Day Trips from Naples: DIY or Organised Tour?

Day trips from Naples: the short answer

From Naples you can do eleven different day trips, and not one of them needs a car. The right question isn’t “what to see” but “how to get there”: in three cases the train drops you at the entrance and doing it yourself costs less than half the price of a tour; in others the tour takes care of changes, coastal buses and boats. Official prices come from the parks’ websites, tour prices are checked regularly.

The number to remember: Pompeii on your own costs €26.60 per person (return train plus the Pompei express ticket), while a guided tour with transport from Naples starts at €45.50. For the Amalfi Coast the opposite is true: a minivan from €53.10 costs less than the stress of changing at Sorrento onto a packed bus.

Table: every day trip from Naples compared

DIY costs are for one adult, return journey plus full-price entry ticket where there is one. “Tour from” is the lowest price among the products we compare on this site.

Sources for official costs: unicocampania.it for EAV, SITA and regional train fares (bands NA2–NA10 and AC2–AC4), pompeiisites.org, ercolano.cultura.gov.it, vesuviopark.vivaticket.it, vesuvioexpress.it, eavsrl.it, reggiadicaserta.cultura.gov.it, parchipaestumvelia.cultura.gov.it, shop.caremar.it. For the Campania Express: €15 each way and €25 return according to EAV, but the service is currently suspended until further notice: check eavsrl.it before you go.

Pompeii: the train wins

Pompeii is the simplest day trip you can make from Naples. The Circumvesuviana Naples–Sorrento line leaves Porta Nolana and Garibaldi roughly every half hour, the stop is Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri, and the Porta Marina entrance is two minutes from the station. Ticket €3.30 each way (fare band NA3 according to Unico Campania), 35–40 minutes of travel.

The official ticket according to pompeiisites.org: €20 for the Pompei express (ancient city only), €25 for Pompei+, which adds the Villa dei Misteri, Villa di Diomede and Boscoreale with a shuttle. Tickets are issued in your name, the cap is 20,000 entries per day, and from 16 March to 14 October time slots apply: 15,000 places between 9 am and 1 pm, 5,000 between 1 pm and 5:30 pm. Summer hours 9 am–7 pm with last entry at 5:30 pm, winter 9 am–5 pm with last entry at 3:30 pm. Free on the first Sunday of the month.

Verdict: DIY if you want to set your own pace and have already read a little about the site. The €45.50 tour with guide and transport is worth it if you’d rather not think about trains and dated tickets, or if you’re travelling with someone who gets bored after an hour without a guide. Full details in Pompeii from Naples.

Amalfi Coast and Sorrento: the tour wins

The Amalfi Coast is the one destination where we recommend a tour almost every time. Doing it yourself means the Circumvesuviana to Sorrento (€4.60 each way, about 70 minutes), then a SITA bus along the SS163 towards Positano and Amalfi, standing room only from May to September and unpredictable returns in the afternoon. In summer there are ferries from Naples to Positano and Amalfi, which solve the outward leg but cost more than the minivan.

The minivan tour from Naples lasts 8–9 hours, stops at Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi and starts at €53.10; the version with a boat trip from Amalfi starts at €55. The coach doesn’t have to change, and you don’t have to work out connections.

Sorrento on its own, on the other hand, is easy by train: it’s the end of the line, the station is in the centre, and in a day you can combine the town with a swim at Marina Grande. Full guide in Amalfi Coast and Sorrento.

Capri: it depends on the sea

Capri can be reached by hydrofoil from Molo Beverello in about 50 minutes or by Caremar ferry from Porta di Massa in about 80 minutes (€14.80 each way, plus the €5 landing tax and a 12% surcharge if you buy before the day of departure). On the island: the funicular from Marina Grande up to Capri town, the bus to Anacapri, the chairlift up Monte Solaro.

The sticking point is the Blue Grotto: it can only be visited when the sea is calm and the tide is low, in paid rowing boats, with long queues around midday. On your own you risk arriving to find it closed; a full tour from Naples (from €105, with a boat trip around the island) times the boarding right and, if the grotto is closed, replaces that stop. Without the Blue Grotto, doing it yourself from €34.60 wins hands down. All in Capri from Naples.

Vesuvius: transfer or tour, unless you’re experienced

The Gran Cono (1,281 m) can only be visited with a ticket bought online at vesuviopark.vivaticket.it: €11.68 full price, €9.55 reduced, 50 places every 10 minutes released 30 days in advance, plus 10 last-minute tickets per slot that can only be bought via the wifi at the entrance. Crater access hours: 9 am–5 pm in April, May, June and September, 9 am–6 pm in July and August, 9 am–4 pm in March and October, 9 am–3 pm from November to February. In strong wind or bad weather the path closes.

DIY: Circumvesuviana to Ercolano Scavi (€2.60), then the Vesuvio Express shuttle up to the car park at 1,000 m (€12 return online according to vesuvioexpress.it, departures every 30–60 minutes from 9 am, until 5 pm in summer and 2 pm in winter), and finally 30 minutes uphill on foot: €28.88 in total. From Pompeii the EAV bus 808 goes up, €2.40 each way, 11 departures between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm. The transfer from Naples with ticket included starts at €33.15 and lines up the shuttle with your time slot: for most people it’s the right choice. Details in Vesuvius from Naples; for the combination with the ruins see Pompeii and Vesuvius in one day, with tours from €48.75.

Herculaneum: the cheapest day trip

Ercolano Scavi is 20 minutes from Naples on the Circumvesuviana (€2.60 each way, fare band NA2), then 10 minutes downhill on foot along via IV Novembre. The site is a quarter the size of Pompeii but preserves timber, upper floors and intact mosaics: in 2–3 hours you see it all without rushing.

Full-price ticket €16 according to ercolano.cultura.gov.it; open 8:30 am–7:30 pm from 16 March to 14 October (last entry 6 pm), 8:30 am–5 pm the rest of the year (last entry 3:30 pm); closed on 25 December; free on the first Sunday of the month. DIY total €21.20 against €40 for the guided tour from Naples.

Verdict: DIY, always. Herculaneum is also the best base for Vesuvius, and you can combine it with Pompeii on the same day if you set off at 8. Go to Herculaneum from Naples or Pompeii and Herculaneum in one day.

Ischia and Procida: DIY, with one rule

Procida is 35–40 minutes by hydrofoil from Beverello (€17.40 with Caremar) or an hour by ferry from Porta di Massa (€12.70, plus the €3.50 landing tax). The island can be explored on foot: Corricella, Terra Murata, Chiaiolella. DIY wins without question, €28.90 return by ferry.

Ischia is bigger and needs a bus or scooter: hydrofoil €21.60, ferry €14.80 each way according to Caremar, 50–60 minutes by hydrofoil and about 90 by ferry. The rule: choose a single area (the Aragonese Castle and Ischia Ponte, or Forio and the gardens, or the thermal spas) and you’ll come home happy. If you want the full circuit of both islands in a day with a swim and lunch, there are boat tours from Naples from €93. All in Ischia and Procida from Naples.

Royal Palace of Caserta: DIY

The Trenitalia regional train from Napoli Centrale reaches Caserta in 40–45 minutes (€4.00 each way, fare band NA4 according to Unico Campania) and the palace is on the other side of the square. The ticket for the Royal Apartments plus the Park and English Garden costs €18 (plus a €1 booking fee online at TicketOne, the only authorised seller); the Park alone is €9. Closed on Tuesdays and on 25 December; from April to September the Apartments are open 8:30 am–7:15 pm with last entry at 6:15 pm, and the English Garden closes at 6 pm.

The Park is three kilometres long: allow 4 hours for everything and use the internal shuttle if you have children. The guided tour without transport starts at €38 and makes sense if you want the historical context; the tour from Naples by coach from €120 is expensive compared with €26 on your own. Guide in Royal Palace of Caserta from Naples.

Paestum: for those who like trains

Paestum is the longest day trip: 80–90 minutes by regional train, with the station about 10 minutes on foot from the temples. Three Greek Doric temples among the best preserved in the world, uncrowded even in August. Full-price ticket €15 from March to November, €10 from December to February (€2 for ages 18 to 25): valid for three days and including the museum and the Velia site according to parchipaestumvelia.cultura.gov.it. Open 8:30 am–7:30 pm in summer, last entry 6:30 pm, with earlier closing from late September; closed on 25 December and 1 January. Trenitalia regional train €7.60 each way (fare band NA10, Unico Campania).

There are no tours with transport from Naples among those we compare: the guided visit on site starts at €39.50. Verdict: DIY by train if you have a full day; with a hire car you can combine it with buffalo mozzarella and the beach at Capaccio. See Paestum from Naples.

How to choose the right day trip

• You have half a day: Herculaneum (20 minutes) or Procida (35–40 minutes).
• You have a full day and want archaeology: Pompeii by train; leave at 8 and add Herculaneum.
• You want the sea: Procida by ferry if the weather is good; Capri with a tour if you want the Blue Grotto.
• You want scenery: the Amalfi Coast by minivan.
• Rough sea or rain: the Royal Palace of Caserta or the MANN in the city.

For departure points, timetables and fares for the Alibus, metro, ferries and Circumvesuviana see Transport: ferries, trains, airport. If you’re planning three or more paid museums, do the sums on the Campania Artecard first.