Getting around Naples costs very little: €1.30 for a city ride on ANM, €4.50 for the day ticket, €6.60 return to Pompeii. The problem is not the price, it is the timetable. The last train from Sorrento towards Naples leaves at 22:02 and the last from Pompei Scavi at 22:40: if you are looking for a train at 23 there is none, and a taxi from Pompeii costs €70 at the council’s fixed rate.
This page lines up the information you actually need before leaving the hotel: which station what leaves from, how many minutes it takes, what it costs each way, and which is the last service that brings you back. Partner product prices are verified regularly; the public fares are those of the official sites listed at the bottom.
From Naples to each destination: line, station, minutes, fare
| Destination | Line and departure point | Minutes | Fare each way | First and last useful service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ercolano Scavi | Circumvesuviana L1, Porta Nolana or Garibaldi | 15–20 | €2.60 (NA2) | First from Porta Nolana 5:36; last back from Ercolano Scavi 22:58 |
| Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri | Circumvesuviana L1, Porta Nolana or Garibaldi | 32–37 | €3.30 (NA3) | First 5:36; last back from Pompei Scavi 22:40 (Porta Nolana 23:13) |
| Sorrento | Circumvesuviana L1, Porta Nolana or Garibaldi | 70–77 | €4.60 (NA5) | First 5:36; last back from Sorrento 22:02 |
| Sorrento by sea | Alilauro, Molo Beverello | around 45 | €19.00 adult · €14.80 children 2–12 | Departures 9:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:05, 17:15; returns 8:15–16:25 |
| Vesuvius, 1,000-metre car park | EAV bus 808 from Pompei Piazza Anfiteatro | 50–55 | €2.80 with an AC3 ticket · €3.80 on board | 11 runs a day: up 8:30–16:30, back down 9:35–18:15 |
| Vesuvius via Herculaneum | Vesuvio Express shuttle from Ercolano Scavi | 30 uphill | €12 return online (€15 list price) | Departures 9:00–16:00 every 30–60 minutes; service 9–17 in summer, 9:30–14 in winter |
| Reggia di Caserta | Trenitalia regional, Napoli Centrale | 40–50 | €4.00 (NA4) | First from Centrale 4:10; last direct back from Caserta 22:09 |
| Paestum (Capaccio) | Trenitalia regional, Napoli Centrale | 74–97 | €7.60 (NA10) | Around 9 direct services a day |
| Capri | SNAV, NLG or Gescab hydrofoil, Molo Beverello | around 50 | from €25 (NLG, Gescab) · from €27.50 (SNAV) | SNAV hydrofoils from Beverello 7:00–20:00; last back from Capri 19:12 |
| Capri by ferry | Caremar, Calata Porta di Massa | around 80 | €14.80 ferry · €21.50 fast service | First crossing 4:00, last 21:35 from Porta di Massa; landing tax €5 in high season, €2.50 outside |
| Ischia | Caremar, Calata Porta di Massa; SNAV from Beverello | 55–90 | €14.80 ferry · €21.60 hydrofoil · from €23.80 SNAV | Crossings from morning to evening |
| Procida | Caremar, Calata Porta di Massa; SNAV from Beverello | 40–60 | €12.70 ferry · €17.40 hydrofoil · from €20.90 SNAV | Landing tax €3.50 |
| Positano and Amalfi by sea | NLG, Molo Beverello | 100–120 | €32.00 Positano · €32.50 Amalfi | Seasonal, April to early November |
| Amalfi Coast via Sorrento | SITA Sud from the Sorrento terminal | 40–90 | €2.40 Sorrento–Positano · €3.40 Sorrento–Amalfi | COSTIERASITA 24-hour ticket €10, named |
Three rules come straight out of the table. First: for Pompeii and Herculaneum the Circumvesuviana is unbeatable, and the ticket is bought at the station, not on board. Second: for Vesuvius there is no public service from Naples, you always need a change at Pompeii or Herculaneum. Third: for the Amalfi Coast public transport means two changes and half a day, and that is the case where an organised minivan makes sense — the options are on the page for the Amalfi Coast day trip.
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 city network: metro, funiculars, buses
City fares are the same for every operator in the NA band. A single ride on ANM services alone (buses, trolleybuses, funiculars) costs €1.30; a simple ride on metro Linea 1, EAV trains and RFI trains within the city costs €1.50; the integrated 80-minute ticket costs €1.80 and allows changes; the day ticket costs €4.50, or €5.40 in the integrated version.
Metro Linea 1 links Centrale station (Garibaldi) to Vomero and the hill, passing Museo — the stop for the Museo Archeologico Nazionale — and Toledo. Linea 2, which is run by Trenitalia, cuts the city from east to west: first service from Pozzuoli at 5:00, last at 23:03, last from San Giovanni-Barra at 22:53, with an average frequency of 8 minutes on weekdays.
There are four funiculars, but the Montesanto is currently closed for overhaul until further notice: for Vomero you are left with the Centrale from via Toledo, the Chiaia and the Mergellina, plus metro Linea 1 to Vanvitelli. The Capodichino station on Linea 1, the one that will serve the airport, is still a building site with no official opening date: do not count on it.
For Posillipo and the seafront you need bus 140, from Santa Lucia to Posillipo Capo via the Riviera di Chiaia and Mergellina: weekdays 5:30–22:50, Saturdays and holidays 5:20–23:10, one every 19–20 minutes. At night line N1 leaves Brin at 23:30, 00:00, 00:30, 01:00 and 04:30 and runs along corso Umberto, Municipio, Santa Lucia, Chiaia and Mergellina as far as Fuorigrotta; the N7 serves via Posillipo. Metro Linea 1 starts at 6:00 from the Piscinola terminus and at 6:15 from the Centro Direzionale; the last service is at 22:30 and 23:00 from Sunday to Thursday, and at 1:20 and 1:32 on Friday and Saturday. Piscinola, Chiaiano and Frullone are currently closed for infrastructure works. The funiculars all open at 7:00: the Mergellina closes at 22:00, the Centrale and the Chiaia at 22:30 or 00:30 depending on the day and at 2:00 on Friday and Saturday.
Circumvesuviana: how not to take the wrong train
The terminus is Porta Nolana, not piazza Garibaldi. Boarding at Porta Nolana costs three extra minutes on foot and gets you a seat: at Garibaldi, three minutes later, the train is already full. On the board only the final destination matters: for Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri, Ercolano Scavi and Sorrento you want the L1 line to Sorrento, not the one for Poggiomarino or Sarno, which stops at Pompei Santuario — a different station, a long way from the excavations.
Almost all L1 trains are “direttissimi”: from 5:36 to 22:11 out of Porta Nolana, with a departure every 30–36 minutes. Some services skip Ercolano Scavi, Portici and Torre del Greco: if you are getting off at Herculaneum, check the timetable column has no dash against your stop. The Campania Express, the tourist train with air conditioning and guaranteed seats, is listed by EAV as suspended until further notice; when it comes back it costs €15 each way and €25 return, and the tickets remain bookable in advance.
If the train feels like a risk — luggage, heat, small children — the shared shuttle to Sorrento costs €40 per person and takes two hours door to door, against €4.60 and 70–77 minutes on the train. You are paying for comfort, not time. Our verdict on the rail service, crowding included, is in the Circumvesuviana review.
Ferries and hydrofoils from Molo Beverello
The hydrofoils for Capri, Ischia, Procida and the coast leave from Molo Beverello, opposite the Maschio Angioino; the Caremar ferries for the islands leave from Calata Porta di Massa, ten minutes’ walk further east. They are two separate quays with no link between them: check your ticket before you start walking.
There are four companies and they do not share a ticket office. Caremar covers Capri, Ischia and Procida with cheap ferries and fast craft; SNAV does Capri in around 50 minutes from €27.50, Ischia at Casamicciola in 55 minutes from €23.80 and Procida in 40 minutes from €20.90; NLG does Capri at €25 (€23 for island residents) and, in the season from April to early November, Positano at €32 and Amalfi at €32.50; Gescab runs Naples–Capri with the Jet at €25. Alilauro serves Sorrento at €19.00 with departures at 9:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:05 and 17:15.
Two items that do not show up in the ticket price: the landing tax on Capri, €5 in high season and €2.50 out of season, and the one on Procida, €3.50. And one practical rule about the sea: when it is rough the hydrofoils stop first, then the ferries. If you have a single day and the wind is up, take the ferry and allow an extra hour. Mergellina now handles only the seasonal SNAV links to the Aeolian Islands: for the islands in the bay you leave from Beverello or Porta di Massa. The companies compared on punctuality and ticket-office queues are in the shipping companies review.
Capodichino airport: Alibus, taxi, transfer
The airport is 6 kilometres from the centre and still has no metro station. The public link is the Alibus: airport–Stazione Centrale–Piazza Municipio (the port), €5, the ticket valid 90 minutes from first validation, bought at resellers or on board, with departures every 20 minutes. Tap&Go works on board: you tap a contactless card in tap-in mode and buy nothing.
On the hours the official sources disagree. ANM publishes a service from the airport between 5:30 and 00:00 and from Stazione Centrale between 5:10 and 23:50; Unico Campania gives shorter windows, from the airport 6:30–23:40 on working days and from piazza Municipio 6:00–00:15. With a flight before 7 or after 23, plan for a taxi. One detail that costs money: the Alibus is not included in the Artecard formulas with transport, not even the regional one.
Same product, platforms compared
Prices refreshed from the GetYourGuide, Tiqets and Headout feeds.
| Platform | Price | Rating | Duration | Cancellation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GetYourGuideNaples Airport: Bus Transfer to/from Naples Maritime Station | €5 Lowest price | ★ 4.6 (2,377) | 35 min | Free | Book on GetYourGuide |
| TiqetsNaples: Bus Transfer To/From Naples Airport and Naples Maritime Station | €5 | ★ 4.7 (50) | 00:35 | — | Book on Tiqets |
Taxis have fixed fares set by the council: €21 from the airport to Garibaldi station or the old centre’s restricted zone, €24 to the port and the MANN, €28.50 towards via Partenope and Mergellina. Ask for the predetermined fare before you get in. For the Sorrento peninsula the shared shuttle from the airport costs €25 per person and takes 75–90 minutes; the private transfer into the city costs €49 per vehicle, so with three or four people it beats the taxi. How the service works, delays included, is in the Alibus review.
Rome–Naples by high-speed train
Frecciarossa and Italo link Roma Termini and Napoli Centrale without a change, and it is the fastest way into the city: you arrive inside Centrale station, with the Circumvesuviana and metro Linea 1 underneath your feet. The journey takes between 1 hour 13 minutes and 1 hour 23, and the price is dynamic: a month ahead you find Standard seats from around €19, at the last minute the base fare is €52 in Standard and over €60 in the higher classes. Some high-speed trains stop at Napoli Afragola, which is outside the city: from there Centrale is 18 minutes by regional train or about 30 by suburban service, €2.60.
Anyone arriving from Rome in the morning who wants to do Pompeii the same day should allow two hours between reaching Centrale and walking into the excavations: change of level at Garibaldi, wait for the EAV train, 35 minutes of travel. The hour-by-hour plan is on the page of 2 and 3 day itineraries.
Tickets, apps and what to validate
The system is called Unico Campania and covers buses, metro, funiculars, EAV trains, Trenitalia regional trains and the regional coach lines. You pick the ticket by fare band: NA2 for Herculaneum, NA3 for Pompeii, NA4 for Caserta, NA5 for Sorrento, NA10 for Paestum. Buy them at a station or a tobacconist and validate at the start of every leg, even with a day ticket: inspections in Campania are frequent and the fine is not symbolic.
Two fares sit outside the system. The EAV bus 808 Pompeii–Vesuvius has its own pricing: €3.80 each way if you buy on board, €2.80 with an AC3 ticket bought beforehand at a station or online. And the Alibus is always separate. If you are weighing up a pass, the break-even arithmetic is on the page about tickets and passes; the full picture of the destinations, with times and budgets compared, is in the table in all the day trips.
Three mistakes that cost you the day
The first: trusting the theoretical last service. The last train from Sorrento is at 22:02 and from Pompei Scavi at 22:40, but the evening service is the one most exposed to delays: if you have a flight or a ship, come back with two services in hand. The second: buying the Vesuvius ticket without having booked the Gran Cono slot, which is sold online only in 10-minute bands — the details are on the page for the Vesuvius day trip. The third: getting off at Pompei Santuario instead of Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri, a mistake that costs twenty minutes on foot — the right station and the entry times are on the page for the Pompeii day trip.
Knowing how to get around Naples is worth more than any pass: with €6.60 of train fare and a ticket booked in advance you get a full day in Pompeii. Where public transport does not reach, though — Vesuvius, the Amalfi Coast, the airport at dawn — a transfer or a tour with a coach is the cheapest way of not losing half a day.
Questions people ask
How much is a city ticket in Naples?
A single ride on ANM services (buses and funiculars) costs €1.30, a simple ride on metro Linea 1, EAV and RFI trains within the city €1.50, the integrated 80-minute ticket €1.80 and the day ticket €4.50 (€5.40 in the integrated version). Fares from unicocampania.it.
Which station does the Circumvesuviana for Pompeii and Sorrento leave from?
The L1 Naples–Sorrento line, terminus Porta Nolana; the next stop is Napoli Piazza Garibaldi, under Centrale station. Porta Nolana is the better choice because the train is empty there and you get a seat.
Is the Campania Express running?
No: EAV lists it as suspended until further notice. When it runs it costs €15 each way and €25 return. In the meantime you travel on the ordinary trains at the much lower Unico Campania fare.
How much is a taxi from the airport to the centre?
The Comune di Napoli sets fixed fares: €21 from the airport to Garibaldi station or the old centre’s restricted zone, €24 to the port and the MANN, €28.50 towards via Partenope and Mergellina. Ask for the fixed fare before you set off.
Ferry or hydrofoil for Capri?
The hydrofoil takes around 50 minutes and starts at €25–27.50; the Caremar ferry costs €14.80 but is slower and copes better with a rough sea. At force 4 or above the hydrofoils stop before the ferries do: if you only have one day, take the ferry.
Is the Montesanto funicular working?
It is currently closed for overhaul until further notice. To go up to Vomero, use the Funicolare Centrale from via Toledo, the Chiaia from via del Parco Margherita or metro Linea 1 as far as Vanvitelli.
Can I pay for transport by card?
On the Alibus yes, with the Tap&Go service in tap-in mode using contactless American Express, PagoBancomat, Mastercard, Maestro, Visa and VPay cards on board. On the other lines, carry a validated Unico Campania ticket.
Does the Artecard include all transport?
No. The versions with transport cover the Unicocampania network but exclude the Alibus, the SITA Sud lines to Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi, the EAV bus from Pompeii to Vesuvius and the Campania Express.
Official sources
- EAV – rail line timetables, L1 Naples–Pompeii–Sorrento
- EAV – Campania Express
- Unico Campania – fare finder
- Unico Campania – for tourists (Alibus, Unico Vesuvio, Artecard)
- ANM – Alibus
- ANM – metro and funicular lines
- Comune di Napoli – taxi fare schedule
- Caremar – fares
- SNAV – timetables and routes
- NLG – Navigazione Libera del Golfo
- Alilauro – Naples Beverello / Sorrento
- Trenitalia – Naples metro
Read next
- Day tripsEvery day trip from Naples compared: how long it takes, how you get there, what it costs on your own and with a tour. Pick one in two minutes.
- 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.
- SorrentoCircumvesuviana, Campania Express, hydrofoil, shuttle or airport transfer: verified fares and times for a Sorrento day trip from Naples.
- Tickets and passesArtecard break-even for three travel profiles, official versus partner price for every attraction, and which tickets are named. Compare and choose.
- ItinerariesTwo and three days in Naples with the day trips, hour by hour, plus an 8-hour version for cruise arrivals. What to book and when: check the tours.