Every day trip, all on one map
Each pin carries the time of the first leg and the minimum cost per person. The bay is compact: from Naples you reach eleven different destinations in under two hours and almost all of them work without a car. With a single free day, choose between Pompeii and Capri. With three days, alternate a land trip and a sea trip, because the sea can cancel your plan and the train cannot.
The rule that holds for all of them: decide the transport first, then the time, then the ticket. Doing it the other way round means buying a timed entry you cannot make.
Naples as a base: what leaves, and from where
Four hubs do all the work. The Circumvesuviana run by EAV leaves Porta Nolana and Napoli Garibaldi for Herculaneum, Pompeii and Sorrento: Naples–Pompeii €3.30, Naples–Herculaneum €2.60, Naples–Sorrento €4.60 each way according to unicocampania.it. Molo Beverello is the hydrofoil port for Capri, Ischia and Procida, and in season for Positano and Amalfi.
Napoli Centrale serves the Reggia di Caserta with a regional train at €4.00 in 40–50 minutes, and Paestum at €7.60 in a little over an hour. Capodichino airport is linked to the centre by the Alibus at €5, the only public service that reaches it: the Linea 1 station is still under construction.
One note that changes a lot of plans: the Campania Express, the tourist train with guaranteed seats for Pompeii and Sorrento, is currently suspended until further notice. What runs is the ordinary Circumvesuviana, with no reservation and no assigned seat.
Where you leave from
The five departure points every Naples day trip uses.
- Molo Beverello
Hydrofoils to Capri, Ischia, Procida, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. Ten minutes on foot from Piazza Municipio (metro Line 1).
- Calata Porta di Massa
Slow ferries, cars allowed, to Ischia, Procida and Capri: cheaper, longer at sea.
- Mergellina
Seasonal hydrofoils to the islands; handy from Chiaia and Posillipo.
- Napoli Porta Nolana / Garibaldi
Circumvesuviana to Herculaneum, Pompeii and Sorrento; regional and high-speed trains from Napoli Centrale.
- Capodichino Airport
Alibus to Napoli Centrale and Molo Beverello; direct shuttles to Sorrento and the coast.
What to book first, and in what order
What to book first
- Gran Cono of VesuviusTickets online only on vesuviopark.vivaticket.it, 50 places every 10 minutesas soon as you fix the date, up to 30 days ahead
- Cappella SanseveroEntry from €12, short slots and closed on Tuesday3–5 days ahead
- Catacombe di San GennaroGuided visit by reservation only, closed Wednesday3–5 days ahead
- Pompeii excavationsNamed ticket and time bands in the warm months2–3 days ahead
- Capri or Amalfi Coast tourThe 8-seat minivans and the small boats sell out firsta week ahead in high season
- Morning hydrofoil from Molo BeverelloOnly the 8 to 9:30 departures leave you the whole island1–2 days ahead
- Reggia di CasertaOnline costs €1 more but saves the ticket desk; closed Tuesdaythe day before
The order matters more than any single booking. The Vesuvius crater is the tightest constraint in the whole area: tickets are sold online only, in ten-minute bands, fifty per band, up to thirty days ahead. Fix that and build the rest of the day around it. Then come the short city slots, Cappella Sansevero and the Catacombe di San Gennaro, which sell out at weekends. Pompeii and the Reggia handle bigger numbers, so you can close those two days ahead.
Weekly closures are the second trap. On Tuesday the MANN, Cappella Sansevero and the Reggia di Caserta stay shut; on Wednesday the Palazzo Reale, the Catacombe di San Gennaro, the Certosa di San Martino and the Cimitero delle Fontanelle. A badly planned Tuesday wipes out half the city: use it for a day trip.
The four bookings that sort out most trips
These are, in order, the most requested trip, the hardest day to organise on your own, the one Naples visit almost everybody does, and the island. Partner prices are verified regularly and are per person. The exact meeting point is on your voucher.
If you only have one afternoon in the city, the Napoli Sotterranea on piazza San Gaetano from €18 is the densest choice: an hour and a half, seventy metres below the old centre, departures every hour. There are three underground alternatives and they are not equivalent: I compare them in the Naples underground.
What the city costs you, plainly
| Item | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ANM bus or funicular ride | €1.30 | ANM services only |
| Metro Linea 1 or Linea 2 ride | €1.50 | Urban regional trains too |
| Integrated 80–90 minutes | €1.80 | Changes included |
| Day ticket | €4.50 · €5.40 integrated | Pays off from the third journey |
| Alibus airport–centre | €5.00 | Not covered by the Artecard |
| Napoli Artecard 3 giorni | €27 | 3 entries + city transport |
| Hop-on hop-off 24 hours | from €27 | Two routes, terminus Largo Castello |
Sources: unicocampania.it, anm.it, campaniartecard.it, city-sightseeing.it. Keep three kinds of ticket separate in your head: the transport ticket, which you buy at a newsstand, in a station or in an app; the entry ticket with a fixed date and time, which cannot be moved; and the tour voucher, which counts as a booking but not always as admission. The practical sum: three museums in three days and the Artecard pays for itself; two museums and a lot of walking, and it does not. The full calculation, with three traveller profiles, is in tickets and passes. For lines, timetables and first and last useful services there is getting around Naples.
If you have one day, two or three
One day only: morning in Pompeii on the 8 o’clock train and back by 15, afternoon between Spaccanapoli and Cappella Sansevero. That is the combination that covers the reason almost everybody comes here.
Two days: the first in the city, the second on a sea trip, Capri if the sea is calm, the Amalfi Coast if the wind is up. Three days: add Vesuvius with an afternoon crater slot booked, or the Reggia di Caserta as a half day paired with an afternoon at the MANN. The hour-by-hour plans are in 2 and 3 day itineraries, the destinations compared side by side in all the day trips, and the city sights in things to do in Naples.
Eight hours off a cruise ship is a case of its own. With the ship at the Stazione Marittima you have two sensible options: Pompeii with the coach that leaves from the port and returns with a margin, or Naples on foot, because the old centre starts ten minutes from the quay. The Amalfi Coast in a day from a ship is the choice that most often ends in a race against the clock.
If you are travelling with children, the honest cut is in Naples with kids: Pompeii works, the Amalfi Coast by minivan does not. If you are still choosing the month, the seasonal table is in when to visit Naples.
Tours and tickets available now
Under each card, check three things before you pay: whether entry to the site is included or it is only skip-the-line, whether the transfer leaves from the centre or from a car park in another town, and the cancellation policy if the destination depends on the sea.
Who sells what, and who to trust
In Naples the same trips travel through different channels: the international platforms, the local operators who run the coaches and the boats, and the site managers who sell direct. The difference shows in refunds and meeting points, not in the price. We have written up platforms and operators one by one in operators and platforms, including the transport you will use anyway, the Circumvesuviana and the ferries and hydrofoils.
The sea has a page of its own, boat tours in the bay, and for anyone who prefers a driver to a shared coach, private drivers and NCC. If food is your reason for coming, the real formats and prices are in food and pizza tours.
In practice
Book in this order: the Vesuvius crater, the short city slots, the big site entries, then tours. Put the sea destinations in the first days. Buy the day ticket only from your third journey on. And keep one Tuesday free for a trip, because too much of the city closes that day.
Questions people ask
How many day trips can you really do from Naples?
Eleven destinations fit into one day without a car: Pompeii, Herculaneum, Vesuvius, Pompeii and Vesuvius together, Capri, Ischia, Procida, Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast, the Reggia di Caserta and Paestum. Almost all of them have a train, a hydrofoil or a shuttle straight from the centre; the exception is the Amalfi Coast, which needs a change at Sorrento or a tour.
Which is the easiest trip without a car?
Pompeii and Herculaneum. Circumvesuviana from Porta Nolana or Napoli Garibaldi, 35–40 minutes to Pompei Scavi and around 20 to Ercolano Scavi, with the NA3 ticket at €3.30 and the NA2 at €2.60 each way according to unicocampania.it. In both cases the station is right in front of the entrance.
Is an organised tour better than doing it yourself?
Doing it yourself wins when the destination has one direct public service and one ticket: Pompeii, Herculaneum, Caserta, Paestum. A tour wins when the day involves three transfers or a rigid schedule: the Amalfi Coast, Vesuvius combined with Pompeii, or a cruise call with eight hours ashore.
Do you need the Campania Artecard?
Only if you visit museums and sites at a fast pace. The Napoli 3 giorni costs €27 and covers 3 entries plus city transport; the Campania 3 giorni costs €41 with 2 entries, among them Pompeii and the MANN. Left out: Alibus, Campania Express, the SITA coast buses, the Pompeii–Vesuvius bus, the Gran Cono and Cappella Sansevero.
How much does it cost to get around the city?
A single ANM ride on buses and funiculars is €1.30, a ride on the metro and regional trains €1.50, the 80–90 minute integrated ticket €1.80, the day ticket €4.50 (€5.40 integrated). From the airport the link is the Alibus at €5, which the Artecard does not cover.
Where do the day trips and tours leave from?
Departures concentrate in four places: Porta Nolana and Napoli Garibaldi for the Circumvesuviana, Molo Beverello for the hydrofoils, Napoli Centrale for regional trains to Caserta and Paestum, and piazza Municipio or the cruise terminal for tour coaches. The exact meeting point is on your voucher.
What is the biggest risk on a day trip?
The sea. In strong wind the hydrofoils to the islands are cancelled and the Grotta Azzurra closes without notice. Put the sea destinations in the first days of the trip so you keep a spare day, and leave Pompeii or Caserta as plan B: they run whatever the weather.