Pompeii, Vesuvius & the Amalfi Coast: tickets and booking

Book ahead, or buy on the day?

Book ahead:

• Vesuvius. Crater tickets are sold online only, for a date and time, and go on sale 30 days ahead. If they're gone, a handful of last-minute tickets are released at the trailhead, bookable only via the wifi there.
• Pompeii. Booking isn't compulsory, but tickets carry your name and an entry window, and the park admits at most 20,000 people a day, only 5,000 of them in the afternoon. For summer and Italian holidays, buy a few days ahead and carry your passport.

Fine to buy on the day:

• Herculaneum. No time slots and no named tickets.
• Paestum. The park states booking isn't required.
• Royal Palace of Caserta. Online sales go through TicketOne only, and booking is recommended for holidays and long weekends. It's closed on Tuesdays.

Capri and the Amalfi Coast have no entry ticket; you pay for boats and buses. Blue Grotto booking is free and optional, but in rough seas it stays shut regardless.

Is the Campania Artecard worth it?

The 3-day Campania Artecard costs €41. It includes two sites of your choice, reduced entry from the third onwards, and travel on the Unico Campania public transport network. Pompeii Express (€20) and Herculaneum (€16) alone come to €36 in tickets, before you add Circumvesuviana trains. If you're moving between Naples, Herculaneum and Pompeii by train over three days, it usually pays off.

Limits to know:

• At Pompeii it covers Pompeii Express, not the Villa of the Mysteries, which is an €8 add-on.
• It doesn't cover SITA buses to Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi, or the EAV bus from Pompeii to Vesuvius.
• Once activated, the timer can't be paused or cancelled.

With the Artecard you don't need to book a Pompeii time slot.

Free first Sundays

Pompeii, Herculaneum, Paestum and the Royal Palace of Caserta are free on the first Sunday of every month; Vesuvius isn't. At Pompeii there's no booking that day and you go straight to the turnstiles. At Caserta free tickets are capped and the English Garden is closed. For a calm first visit, it's the day to avoid.

How to group the days

• Pompeii + Vesuvius: the EAV bus to the crater leaves from Pompei Villa dei Misteri station.
• Herculaneum + Vesuvius: taxis and shuttles run from Ercolano Scavi station up to the 1,000 m car park.
• Royal Palace of Caserta: a day on its own by train, since the station is opposite the palace. Never on a Tuesday.
• Paestum: pairs with Salerno, which is also where ferries leave for Amalfi and Positano.
• Capri and the Amalfi Coast: a day each, with a spare day in case the sea doesn't cooperate.