Walk the streets Vesuvius buried in AD 79, then ride the cliff road to
Positano and Amalfi, all in one guided day from Rome, Naples or a cruise ship. Every
bookable tour, compared honestly.
Independent guideNot affiliated with the Pompeii Archaeological Park; we compare so you book the right tour
AD 79The eruption that buried Pompeii
€20Official Pompeii ticket
~40 kmPompeii to Amalfi by road
2 hTypical guided visit of the ruins
8-13 hOne-day tour from Naples or Rome
20,000Daily visitor cap at Pompeii
Tours & Tickets
Choose your Pompeii and Amalfi Coast tour
Booked through Viator: instant confirmation, mobile voucher and free
cancellation up to 24 hours before departure. Ratings are Viator & Tripadvisor figures as of September 2026.
From Naples8 hours
Amalfi Coast & Pompeii Small-Group Day Trip from Naples
★ 4.7/5(2,616 reviews on Viator & Tripadvisor)
Instant confirmationMobile ticketFree cancellation up to 24h
The shortest, best-value version: pickup at central Naples hotels or the cruise terminal, over the mountains to Amalfi for the cathedral, lunch and an optional boat ride, then a guided 2-hour walk through Pompeii on the way back.
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Pickup from central Naples hotels or the cruise terminal
Pompeii entrance fee and a local guide included
Free time in Amalfi; optional boat ride €15 on site
Lunch optional (choose the lunch option at checkout)
Pompeii, Amalfi Coast & Positano Day Trip from Rome
★ 4.5/5(7,125 reviews on Viator & Tripadvisor)
Instant confirmationMobile ticketFree cancellation up to 24h
The most-booked way to see both in one day: air-conditioned coach from central Rome, skip-the-line entry and a 2-hour licensed guide in Pompeii, then the drive down the Amalfi Coast and 2 hours of free time in Positano before the evening return.
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Skip-the-line Pompeii ticket, reservation fee included
2-hour guided tour with an official licensed guide
Coach with Wi-Fi from Piazza del Popolo, Rome
About 2 hours free in Positano; lunch not included
Positano, Sorrento & Pompeii Tour from Naples Port
★ 4.8/5(1,803 reviews on Viator & Tripadvisor)
Instant confirmationMobile ticketFree cancellation up to 24h
Built around a cruise-ship day: a minivan waits at the Port of Naples, then an hour each in Positano and Sorrento and a 2-hour guided visit of Pompeii, with drop-off back at the port. Small groups of up to 21 people.
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Port of Naples pickup and drop-off by minivan
1 hour in Positano, 1 hour in Sorrento
English-speaking guide in Pompeii (2 hours)
Pompeii ticket not included: €22 cash on the day (the €20 ticket plus booking fee)
Coaches leave Rome at about 7:10; Naples minibuses collect from hotels and the cruise terminal between about 7:10 and 8:30.
Rome: 2.5-3 h drive
2Pompeii with a guide
Skip the ticket queue, then the Forum, the baths, the brothel, bakeries and the plaster casts of the victims of AD 79.
~2 hours
3Lunch break
Usually not included: bring a snack or buy lunch near the ruins or on the coast. Some tours sell a set-menu option.
~45 min
4The coast road
Hairpins cut into the cliffs above a turquoise sea, with photo stops. Ask for a front seat if you get carsick.
1-1.5 h
5Positano or Amalfi
Free time to walk down to the beach, browse the ceramics, try a lemon granita or take the optional boat out of Amalfi.
1-2 hours
Roman streets, cart ruts includedPainted villas in Pompeian redThe famous cliff roadAmalfi from the optional boat ride
Plan Your Visit
Plan your Pompeii and Amalfi Coast day
Getting there, timing, tickets and what to wear - the practical details, one tab each.
From Naples: the Circumvesuviana train reaches Pompei Scavi-Villa dei Misteri in 35 to 40 minutes (€3.20), right by the Porta Marina entrance.
From Sorrento: the same line runs to Pompei Scavi in about 30 minutes.
From Rome: 2.5 to 3 hours each way by coach, or the high-speed train to Naples (about 1 hour 10 minutes) and a local connection. A day trip from Rome handles all of it.
Pompeii to the coast: about 1 hour 15 minutes by road to Amalfi; by public transport, train to Sorrento plus the SITA bus, around 2 to 2.5 hours.
16 March to 14 October: open 9:00 to 19:00, last entry 17:30.
15 October to 15 March: open 9:00 to 17:00, last entry 15:30. Closed 25 December and 1 January.
A combined tour gives about 2 hours in the ruins and 1 to 2 hours on the coast; allow 8 hours from Naples and 13 from Rome.
Arrive at opening in summer: shade is scarce and the afternoon heat is intense.
Official 2026 prices: €20 for Pompeii (€21.50 online, which adds a €1.50 booking fee), €25 with the suburban villas, free under 18, €2 for EU citizens aged 18 to 24.
Tickets are named and capped at 20,000 a day, with time slots in the busy season; bring the ID that matches your ticket.
Entry is free on the first Sunday of each month, at the ticket office only and while the daily quota lasts.
The tours on this page include or reserve the ticket for you. Two of them collect €22 on the day instead: that is the same €20 ticket plus the booking fee and handling, not a different ticket.
Closed shoes with grip: Roman paving stones are uneven and polished smooth.
Hat, sunscreen and a refillable bottle; there are drinking fountains inside the site.
Covered shoulders and knees for the Amalfi Cathedral and other coast churches.
A small bag only: large backpacks and luggage are not allowed in the ruins or on most tour coaches.
Also worth your time nearby
Sister siteHerculaneumThe smaller, better-preserved town buried by the same eruption · 2 to 3 hours
1,281 mMount Vesuvius craterA 30-minute uphill walk to the rim · timed tickets booked online
MuseumNaples Archaeological MuseumWhere Pompeii’s finest mosaics and frescoes actually hang
GardensRavelloVilla Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone, high above Amalfi · 30 minutes by bus
IslandCapriFerries from Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi · a separate full day
LemonsLimoncello tastingsMade from the knobbly Sfusato Amalfitano lemon · in every coast town
Where the Day Starts
Pompeii and Amalfi Coast tour meeting points
Rome, Naples or the cruise port
Rome: Piazza del Popolo · Naples: hotel or port pickup
The day trip from Rome meets in the centre of Piazza del Popolo, by the
fountain with the lions and the obelisk; the nearest metro stop is Flaminio
(line A). The Naples tours collect you from central hotels or the cruise
terminal, and the port tour meets you off the ship. Your voucher confirms the
exact spot and time.
The Rome coach leaves at about 7:10; be there 15 minutes early
Naples pickups run from about 7:10 to 8:30, confirmed by WhatsApp
Pompeii-only tours meet at the Porta Marina Superiore entrance
4.5★★★★★★★★★★7,125 reviews Day trip from Rome · Viator & Tripadvisor, September 2026
★★★★★
Antonino was one of the best tour guides our family of four have ever experienced. I encourage EVERYONE to book this tour. Total value for the money you pay. An amazing day!!
★★★★★
Overall, this was a good experience and a great way to see Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast, but there were a few things that could have been better organized. The tour also included an approximately 30-minute limoncello experience, which we were not expecting and unfortunately took away from our already limited time in Positano.
★★★★★
Long ride, but worth the time! Good tour guide, great driver, wonderful food, and interesting historical site, all on a scenic landscape hard to duplicate in a single day.
★★★★★
The tour guides were great, but I thought this was too much to do in one day. It felt rushed and the travel time did not feel worth it for the little time we got to actually see the sites. If you are prone to motion sickness, be prepared for the drive down the coast.
★★★★★
The ruins of Pompeii are incredibly historic, the Amalfi Coast and Positano are absolutely stunning. Please note that this tour was all day, requiring a great deal of uphill walking on uneven surfaces in extreme heat. Wait until mid October when the crowds and temperatures are more tolerable.
★★★★★
Good but you are in the bus/van more than out of it. Pompeii was very interesting. Positano was amazing to walk around and the views were breathtaking. Buses and vans were very nice and spacious and our guide, Michele, was great!
Recent reviews of the day trip from Rome, shown with each reviewer’s own star rating; the overall figure is the Viator & Tripadvisor rating as of September 2026.
Only Need Pompeii?
Just the ruins, with an archaeologist
Staying in Sorrento or on the coast already? Take the train to Pompei
Scavi and join a 2-hour small-group walk, then keep the rest of the day for the ruins
on your own.
Pompeii Small-Group Tour with an Archaeologist
★ 4.8/5 (7,568 reviews) · 2 hours · Mobile ticket
Already staying on the coast, or happy to take the train? Meet a guide with an archaeology background at the Porta Marina Superiore entrance and walk the Forum, the Stabian Baths, the plaster casts, the House of the Faun and the Great Theatre in a group of up to 20, skip-the-line ticket included.
Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast sit about 40 km apart, on opposite sides of
the Sorrento peninsula’s mountains. Put them together and you get Italy’s
most famous ruins and its most famous coastline in a single day. Here is what that day
is really like, what it costs, and how to choose.
What you are actually visiting
Pompeii was a prosperous Roman town of perhaps 10,000 to 20,000 people when Mount
Vesuvius erupted in AD 79 and buried it under metres of ash and pumice. Rediscovered in
1748, it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site covering 66 hectares: paved streets with
stepping stones and cart ruts, the Forum, public baths, bakeries with their millstones,
fast-food counters, a brothel with its erotic frescoes, grand houses such as the House of
the Faun, two theatres and an amphitheatre. The plaster casts of the victims, made by
pouring plaster into the hollows their bodies left in the ash, are the moment most
visitors remember. Across the mountains, the Amalfi Coast is a 50 km stretch of cliffs
and fishing towns, also on the UNESCO list, linked by one narrow road cut into the
rock: Positano, Praiano, Amalfi, Atrani, with Ravello above.
Vesuvius still dominates the skyline of the city it buried; its last eruption was in 1944.
Can you really do both in one day?
Yes, but go in with the right expectations. A combined tour gives you about two hours
in Pompeii, enough for the highlights with a guide, and one to two hours in Positano or
Amalfi, enough to walk down to the sea, eat a granita and take the photo. The rest is
road: about 8 hours in total from Naples, and 13 from Rome, of which five or six are
on the coach. Recent reviewers split along exactly that line: most call it the
highlight of their trip, while a minority felt rushed and would have skipped the coast.
If you have two days in the region, give each its own day. If you have one, the
combined tour is the most efficient way to see both, and far easier than stitching
trains, buses and ferries together yourself.
The one tip reviewers repeat: the coast road is all hairpins.
If you are prone to motion sickness, take something before you leave and ask for a
seat near the front.
The price math, honestly
Pompeii’s own 2026 ticket is €20 (free under 18), sold online as a
named ticket. Doing the whole day yourself from Naples costs little more: €3.20
for the train each way and a few euros for the SITA bus. The Viator
tours run from about $116 from Naples and $139 from Rome, and what the difference
buys is the transport, a licensed guide inside the ruins, the ticket reservation, the
logistics of reaching the coast and back in one day, and free cancellation up to 24
hours. From Rome, where a round trip by high-speed train alone can cost as much as the
tour, the package is hard to beat. From Naples or Sorrento, a confident independent
traveler can save money with the train and a 2-hour guided
walk, and see the coast another day.
Positano, the most photographed stop on the coast, falls down a cliff to a pebble beach.
Positano, Amalfi or Sorrento?
Tours pick one or two, so choose by the stop. Positano is the classic image, pastel
houses stacked above a beach, and the most expensive and vertical. Amalfi is flatter,
busier and historic, with its striped cathedral and the harbour for boat rides. Sorrento
is not strictly on the Amalfi Coast but on the bay of Naples, larger and relaxed, and the
most practical base for the whole region. Our Positano
or Amalfi guide goes deeper.
When to come
May, June, September and early October are ideal: warm but not brutal inside the
ruins, the sea swimmable and the ferries running. In July and August temperatures in
Pompeii regularly pass 30°C with almost no shade, and the coast road slows to a
crawl. Winter is quiet and pleasant at Pompeii, but many coast hotels and restaurants
close from November to March, and some tours swap Positano for Sorrento.
The coast’s other export: Sfusato Amalfitano lemons, and the limoncello made from them.
Yes, and most visitors do it on an organised tour: about 2 hours inside the ruins plus 1 to 2 hours in Positano or Amalfi. From Naples the day runs about 8 hours, from Rome 13 hours. It is a full day with a lot of road time, so reviewers who loved it and reviewers who found it rushed are both right - see the honest version. Doing it yourself by public transport is possible but leaves little time at either end.
How far is Pompeii from the Amalfi Coast?
Closer than most people think. Pompeii to the town of Amalfi is about 40 km by road over the Lattari mountains, roughly 1 hour 15 minutes by car or minibus, and Positano is a similar distance via Sorrento. By public transport, allow 2 to 2.5 hours with the train to Sorrento or Salerno and then a SITA bus or ferry. The one-day itinerary guide maps every route.
What is the best Pompeii and Amalfi Coast tour?
It depends where you sleep. From Rome, the Pompeii, Amalfi Coast & Positano day trip (4.5/5 from 7,125 reviews, from $139) is the most booked. From a Naples hotel, the small-group day trip (4.7/5, from $116) is shorter and cheaper. Off a cruise ship, pick the port-pickup tour. If money matters less than time, a private driver lets you set the pace.
Is 2 hours enough for Pompeii?
Two hours with a guide covers the essentials: the Forum, the baths, the brothel, a bakery, the plaster casts and a frescoed house. That is only a slice of a 66-hectare city, so if Pompeii is your main interest, 3 to 5 hours on your own after a guided loop is ideal. On the combined tours you get about 2 hours, which is enough for a first visit.
Can I tour Pompeii on my own?
Yes. Buy a named ticket online from the official site (€20 in 2026 plus a €1.50 online booking fee, free under 18), pick up a map at the entrance and follow the main streets. What you lose is context: most houses are unlabelled. A good compromise is a 2-hour small-group tour with an archaeologist, then free time on your own afterwards.
Is there a dress code for Pompeii?
No formal dress code, but dress for a hot, shadeless walk on uneven Roman paving: closed, grippy shoes, a hat, sunscreen and water. The churches on the coast, including the Amalfi Cathedral, expect covered shoulders and knees, so a light scarf is useful. Large backpacks are not allowed into the ruins.
Is Positano or Amalfi better?
Positano is the postcard: pastel houses stacked up a cliff above a beach, with boutiques and steep steps. Amalfi is flatter and more of a real town, with the cathedral, the harbour and boat connections. For a short stop on a day tour, Positano gives the bigger wow; Amalfi is easier to walk. The Positano or Amalfi guide also covers Sorrento and Ravello.
What is the best month to visit Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast?
May, June and late September to mid-October. The weather is warm, the sea is swimmable, the ferries run and the heat inside Pompeii is bearable. July and August are the hottest and most crowded, with slow traffic on the coast road. From November to March many coastal hotels and ferries close, but Pompeii is at its quietest.
Is it better to go to Pompeii in the morning or afternoon?
Morning. The site opens at 9:00, the stones are cooler and three quarters of the daily tickets are for the morning slots, so the crowds build later. Most tours from Rome and Naples reach Pompeii by late morning. In summer, the last entry is 17:30 and the ruins close at 19:00.
How do I get from Pompeii to Amalfi?
By tour or private driver it is about 1 hour 15 minutes over the mountains. On public transport, take the Circumvesuviana train from Pompei Scavi to Sorrento (about 30 minutes), then the SITA bus along the coast via Positano to Amalfi (about 1 hour 40 minutes). From April to October, the train to Salerno plus a ferry to Amalfi is the scenic alternative.
Should I go to Pompeii or Vesuvius first?
Pompeii first, ideally at opening time: shade is scarce and the crowds grow through the day. The Pompeii and Amalfi Coast tours on this page do not go up Vesuvius; if you want the crater too, book a separate Pompeii and Vesuvius tour, which usually visits the ruins in the morning and walks to the rim (1,281 m) in the afternoon. Seeing the volcano after the city it buried is also the better story.
Is Pompeii really worth it?
Yes. Nowhere else lets you walk the streets of a complete Roman town: bakeries with their ovens, taverns with their counters, painted villas and the casts of people caught by the eruption of AD 79. It is emotional, huge and hot; go with a guide or a plan, and it is often the highlight of an Italy trip.
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departure on every tour below. Bring the ID that matches your Pompeii ticket.
From Naples8 hours
