The Best Day Trips from Naples
No city in Europe out-day-trips Naples: Pompeii and Herculaneum are commuter-train stops, Capri and Procida are an hour's ferry from the port in the middle of town, Vesuvius looms over all of it, and the Amalfi Coast starts just beyond Sorrento. These are the ten trips worth a full day - with the exact trains and ferries, what each really costs in time, and where a booked tour genuinely beats going alone.
What are the best day trips from Naples?
The best day trips from Naples are Pompeii (~35-40 minutes on the Circumvesuviana train), the island of Capri (~50-80 minutes by ferry from Molo Beverello), the Amalfi Coast (by ferry via Sorrento, or a guided tour), Mount Vesuvius (often combined with Pompeii), and Herculaneum (~20 minutes by train). Pompeii, Vesuvius and Herculaneum are easy solo by train; for the Amalfi Coast a tour or ferry beats driving, and for Capri book the ferry early on summer days.
The 10 best day trips, ranked
Ordered by how well they repay a full day - factoring travel time, what you can actually see, and how easy they are without a car.
Pompeii
The world's greatest ruins25 km southeast · ~35-40 min by train
The Roman city buried by Vesuvius in AD 79 is the world's greatest archaeological site, full stop: whole streets, frescoed villas, bakeries with their ovens, amphitheatre, brothel graffiti and plaster casts of the dead. It's huge - 44 hectares excavated - so a plan (or a guide for the first two hours) transforms the visit. The Villa of the Mysteries frescoes alone justify the trip, but they sit outside the walls and are only on the 25 EUR ticket, not the 20 EUR one.
Getting there: Take the Circumvesuviana line L1 from Napoli Porta Nolana or Garibaldi (lower level) toward Sorrento and get off at Pompei Scavi - Villa dei Misteri, two minutes from the site entrance. First departure from Porta Nolana is 05:36 and the last is 22:11. The Campania Express covers the same line with a reserved seat and luggage space for a few euros more. Book your Pompeii ticket online before you go, and read the ticket note below before you pick one - the cheaper ticket does not include the Villa of the Mysteries.
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Capri
Island glamour & boat trips35 km south, across the bay · ~50-80 min by ferry
The bay's glamour island earns the fuss: the Blue Grotto's electric water, the Faraglioni sea stacks, chairlift to Monte Solaro's 360-degree view from Anacapri, and lanes of villas and lemon groves above a turquoise sea. A boat trip around the island - or a full-day cruise from Naples with swimming stops - is the best way to see it, since the coastline is the show.
Getting there: High-speed ferries and hydrofoils leave from Molo Beverello (central Naples port) roughly hourly in season - book a morning departure ahead in summer, and note the last return boat time before you leave. From Marina Grande on Capri, the funicular climbs to Capri town.
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Amalfi Coast (Positano & Amalfi)
The iconic coastline60-70 km southeast · ~1.5-2 h each way
The most famous coastline in Europe: pastel Positano stacked above its beach, Amalfi's cathedral and paper-mill history, Ravello's clifftop gardens high above the sea. Seeing it from the water - ferry or boat tour - beats the road for views and skips the traffic that clogs the coast road from June to September.
Getting there: Car-free options: train or Campania Express to Sorrento then the seasonal ferry along the coast to Positano and Amalfi (the most scenic approach), or the SITA bus from Sorrento - spectacular but crowded, with long queues in season. A small-group day tour from Naples removes all the logistics and is how most visitors do it in one day.
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Mount Vesuvius
Crater rim & bay views20 km east · ~1 h door to crater path
The only active volcano on mainland Europe, and the villain of the whole bay's story - the rim walk looks straight down into the steaming crater and out over Naples, the islands and the ruins it buried. It's an easy but real hike at altitude: bring water, a layer for the wind, and shoes that handle gravel.
Getting there: Circumvesuviana to Ercolano Scavi or Pompei, then the Vesuvio Express or EAV shuttle bus up to the car park at ~1,000 m, from which a 25-30 minute gravel path climbs to the crater rim. Entry is by timed ticket - book the crater slot online before you commit to a bus time. Many guided tours combine Vesuvius with Pompeii or Herculaneum in one day.
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Herculaneum
Better-preserved, fewer crowds12 km southeast · ~20-25 min by train
Pompeii's small, rich sister was buried deeper - in superheated mud rather than ash - so it preserves what Pompeii lost: wooden beams, furniture, mosaics with their colour, two-storey houses you walk through. It's a quarter the size and a fraction of the crowds, and many who visit both quietly prefer it. Do Herculaneum for intimacy, Pompeii for scale - or both, they're 15 minutes apart.
Getting there: Circumvesuviana toward Sorrento to Ercolano Scavi, then a straight ten-minute walk downhill to the entrance. It shares the Campania Express line and pairs naturally with Vesuvius (same station) or as a half-day before an afternoon back in Naples.
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Procida
The bay without the crowds20 km west, in the bay · ~25-60 min by ferry
The bay's smallest island is the one Italians pick: the lemon-and-pink harbour of Marina Corricella (Italy's Capital of Culture 2022 poster view), fishing boats, quiet beaches and not a single cruise crowd. Half a day covers it on foot - lunch on the Corricella waterfront is the point. Go before everyone else works it out.
Getting there: Ferries and hydrofoils from Molo Beverello and Calata Porta di Massa run year-round (~25-40 minutes by hydrofoil, ~60 by car ferry). No booking stress outside August - it's a commuter island as much as a tourist one.
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Ischia
Thermal spas & the castle30 km west, in the bay · ~50-90 min by ferry
The bay's biggest island is a spa: volcanic thermal waters feed garden pool complexes like Poseidon, hot springs bubble into the sea at Sorgeto, and the Aragonese Castle rises off the east shore on its own islet. It's the restorative day trip - thermal soak, castle, long lunch - and greener and cheaper than Capri.
Getting there: Hydrofoils from Molo Beverello (~50-60 min) and slower car ferries from Porta di Massa run all day to Ischia Porto and Forio. On the island, buses circle the coast road; the thermal parks run shuttles in season.
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Royal Palace of Caserta
Versailles-scale royal excess35 km north · ~35-45 min by train
The Bourbon kings' answer to Versailles - by some measures the largest royal palace in the world - with 1,200 rooms, a staircase built to stun ambassadors, and a garden axis of fountains and cascades running three kilometres to a waterfall. Star Wars used its halls as Queen Amidala's palace. The park alone is worth the trip; rent a bike or take the shuttle to the far end.
Getting there: Regional and Alta Velocità trains from Napoli Centrale reach Caserta in 35-45 minutes; the palace faces you across the square from the station. Book palace tickets online to skip the queue; the park closes earlier than the apartments, so do gardens first in the afternoon slot.
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Sorrento
Lemons, cliffs & la dolce vita50 km south · ~70 min by train, ~40 min by ferry
The clifftop resort town above the bay is the gentlest day out on this list: lemon groves and limoncello tastings, the old town's marquetry workshops, swimming platforms below the cliffs, and sunset from the Villa Comunale terrace with Vesuvius across the water. It's also the gateway to the Amalfi Coast, so many combine a morning here with an afternoon in Positano by ferry.
Getting there: The Circumvesuviana's final stop (~65-75 minutes from Porta Nolana; the Campania Express does it faster and with seats), or a scenic ferry from Molo Beverello (~40-45 minutes). The ferry down and train back combines the best of both.
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Paestum
Greek temples without crowds100 km southeast · ~1h15-1h30 by train
Three of the best-preserved ancient Greek temples on earth stand in a meadow south of the Amalfi peninsula - older than the Parthenon, honey-coloured at golden hour, and shared with a fraction of Pompeii's visitors. The site museum holds the famous Tomb of the Diver frescoes. Pair it with buffalo-mozzarella tasting at a nearby farm - this is the cheese's homeland.
Getting there: Direct regional trains from Napoli Centrale toward Sapri stop at Paestum (~1h15-1h30, roughly hourly); the site entrance is a 10-minute signposted walk from the station. Check return times - evening service thins out.
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Naples to Pompeii: the day trip to plan around
The inconvenient truth about Pompeii is not the train. The train is trivially easy and costs less than a beer. What catches people out is the ticket, and the fact that three different railway stations have Pompei in the name.
- Tickets, and the mistake almost everyone makes: the 20 EUR ticket covers only the ancient city, and the park states plainly that suburban villas are not included. The Villa of the Mysteries, with the frescoes most people come for, is a suburban villa. It sits outside the walls and it is on the 25 EUR ticket, which also covers the Villa of Diomedes and Villa Regina at Boscoreale. Pay the extra five euros. Pompeii Plus at 30 EUR runs three days across Oplontis, Villa Arianna, Villa San Marco, the Stabiae museum and Boscoreale with a shuttle bus, which is good value only if you genuinely intend to use the extra sites.
- Hours and the cap: Pompeii opens at 09:00 year-round, so there is nothing to arrive for at 08:30. From 16 March to 14 October it closes at 19:00 with last entry 17:30; from 15 October to 15 March it closes at 17:00 with last entry 15:30. Closed 25 December and 1 January, free on the first Sunday of the month. There is a hard daily cap of 20,000 visitors, and in the summer window it is split: up to 15,000 between 09:00 and 13:00, but only 5,000 between 13:00 and 17:30. The afternoon slot is a quarter the size of the morning one, so turning up at 14:00 unbooked in July is how you do not get in.
- Booking: buy in advance through the park's official ticketing rather than at the gate. With a hard daily cap and a much smaller afternoon allocation, advance booking is mandatory in practice rather than a nice idea, and it is the only way to be certain of an afternoon slot in high summer.
- The train, precisely: Circumvesuviana line L1 Napoli to Sorrento, from Porta Nolana or Garibaldi (lower level), to Pompei Scavi - Villa dei Misteri. That is the stop for the Porta Marina and Piazza Esedra gates. Two other stations ruin people's mornings: Pompei Santuario is on the Poggiomarino line and serves the Piazza Anfiteatro gate at the far end of the site, and Pompei is a separate mainline station in the modern town needing the Pompei Link bus, about 15 minutes. If the platform display says Poggiomarino or Sarno, it is not your train. Sorrento is your train.
- On the fare, be careful with numbers you read online because they disagree. The operator's own tariff schedule prices the relevant single-ticket bands at 2.60 EUR and 3.30 EUR, and no official source states which band Napoli to Pompei Scavi falls in. Buy at the window or use the operator's contactless Tap and Go, which charges the correct fare off your bank card. Carry about 4 EUR each way and you are covered.
- Campania Express is the same route with a reserved seat, air conditioning and an on-board hostess, and it is not the seasonal service it is often described as - the operator lists daily trips year-round. Fares are usually quoted around 15 EUR one way and 25 EUR return, but we could not confirm the current figure on the operator's own site, so check before you count on it. The part the brochures skip is that it is barely faster: Garibaldi 08:26 reaches Pompei at 08:59, so 33 minutes against roughly 37 on the ordinary train. You are paying for a seat and luggage space, not speed, and with only four departures a day from Naples it dictates your schedule rather than fitting round it. Worth it with luggage or in August, otherwise no.
- Is a guide worth it? Yes, but not necessarily the one you are being sold. Pompeii is 44 hectares of roofless brick and without context you will walk past the bakery, the election graffiti and the water towers and remember none of it. The park runs its own thematic itineraries at 8 EUR plus your entrance ticket, about 1.5 hours, free for under-10s. A full guided day trip from Naples runs around 57 EUR per person for 3.5 hours door to door with transport and a licensed archaeologist. That is a legitimate thing to buy, but you are buying convenience and interpretation, not access, and you leave after roughly two hours on site.
- Route once inside: do not wander randomly, 44 hectares defeats that. Hit the Forum, the Lupanare, the Stabian Baths, House of the Vettii and the amphitheatre, then walk out to the Villa of the Mysteries before leaving by the same gate. Midday June to August is 35C on shadeless stone - carry water, there are ancient-fountain refill points inside, plus a hat and real shoes. The Roman paving eats flip-flops.
- Combining: Vesuvius shuttle buses leave from right outside Pompei Scavi station, so the crater in the morning and the ruins from 14:00 works well in the cooler months. Or do Herculaneum, 15 minutes back toward Naples, as a same-day second site; it is compact enough for two hours.
Day trips from Naples: FAQ
The questions travelers ask most when planning day trips from here.
Every trip on this page starts in Naples
Each of these is a day out and back, so the thing that decides the whole trip is where you sleep between them and how far that is from the station. Compare what a central room actually costs before you plan around it.
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Photo credits (10)
Photos via Wikimedia Commons, used under their respective licences.
- Pompeii: Marco Ober - CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
- Capri: Berthold Werner - CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
- Amalfi Coast (Positano & Amalfi): Wiki.Bianco - CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
- Mount Vesuvius: pietro scerrato - CC BY 3.0 · source
- Herculaneum: Diego Delso - CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
- Procida: Bernard Gagnon - CC BY 4.0 · source
- Ischia: Sailko - CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
- Royal Palace of Caserta: Carlo Pelagalli - CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
- Sorrento: Berthold Werner - CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
- Paestum: Norbert Nagel - CC BY-SA 3.0 · source