Beyond Pompeii by Circumvesuviana
Rail makes the Vesuvian sites easy to string together. This page starts with the trains and then ranks each stop by effort, with entry details in euros. Always read each site’s own notice before you travel, since closing days and hours differ from one site to the next.
The rail map in brief
The Circumvesuviana is the commuter railway run by EAV. Its Sorrento line carries you from Napoli Garibaldi to Pompei Scavi-Villa dei Misteri in about 30 to 40 minutes, and a single costs in the region of EUR 3.30. Ercolano Scavi, for Herculaneum, is roughly 20 minutes by the same railway. Two other stations share the name: Pompei Santuario, also Circumvesuviana, and Pompei, on the Trenitalia line from Naples to Salerno. Both are in the modern town. Anyone starting in Rome should travel to Naples first. Timetables are at EAV .
Easiest: Herculaneum
A full ticket is EUR 16. Visitors aged 18 to 25 pay EUR 2, and younger ones go in free. Gates stay open 08:30 to 19:30 between 16 March and 14 October (last entry 18:00) and 08:30 to 17:00 for the rest of the year (last entry 15:30). Only Christmas Day is a closing day. Entry costs nothing on the first Sunday of each month, 25 April, 2 June and 4 November; for those days free tickets come from the office, not online. The Villa dei Papiri is shut, and no reopening date has been set. Prices and rules are on the Herculaneum site .
Easy: Oplontis, Boscoreale and Stabiae
Oplontis (Torre Annunziata) and Boscoreale cost EUR 8 each, and the Stabiae museum costs the same. The Stabiae villas, Arianna and San Marco, are free. Tuesday is the closing day for all of them. On winter days the Villa Regina and Antiquarium at Boscoreale keep 09:00 to 17:00 hours. The park’s 3 day ticket bundles these sites with Pompeii+ and a shuttle.
Demanding: Vesuvius Gran Cono
This is a guided walk, with a mandatory guide from the Presidio Permanente Vulcano Vesuvio above 1,000 m. Plan up to 2 hours there and back, or up to 3 hours with the loop via Rifugio Imbo. Booking is online only on vesuviopark.vivaticket.it : EUR 10 for adults (EUR 11.68 with fees) and EUR 8 for young people under 25 with ID, plus local residents and school groups. Each 10 minute slot holds 50 people, and tickets open 30 days ahead. A small batch of 10 last-minute tickets per slot appears 30 minutes before the start, only on the wifi near the entrance, up to 5 per email, named and ID-checked. Arrive between 120 minutes before and 120 minutes after your slot, or 30 minutes before to 15 minutes after for a last-minute ticket.
The start is Piazzale Quota 1000, where the Ercolano road ends. The piazzale has no parking, and no public toilets at present. The Vesuvio Express reaches it from Ercolano Scavi in about 30 minutes. Orange weather alerts from Campania Civil Protection close the path automatically. Check the park page for hours, which run from 09:00 to a last access of 15:00 to 18:00 depending on the month.
Italian emergency plans cover both Vesuvius and the Campi Flegrei, two volcanoes under watch. The FCDO and US State Department pages carry current advice.
Booking a combined day
Search Viator for guided days that pair these places.
Read more: multi-day trips from Pompei arranges the sites over several days, and the 3 day Naples itinerary works as a base plan.