The table, and how to read it
| Destination | How | Best for | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 PompeiiNapoli Porta Nolana / Garibaldi (Circumvesuviana, Sorrento line) | 32–38 min by train25 km | Train | €27 | €49★ 4.5 | First visit, families with teenagers | Book |
 Pompeii and VesuviusNapoli Porta Nolana / Garibaldi (Circumvesuviana) then EAV bus 808 from Pompei | 35 min by train + 55 min by bus25 km | Train + bus | €44 | €53.25★ 4.8 | One day only and you want both | Book |
 VesuviusNapoli Porta Nolana / Garibaldi (Circumvesuviana) then shuttle from Ercolano Scavi | 20 min by train + 30 min by shuttle25 km | Train + bus | €29 | €39★ 4.4 | Half a day, anyone happy to walk | Book |
 HerculaneumNapoli Porta Nolana / Garibaldi (Circumvesuviana, EAV) | 20 min by train12 km | Train | €21 | €42.50★ 4.5 | A second archaeological site, half a day, anyone who hates crowds | Book |
 CapriNapoli Molo Beverello (fast craft) / Calata Porta di Massa (ferries) · ⚓ | 50 min by fast craft, 80–87 by ferry31 km | Hydrofoil | €60 | €161.50★ 4.8 | Couples, views, anyone who accepts the weather risk | Book |
 Amalfi CoastNaples, meeting point in the centre or at the cruise terminal · or Porta Nolana by train | 2 h–2 h 30 to Amalfi65 km | Minivan | €19 | €45★ 4.8 | Anyone who wants Positano and Amalfi on the same day | Book |
 SorrentoNapoli Porta Nolana / Garibaldi (Circumvesuviana, Naples–Sorrento line) | 72–77 min on a direct train42 km | Train | €9 | €40★ 4.6 | Half a day, a base for Capri and Positano, travelling light | Book |
 Ischia and ProcidaMolo Beverello (hydrofoils) / Calata Porta di Massa (ferries) · ⚓ | 40 min to Procida, about 1 hour to Ischia21 km | Ferry | €33 | €93★ 4.3 | Second visit to Naples, couples, sea and spa days | Book |
 CasertaNapoli Centrale (Trenitalia regional trains) | 40–50 min by train35 km | Train | €26 | €20★ 4.6 | Rainy days, families, anyone done with archaeology | Book |
 PaestumNapoli Centrale (Trenitalia regional trains) | 1h 14–1h 22 by train95 km | Train | €30 | €39.50★ 4.9 | Anyone who has done Pompeii, Greek archaeology, a full day | Book |
The columns answer the four questions that matter before you choose. Time is the first leg, not the whole day: add the return and the hours on site to work out when you get back. How names the transport that carries the trip on its own, without improbable changes. DIY budget adds public transport and official entry per person, there and back: these are the figures you pay at a ticket desk or in an app, not estimates. Tour from is the starting price of the cheapest partner product covering that destination, always per person, verified regularly.
Two warnings about reading it. The DIY budget leaves out lunch and the transport inside the destination itself (the Anacapri chairlift, the shuttle in the grounds of the Reggia, the SITA bus between the coast villages): those appear in the individual paragraphs. And the gap between the two columns is never only money: the tour buys a guaranteed schedule, doing it yourself buys the freedom to leave when you want.
- Pompeii
- Vesuvius
- Herculaneum
- Pompeii and Vesuvius
- Sorrento
- Amalfi Coast
- Capri
- Ischia and Procida
- Caserta
- Paestum
Time from central Naples by public transport · tour price fromTap a destination: travel time and the cheapest tour price.
The real distances: where you leave from
Almost every trip starts from three points less than a kilometre apart. The Circumvesuviana run by EAV serves Herculaneum, Pompeii and Sorrento from Porta Nolana and Napoli Garibaldi. Molo Beverello serves Capri, Ischia, Procida and, in season, Positano and Amalfi. Napoli Centrale serves Caserta and Paestum with Trenitalia regional trains. Tour coaches pick up in piazza Municipio, outside the hotels near the station or at the cruise terminal: the exact meeting point is on your voucher.
The Campania Express tourist train, which used to add direct services with a guaranteed seat towards Pompeii and Sorrento, is currently suspended until further notice according to eavsrl.it. Anyone who has read an old guidebook still looks for it: what runs is the ordinary Circumvesuviana, which leaves more often but stops everywhere.
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.
The destinations, in order of demand
Pompeii
The trip almost everyone makes, and rightly: 35–40 minutes on the Circumvesuviana at €3.30 each way according to unicocampania.it, with Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri station two hundred metres from Porta Marina. The Pompei Express ticket costs €20 and the Pompei+, which adds the suburban villas, €25; EU citizens aged 18 to 24 pay €2, according to pompeiisites.org. DIY total €26.60 per person. Open 9–19 with last entry at 17:30 from 16 March to 14 October, 9–17 with last entry at 15:30 the rest of the year.
Who it suits: a first visit to Campania, families with teenagers, anyone who wants four hours on site without watching the clock. Who it does not: anyone arriving on a ship with eight counted hours, because the risk is the return train. The plan, the timings and the booking order are in the Pompeii day trip.
Amalfi Coast
The one destination on this list where doing it yourself is almost always the worse choice. There is no direct service from Naples: you need the Circumvesuviana to Sorrento (€4.60, around 70 minutes) plus a SITA Sud bus along the SS163, where Sorrento–Positano costs €2.40 and the COSTIERASITA day ticket €10. On paper you spend under €15; in practice you spend the day standing on a road of hairpin bends, with buses that leave full. In season, from April to early November, the alternative is the hydrofoil: Beverello–Positano €32 and Beverello–Amalfi €32.50 according to nlg.it.
Who it suits: anyone who wants three villages in one day and accepts a shared coach; the boats are the better version of the same itinerary. Who it does not: anyone prone to car sickness or travelling with small children. Minivan, boat, private driver and ferry compared in the Amalfi Coast day trip.
Capri
An hour at sea and an island that changes according to the time you arrive. The published fares: Caremar ferry €14.80 and fast service €21.50; SNAV hydrofoil from €27.50 in 50 minutes; NLG €25; Gescab Jet €25. Add the €5 landing tax and the funicular from Marina Grande to the Piazzetta at €2.40: the minimum to be there and move around is roughly €39 per person. The Grotta Azzurra is paid separately, about €19 between the rowing boat and the entry, and it closes on a swell without notice.
Who it suits: anyone leaving before 9 in the morning and coming back on the last useful hydrofoil; anyone who wants to walk to the Belvedere di Tragara. Who it does not: anyone arriving at midday, because they find the Piazzetta at its worst and the boats already gone. The crossings table and the go/no-go rule for the cave are in the Capri day trip.
Vesuvius
The crater is the most binding booking in the whole of Campania: tickets online only on vesuviopark.vivaticket.it, €10 full and €8 reduced (€11.68 and €9.55 with booking fees), fifty places every ten minutes, sales opening thirty days ahead, according to parconazionaledelvesuvio.it. The access hours change with the month: 9–16 from November to March, 9–17 in April, May, June and September, 9–18 in July and August. From the bottom you go up by shuttle: the service from Ercolano Scavi to the 1,000-metre car park costs €12 return online, €30 with the entry included.
Who it suits: anyone with decent legs who books a band between 11 and 14, once the morning cloud has lifted. Who it does not: anyone improvising, because without an online ticket you do not go up. Three routes compared in the Vesuvius day trip.
Pompeii and Vesuvius in one day
It can be done, and it is the day where a tour earns the most. On your own: Circumvesuviana to Pompeii, excavations in the morning, EAV bus 808 from the square up to the 1,000-metre car park in the afternoon, eleven runs a day with the last one back in mid-afternoon. Bus 808 has its own fare, the Unico Vesuvio: €3.80 each way bought on board, €2.80 with an AC3 ticket bought beforehand at a station, a newsagent or online, according to unicocampania.it. With a tour you pay for someone who holds the timings together, from €88 for the package with lunch.
Who it suits: anyone with a single day who wants the full context, eruption and volcano. Who it does not: anyone who wants to see all of Pompeii, because here it gets two and a half hours. The two timelines side by side in the Pompeii and Vesuvius day trip.
Herculaneum
The most efficient trip in the bay. Twenty minutes on the Circumvesuviana at €2.60 each way, the gate five hundred metres from the station, entry €16 (€2 for EU citizens aged 18 to 24) according to ercolano.cultura.gov.it, and a visit of around two hours. Total €21.20. Open 8:30–19:30 with last entry at 18 from 16 March to 14 October, 8:30–17 with last entry at 15:30 in winter. Free left luggage, but no suitcases and no café inside.
Who it suits: anyone with half a day, anyone who has already seen Pompeii, anyone who wants to understand how a Roman house was built, because here the upper floors and the timber survived. Who it does not: anyone after the monumental scale of Pompeii. Direct comparison in the Herculaneum day trip.
Sorrento
More a logistical base than a destination in itself, and useful precisely for that. Circumvesuviana NA5 €4.60 in around 70 minutes; Alilauro hydrofoil from Beverello €19 for adults with departures at 9, 11, 13, 15:05 and 17:15 according to alilauro.it; shared shuttle from €40; airport transfer from €25. Sorrento is where the crossings to Capri and the SITA buses for the coast start.
Who it suits: anyone who wants four calm hours with a view, or who uses Sorrento as a springboard for Positano and Capri. Who it does not: anyone after archaeology or wild coastline. The five ways of getting there in the Sorrento day trip.
Ischia and Procida
Two islands, two different half days. Procida is the simpler one: Caremar ferry €12.70 or hydrofoil €17.40, 40 minutes, €3.50 landing tax; four hours are enough for the Corricella and Terra Murata, and the bill stays under €30. Ischia asks for more time: ferry €14.80 or hydrofoil €21.60 with Caremar, €23.80 with SNAV to Casamicciola, then a bus or taxi to reach the spas. A day at the Giardini Poseidon costs €50 full and €45 from early afternoon; the Castello Aragonese €15.
Who it suits: Procida for walking and photographing; Ischia for thermal water and a day that stays in one place. Who it does not: anyone wanting to see both in a day on scheduled services, because the timings do not add up; that is what the combined boat trip exists for. Plans and tables in the Ischia and Procida day trip.
Reggia di Caserta
The rainproof trip. Regional train from Napoli Centrale €4.00 in 40–50 minutes, station opposite the gate; entry €18 with a euro more online, grounds and English Garden only €9, closed Tuesday according to reggiadicaserta.cultura.gov.it. Inside the park, which runs for three kilometres, the electric shuttle costs €3 return and bikes €5 an hour. Realistic total €27 plus the shuttle.
Who it suits: anyone with half a day who wants to be back in Naples for the afternoon; anyone travelling with parents who do not walk far, thanks to the shuttle. Who it does not: anyone who dislikes palaces and loves the sea. The timeline and the park logistics in the Caserta day trip.
Paestum
The one destination that genuinely asks for a full day, and repays it with three Doric temples still standing. Regional train from Napoli Centrale towards Capaccio Paestum €7.60, 74–97 minutes on the direct services, around nine a day. The ticket is €15 from March to November and €10 from December to February, valid three days and covering the museum and Velia, free under 18, according to parchipaestumvelia.cultura.gov.it. Open 8:30–19:30 with last entry at 18:30 in the long season.
Who it suits: anyone who has already done Pompeii and Herculaneum, anyone interested in Magna Graecia, anyone who wants to see the Tomb of the Diver. Who it does not: anyone with fewer than three days in Naples. Details and combinations in the Paestum day trip.
The bookings, in the right order
What to book first
- Gran Cono of VesuviusSold online only, 50 tickets every 10 minutesas soon as you fix the date, up to 30 days ahead
- Pompeii excavationsNamed ticket, time bands in the warm months2–3 days ahead
- Morning hydrofoil to Capri or IschiaThe 8 to 9:30 departures are the only ones that leave you the whole island1–2 days ahead
- Amalfi Coast tour by minivanEight seats per vehicle, they sell out before the boatsa week ahead in high season
- Reggia di CasertaOnline costs €1 more but skips the desk; closed Tuesdaythe day before
- Boat trip around Capri or the coastThe sea decides: you need to be able to move it without a penalty2–3 days ahead, with free cancellation
The four packages that cover the most destinations
When a tour combines two destinations, always check how much time it gives the second one: in the Amalfi Coast plus Pompeii packages the archaeological part runs about two hours, enough for the Forum and the Terme Stabiane but not for the amphitheatre. Partner prices are per person and verified regularly.
If your day is at sea rather than on the road, the comparison between large motor vessel, gozzo, catamaran and private charter is in boat tours in the bay. For timetables, first and last services and ticket apps there is getting around Naples; to work out whether a pass pays off, tickets and passes. The companies you will use for the islands are reviewed in ferries and hydrofoils.
In practice
Fix the Vesuvius crater band first, because it is the only one that cannot be moved. Put Capri, Ischia and the boats in the first days, so you keep a margin if the sea turns. Keep Pompeii, Herculaneum or Caserta as plan B, because they run in any weather. And do not stack two sea destinations back to back: the first cancellation would leave you with no alternative.
Questions people ask
Which is the cheapest day trip from Naples?
Herculaneum: €2.60 each way on the Circumvesuviana and €16 entry, €21.20 per person in total, with the station a few minutes from the gate. Next come Pompeii at €26.60 and the Reggia di Caserta at €27 if you buy online.
How many day trips fit into three days?
Two, and half of a third. Each destination asks for 6–9 hours door to door and the islands stretch to ten. The plan that holds up is one archaeological trip, one sea trip, and a half day at Caserta or Herculaneum slotted in with an afternoon in the city.
Train or organised tour?
Train where there is a direct line and a single ticket: Pompeii, Herculaneum, Caserta, Paestum. Tour where the day involves three transfers or a schedule you cannot get wrong: the Amalfi Coast, Vesuvius combined with Pompeii, and any trip made from a cruise ship.
How often are the sea trips cancelled?
Often enough to plan around it. In strong wind the hydrofoils appear and vanish from the departure board, and the Grotta Azzurra closes even when the sea looks calm, because what counts is the swell. Book boats and islands with free cancellation and put them in the first days of your trip.
Can you do Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast on the same day?
Only with a tour that combines them, and with two real hours in Pompeii plus two short stops on the coast. If you want to walk among the houses of Pompeii at your own pace, give it a separate day: crossing the excavations from Porta Marina to the amphitheatre and back takes at least three hours of walking.
Do the day trips work in winter too?
The archaeological ones do, on shorter hours: Pompeii closes at 17 with last entry at 15:30 from mid-October to mid-March, Herculaneum at 17 with last entry at 15:30. The Vesuvius crater closes at 16 from November to March. The islands stay connected all year, but with fewer crossings and more cancellations.
Does the Campania Artecard cover the day trips?
Partly. The Campania 3 giorni at €41 covers two entries of your choice, among them Pompeii with the Express ticket, plus regional transport. Left out: the Alibus, the SITA buses on the coast, the EAV Pompeii–Vesuvius bus, the Campania Express and access to the Gran Cono.
Official sources
- Parco Archeologico di Pompei – hours and tickets
- Parco Archeologico di Ercolano – tickets
- Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio – Gran Cono
- Unico Campania – fare finder
- Unico Campania – for tourists (Unico Vesuvio)
- Caremar – fares
- SNAV – timetables and routes
- Alilauro – Naples Beverello/Sorrento
- Reggia di Caserta – tickets
- Parchi Archeologici di Paestum e Velia – tickets
- EAV – Campania Express
- SITA Sud – tickets and passes
Read next
- PompeiiPompeii from Naples: €26.60 on your own or a tour from €45.50. Train, time bands, named ticket and the hour-by-hour plan. Check availability.
- CapriHydrofoil or ferry to Capri, what the day costs, whether the Blue Grotto is on and which tour pays. Verified timetables and prices compared.
- Amalfi CoastMinivan, boat, ferry or train plus bus: what an Amalfi Coast day trip from Naples really costs, with verified timetables and tours compared.
- VesuviusVesuvius from Naples: €28.88 on your own or a shuttle with entry from €39. Three routes, hours month by month, online slot only. Check availability.
- Getting aroundMetro, Circumvesuviana, ferries, Alibus and high-speed rail: lines, stations, minutes, fares and last useful services. Check tickets and transfers.