Can you do Pompeii and Vesuvius in one day? Absolutely! Our guide will show you how.
Article Updated in January 2024
When planning our day trip to Pompeii from Naples, we were delighted to find out that it was possible to include an ascent of Mount Vesuvius. The volcano, which blew its top in 79 AD and dominates the skyline of the Gulf of Naples, affords travellers the chance to stretch their legs, burn a little of that pizza weight, and enjoy some breathtaking views from 4,203 feet after exploring the ancient ruins of Pompeii.
It is by no means extinct though.
We've written more about visiting Pompeii and walking the crater of Mount Vesuvius in two dedicated guides, but in this short blog post we wanted to share a clear overview and practical itinerary on how you can visit both on a single day-trip from Naples or Sorrento without breaking the bank or rushing.
From costs, transport, and our personal travel tips, here's everything you need to know for visiting Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius in a single day.
pompeii & Vesuvius in one day
- the essentials
Alarm / Train from Naples no later than 8 am
Pompeii / 3-4 hours to explore archeological site
Lunch / Grab food along Via Roma, outside Pompeii
Transport / Public bus from Pompeii to Vesuvius OR buy combined shuttle plus Vesuvius entry and tour here
Vesuvius / Allow 2 hours, skip the line tickets available here
Tour / For stress-free day, consider this popular full day Pompeii & Vesuvius tour from Naples
In this article, we've assumed you're starting out like us from the city of Naples (Napoli) and visiting both sites independently. All of the advice and transport included is however relevant to you if you're starting out from the modern town of Pompei, Sorrento, or elsewhere in the Gulf of Naples or Amalfi Coast - you just need to change the first leg and the last leg to bring you to the ruins and back home after the volcano.
We both strongly recommend doing Pompeii before Vesuvius for several reasons, but it is absolutely possible to do them the other way round; just follow these steps in reverse and keep a keen eye on timetables.
If you would prefer the convenience or certainty of a tour from Naples which visits both sites and includes private transport, then this is a very highly-rated option which includes lunch, guide, as well as transport and tickets: Pompeii Ruins and Mount Vesuvius Day Tour from Naples.
Catch the train from Naples to Pompeii | 8 am
We recommend setting the alarm relatively early to catch a train from Napoli Piazza Garibaldi or Porta Nolana Station between 7.30 am and 8.30 am. Buy your ticket at the station and hop on the next train, disembarking at the 'Pompei Scavi' stop about 35 minutes later.
From there, you're two minutes to the main Porto Marina site entrance and ticket booths.
Don't forget to factor in travel time (on foot, by taxi, or with the metro) from your accommodation to either of the stations too. You can grab a coffee and croissant just by the ticket kiosks in Garibaldi, or from the various stalls and cafes at the Pompeii entrance. Make sure to watch your bags and valuables on the train too, as it’s frequented by organised pickpocketing groups.
Costs | €3 + transport to station
Time | 60 mins
Plan | For more information on the train, plus other transport methods between the two, read How To Get From Naples to Pompeii.
Explore Pompeii | 9 am - 12/1 pm
For this itinerary to work, you don’t have to enter Pompeii as soon as it opens (although it is nice to beat the crowds), but you will need to book your ticket in advance to ensure you can get in nice and early and avoid joining long queues.
The only place to book your official Pompeii ticket in advance online, not via a third-party charging extra, is here.
We explored Pompeii slowly and independently for four hours, and we reckon three hours is the bare minimum required to do anything meaningful. With four hours to play with, you can always opt to join guided tour there (like this one led by an archaeologist) which takes two hours and then leaves you to do you own thing for the rest of the time.
As you'll enter the complex via the Porta Marina side, it makes sense to exit at the Piazza Anfiteatro / Piazza Immacolata side (Google Maps) for two reasons:
1. There are better restaurant and cafe options than at the other exits.
2. This is where the public bus up to Mount Vesuvio sets off from.
Cost | €19* + €1 booking fee per person, concessions also available
Time | 3 - 4 hours
Plan | Read 17 Things To Know Before You Visit Pompeii
Tickets | Ticketone is the only official Pompeii tickets website - buy here - but you can now also buy official tickets with free 24 hour cancellation here
*When you head to the official site to book your Pompeii tickets, you’ll have two options: ‘Intero Pompei Plus’ and ‘Intero Pompei Express’. For the purpose of visiting both Vesuvius and Pompeii in one day, you need to select the ‘Express’ option which covers the Pompeii ruins.
‘Pompei Plus’ also inlcudes Villa dei Misteri, Villa di Diomede, and Villa Regina at Boscoreale (the suburban villas), but you will not be visiting them.
Enjoy A Quick Lunch
With an early start and lots of walking already, it's really important that you give yourself the time for a breather and to top up the energy levels for, y'know, walking up a volcano. This is particularly necessary if you’re visiting Pompeii during the painfully hot summer months.
On Via Roma, the long street outside the Piazza Anfiteatro / Piazza Immacolata exit, there are a bunch of restaurants offering sit-down meals as well as a few cafes, a very fancy pasticceria, fresh juice bars, sandwich shops, and souvenir stalls. There's also a McDonalds but, come on, do you really want one of your opportunities to have lunch in Italy be at that place?
Depending on time and preference, you can absolutely give yourself an hour or longer, or choose to simply grab a sandwich or foccacia.
However, before settling down, we actually recommend swinging by the bus stop to take a photo...
Travel From Pompeii to Vesuvius | 1/2 pm (ish)
So, this is the crux - how do you get from Pompeii to Vesuvius?
Well, you have two options: take the regular EAV public transport bus, or opt for a tourist shuttle.
We’ll cover both options below.
Option 1 | Take The eav Bus From Pompeii to Vesuvius
The best and most affordable way is with the EAV bus; the only difficulty is locating the fermata (bus stop), which is easy to miss if you don’t know where to look.
Found here on Google Maps (the stop is entitled ‘Piazza Anfiteatro’), it's to the right of little snack bar kiosk, just down from the pedestrian crossing, opposite the car park with blue lines and Ristorante Corallo. Its only identifying feature is a small sign (see photo below), and there is no ticket kiosk or tourist information service nearby.
At the time of update (January 2024), the departure times are as follows: 8.30am, 9.50am, 10.45am, 11.30am, 12pm, 1pm, 1.30pm, 2pm and 2.30pm.
We’d highly recommend locating and taking a photo of the sign and timetable prior to heading to lunch so that you can plan your afternoon accordingly - including being aware of when the final bus back to Pompeii leaves from Vesuvius.
*Note that a few departure times will not operate in the low season months of (October to April). If you visit and discover the timetables have changed, please do let us know - lots of travellers use our Pompeii and Vesuvius blog posts so we love to keep these guides up to date.
Note that we had a massive bus take us up to the top of Vesuvio (capacity 60+ passengers), but the return one was much smaller (like an urban bus), so it's always best to arrive a little earlier and queue rather than miss out.
If you've exited Pompeii by the other entrance at Porta Marina (Google Maps), you have two options. Either grab lunch nearby and then walk to the stop mentioned above, or opt instead to wait for the bus at the stop located outside Pompeii Scavi station (Google Maps). Just be advised that during high season, if you choose the second option the bus may not have capacity to pick up further passengers by the time it reaches the station. Pick up time at that Scavi stop is always scheduled for five minutes after the Piazza Anfiteatro stop.
Tickets | It's now €3.80 per person for the Pompeii Vesuvio bus (confirmed October 2023), one-way tickets only. You have to pay the driver on board, and ours had a pretty bizarre way of deciding when / how to do this. Regardless, you'll pay at some point before you reach the top, and it's strictly cash only and the correct amount is very much preferred. If you need change, just break a note at one of the snack bars by the bus stop before boarding.
Time | Approximately 50 minutes depending on traffic and season.
Option 2 | Private Shuttles Pompeii to Mount Vesuvio
Whilst the EAV bus is the cheapest option to get to Vesuvius (and the option we took), there is an alternative private shuttle bus option, offers for which you will be inundated with outside Porta Marina and along Via Roma.
This is an increasingly popular option for visitors that wish to visit both sites, particularly because of the somewhat limited public bus departures but as we discussed in 17 Things to Know Before You Visit Pompeii, there are a few things to be aware of in advance.
In short, the marketeers and companies selling the shuttle bus tickets pressurise and mislead. They will tell visitors that the EAV bus isn't running, only goes half-way up, or takes much longer than 45 minutes. They may also be selling you a tour of Vesuvio without necessarily sharing that upfront, and the shuttle may not leave as 'immediately' as you've been told as they’d prefer a full bus.
Now, we've no issue with a tourist shuttle bus charging more, or even a hard sell technique; we don’t however enjoy when they try to manipulate or mislead. Unfortunately, a cursory glance at some reviews online only serves to confirm this.
By all means pay a little more to take the shuttle bus to the top of Vesuvius if it's best for you and more convenient, but just don't let yourself be duped into it!
It’s important to note that one of the positives of this option is the ability to combine your round-trip shuttle service with your Vesuvius entry ticket saving you having to source both from two different websites. You can buy this combo ticket in advance here.
Time | 30 minutes
Explore Vesuvius | 3-5 pm
Before you start walking along the dusty trails toward the crater, the last thing to do upon leaving the bus is to confirm the last departure time of the day.
Twice.
According to the standard EAV bus schedule the last departure from Vesuvius is 4.05 pm in low season or 6.15 pm in high season, and it's imperative that you have certainty on the final departures so you can be done and ready to board in time.
It would be a long walk down otherwise.
Regarding tickets for Vesuvius, you were previously able to buy tickets at the gate, but changes brought in due to the pandemic have made booking tickets online for a specific timeslot mandatory, and this has yet to revert back. Additionally, a number of readers have written to let us know of the difficulty in securing last minute tickets, with time slots over the peak summer months selling out days in advance.
Due to this, we’d highly recommend that once you know your dates for visiting Vesuvius, get your tickets booked in to avoid disappointment.
There are entry slots every 10 minutes from 9am onwards, with the last admission depending upon the time of the year (Nov - Feb 3pm, March & Oct 4pm, Apr, May, June & Sept 5pm, and July & Aug 6pm).
You can purchase official Vesuvius entry tickets online via Vivaticket or a skip the line entry ticket here (this is also a good option if you’re struggling to find available timeslots on Vivaticket, but be sure to also check out Viator).
As we mentioned above, if you’d like to combine your entry to Vesuvius with transport from Pompeii up to the entrance, you can find out more here.
Time | 2 hours
Cost | €11.68 entry per person (we’re not sure why it’s such an odd number!), concessions are available for €9.55.
Plan | For more information on opening times, tickets routes, and the experience itself, take a look at our Mount Vesuvius guide.
Bus from Vesuvius to Torre del Greco | 5 - 6 pm
Once more for those at the back: you need to ensure you're back down and waiting around 10 minutes before the last bus departs (if you're leaving it until that departure). The reason we're so emphatic about this is because, when we visited, the driver actually left five minutes before the scheduled departure time.
For all we know, someone spent the night up there.
As you're returning to Naples, there's no reason to go all the way back to Pompei to catch the train. Instead, you can save a wee bit of time by getting off at Torre del Greco, a town about half way between the two. It’s around a 5 minute walk to the train station (Google Maps) from where the driver will drop you off (Google Maps has the bus stop marked down here, but we’re fairly certain there was an extra one a little closer to the station as it definitely wasn't a 13 minute walk).
It’s worth making the driver aware of this when you get on so he knows when to shout you. There are also some stunning views on the winding descent, so keep an eye on your right…
Time | 20 minutes
Cost | €3.60 per person, pay driver on board.
Train from Torre del Greco / Pompeii to Naples | 6 pm
Buy your tickets, hop on the next train to Naples, and then grab a taxi or get on the metro back to your accommodation.
After that, we think you’ve more than earned an aperitivo followed by a pizza!
Time | 25 minutes
Cost | €2.20 per person
Pompeii and Vesuvius Tours from Naples
We did the above independently, and were very happy with our choice; it was a long day but a really enjoyable one!
If you'd prefer to take a tour from Naples which combines visits to both sites and includes private transport and a guide, then check out this one - Pompeii Ruins & Mount Vesuvius Day Tour from Naples - which has a fantastic rating from more than 2,000 reviews.
