start from, which ticket, whether to take a guide, when to go, what to bring, how accessible the visit is for you, and what changes with children. Each section below gives a short answer and the page that goes deeper. The one fact to carry with you: the ticket is personal, tied to a day and a time slot, so choose your route and date before you buy.

One note on who we are. pompeii.museum is an independent guide. We are not affiliated with the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, the Italian Ministry of Culture or any museum or site operator. We write for people who plan their own trip. Some links lead to tours and tickets sold by other companies, and we may earn a commission if you book through them; the advice does not change with that. Our Editorial Policy page explains how we check facts.

Settle the route first, then the day, then the ticket. Doing it in reverse is how people end up with a 13:30 slot and a seven-hour plan.

Plan on about 2 hours for the Forum and one house, about 4 hours for half a day and 7 to 8 hours for a full day. These are our own estimates; the Park publishes no current figure except 1.5 hours for its themed guided route. Add a second day if Herculaneum or the villa at Oplontis is on your list. Our itineraries page gives four routes with the entrance, the stops and their addresses, and a chart of how daylight and the last entry shape the day.

Most visitors arrive by train. The Circumvesuviana direct trains run from Naples and Sorrento to the Pompei Scavi-Villa dei Misteri station, next to the Porta Marina entrance: 36 minutes from Napoli Garibaldi and 35 from Sorrento, and 21 from Ercolano Scavi (EAV timetable valid from 17 October 2026). Two other stations, Pompei Santuario and the Trenitalia station called Pompei, are closer to the Piazza Anfiteatro gate. From Rome or the Amalfi Coast the trip takes longer and needs a change or a bus, which our getting-there guide sorts out by starting point.

For the base, Naples gives you the widest choice in the evening, Sorrento puts you on the coast, and Pompei town the shortest walk to the gate. We compare them on trains, evenings and who they suit on the where to stay page, with no hotel names or prices.

No rule makes you take one. The Park's visitor regulation does not require a guide for individuals, and the site is walkable with a map and the Park's audio guide. A guide earns the fee when you want the city explained, when you are short of time, or when you arrive from Rome and need the logistics handled. Organized groups of 5 to 35 enter on a group ticket in the operator's name, and groups of more than 15 must use headsets.

As of November 2026 the Park also runs two themed guided routes of 1.5 hours, sold as a supplement on top of the entry ticket. Our page on how to choose a Pompeii tour sets out the questions to ask before you pay. If you have already decided, the category pages list the formats: guided tours at the site, private tours, tours from Rome and Pompeii with Herculaneum.

The two limits are heat and the clock. The Park closes at 19:00 from 16 March to 14 October and at 17:00 from 15 October to 15 March, with the last entry 90 minutes before closing (as of November 2026). Everything else, from the climate to the crowd by month, is in the when to go section, which includes pages on crowds, summer and winter.

If you hope to see Pompeii after dark, know that a regular ticket never reaches the evening. The Park has run separate evening openings in several summers, and we keep a dated record on Pompeii after dark.

You need comfortable shoes for uneven ancient paving, a hat, sunscreen, a water bottle, and a bag no larger than 30 by 30 by 15 cm. Anything bigger goes in the left-luggage service, which is paid at Porta Marina and Piazza Anfiteatro but not at Piazza Esedra. Eating is allowed only in designated areas. The Park says there are drinking fountains inside the site but does not publish where they are, so start with a full bottle. The what to wear and bring page adds a list by season.

Partly. The Park's step-free route, Pompei per tutti, is more than 3.5 kilometers long and starts only at Piazza Anfiteatro. It avoids most obstacles, but ramps can exceed 8 percent and some stretches of ancient paving are uneven. According to a Park communiqué of 25 June 2026, wheelchairs are lent at Piazza Esedra and Piazza Anfiteatro on reservation. The Park's Italian accessibility page still says the service is suspended, so write to the information office before you travel. Entry is free for visitors with disabilities and, under conditions the Ministry sets, for a family member or companion. Herculaneum and the Naples museum have their own arrangements. Details, with the sources, are on our accessibility page.

Entry is free for under-18s; children under 12 must be accompanied, and Herculaneum asks that young children be kept by the hand. The Park does not ban strollers, but the paving and the drops make them awkward away from the step-free route. The plaster casts of the victims are the one thing that may upset younger visitors. Our kids page covers ages, pacing and the casts, and Herculaneum is the smaller, easier alternative for the very young.

Three mistakes recur. One is buying the slot before the route: a ticket for the afternoon slot in winter leaves about three and a half hours before the 17:00 close, which is not a full day however it is sold. Another is assuming you can step out and come back; the ticket allows one entry. The last is building the day around one named house. The Park changes its list of open buildings from week to week, so a good plan survives a shut door. Our routes are built that way, with substitutes at each stop.

A quieter one is expecting the Park to publish a duration. It does not, apart from the 1.5-hour themed route and a FAQ line about 2 to 3 hours that dates from 2018. Every other time on this site is labelled as our estimate.