Pompeii and Herculaneum Excursion

An excursion to Pompeii or Herculaneum is a “must” during your stay in the Amalfi Coast.

 

Pompeii is the largest and most famous site, it is located at a lower distance from the Amalfi Coast.

Herculaneum  is a smaller and more collected site, located closer to the city of Naples.

 

How to organize the day departing from Maiori to Pompeii and Herculaneum

Departure by private taxi: you can choose the departure time, even if we advise you to leave in the morning. The driver will accompany you to the entrance of the ruins and will wait for the whole day until returning to the hotel. This solution could be expensive because taxi companies require the cost of the service to be calculated by hours. If you do not want to move with public transport and you want to be sure to organize yourself in full autonomy is definitely the best solution. The service can be booked at the hotel with the help of our Concierge.

Public transport: we always recommend leaving in the morning. The bus stop is on the seafront towards Salerno. The bus will leave you at the Salerno Railway Station and from there you can catch the train that will take you to the city of Pompeii. At the exit of the Pompeii train station you can catch one of the many buses that circulate in the city and reach the entrance of the ruins. After the visit and stopping at one of the city’s restaurants, you can continue your tour to reach the Ercolano ruins. In front of the entrance to the Pompeii ruins, you will find the Circumvesuviana Trains “Pompei – Naples” stop that leaves every half an hour and stops at the Herculaneum ruins.

Group tour: departure in the morning by bus and first stop in Pompeii. Visit of the archaeological ruins (about 2 hours) with a specialized guide. They will leave you some free time for lunch and then proceed to Ercolano. Visit of the archaeological ruins in Hercolaneum (about 2 hours) and return to Maiori in the late afternoon.

By car: you can reach both Pompeii and Ercolano with your own car. Leaving from Maiori, follow the Valico di Chiunzi (Mountain Pass) to the A3 highway “Angri Sud” exit in the direction of Naples. You will find the “Pompei Scavi” exit. Outside the ruins you can leave your car in one of the many paid parking lots. After a stop you can leave to Hercolaneum. Same “Pompei Scavi” exit towards Naples, exit “Ercolano” and follow the signs to the ruins.

 

Useful information on Pompeii and Herculaneum ruins:

• Entrance ticket: costs around € 15 per person, children under 18 enter free. Every first Sunday of the month admission is free for everyone. If  you are traveling in high season or you are planning to visit the site at weekends you can buy tickets online and skip the queue.

• Hours: November 1 to March 31: every day from 9.00 to 17.00 (last entry 15.30); from April 1st to October 31st: every day from 9.00am to 7.30pm (last admission at 6.00pm).

• Closed on December 25th, May 1st and January 1st

• Guided tours: at the entrance to the excavations it is possible to request a guided tour with one of the official guides.

• Accessibility: in Pompeii the path accessible to people with reduced motor capacity starts from Piazza Anfiteatro. From here you can visit a part of the ruins.

• Facilities: inside the ruins there are toilettes and refreshment points. At the entrance you will find instead the wardrobe where you can leave backpacks and bulky bags.  

 

Consult these websites to organize your excursion in advance:

Trains: www.trenitalia.it

Bus: www.sitasud.it

Circumvesuviana: https://www.eavsrl.it/web/

Group tour: www.sunland.it

 

We also advise you to wear comfortable shoes, a backpack with the bare necessities and a hat to shelter from the sun during the hottest hours of the day.