Visiting Pompeii

The site is a fifteen-minute walk from the house: that’s what changes everything. No car, no parking, no need to decide whether “it’s worth a whole day”. You go early in the morning, come back for lunch, and if you feel like it you return the next day for the part you missed. Below are the practical things; what it feels like to be inside is on the Pompeii at dawn page.

Data checked in August 2026 on the official Archaeological Park site. Hours and prices change: take a look there before you go.

Opening hours

The Park is open every day (closed only on 25 December and 1 January), with two seasonal schedules:

• Summer (16 March – 14 October): 9:00 – 19:00, last entry 17:30
• Winter (15 October – 15 March): 9:00 – 17:00, last entry 15:30

In summer entry is personal (named ticket) and there are time slots with a daily visitor cap: on busy days (weekends, holidays, August) it’s best to buy your ticket online in advance and arrive early.

Tickets

Rates in force since January 2026:

• Pompeii only (the ancient city): full €20 · reduced €2
• Pompeii + the villas (including Villa of the Mysteries, Villa of Diomedes, Villa Regina at Boscoreale): full €25 · reduced €2
• 3-day combined ticket valid across several sites in the area (Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, Boscoreale, Stabiae): full €30 · reduced €2

The €2 reduced rate is for EU citizens aged 18 to 25. Under 18s enter free (with ID). Official tickets — including skip-the-line — are bought online on the ticketing site Vivaticket (which replaced the previous provider in 2026), or at the ticket desks at the entrances.

Free on the first Sunday of the month

On the first Sunday of every month, entry is free for everyone, all year round. You don’t need a ticket: you go straight to the turnstiles. It’s wonderful, but it’s also the busiest day — if you want quiet, a weekday early morning is better.

Which entrance to use

There are three entrances — Porta Marina, Piazza Esedra and Piazza Anfiteatro — and they’re not the same: it depends on how you arrive.

• Coming from Scafati (and generally on the FS Naples–Salerno train, Pompei stop): the handy entrance is Piazza Anfiteatro, on the modern-town side. That’s the one you’ll use, starting from here.
• Coming on the Circumvesuviana (Pompei Scavi – Villa dei Misteri stop): you’re next to Porta Marina and Piazza Esedra, the closest to the Forum, the Baths and the House of the Faun.

How to get around by train without a car is in the Getting here guide.

How long you need

The area is huge, so plan around your goal:

• 2 hours is enough for the highlights (Forum, a couple of houses, the Amphitheatre) if you move fast
• half a day (3–4 hours) is the right measure to see the main attractions calmly
• a full day if you also want the suburban villas and the farther quarters

The smart way: two half-days

Here’s the advantage of sleeping fifteen minutes away on foot: instead of a six-hour marathon under the sun, you split it. Early morning at the site (cool, low light, few groups), back home for lunch and a rest, and the afternoon — or the next day — the second half, or Vesuvius, or a swim. You see more and tire less. If you like, the Plan your stay tool builds your days for you.

What to bring

Our advice, not rules: closed, comfortable shoes (you walk on uneven ancient paving), water (there are drinking fountains along the way) and, in summer, a hat — across 44 hectares of ancient city there’s very little shade, and the midday heat is real.

Accessibility

There’s a “Pompeii for all” route: over 3.5 km of accessible paths starting from the Piazza Anfiteatro entrance and crossing the ancient city to the Forum. Some ramps are steep and the ancient surface isn’t even everywhere; up-to-date details and notices are on the official accessibility page.

In summer, the evenings

In the warm months the Park puts on evening concerts and performances in the Amphitheatre and the Large Theatre, with evening openings of part of the site on specific dates. The programme changes every year: you’ll find it on the official Park site.

Everything else you need to plan the visit — getting around without a car, where to stay, when to go — is in the other visiting guides.