Pompeii: guided tour or on your own?

Every line includes the Circumvesuviana return from Napoli Garibaldi to Pompei Scavi (€3.30 each way, EAV's own fare, unchanged on October 1, 2026).

The GetYourGuide price is a from-price for a date in early October; the listing showed a crossed-out €55, so check your own date. The Viator twin (Mondo Guide, 4.9 from 588 reviews) was €29.50 and needs 6 bookings to run.

Without a guide you have three tools. The park publishes a free map and mini guide to download, in nine languages. It rents official audio guides at €9 (two for €14) at the three main entrances, against an ID document. And it states that only official audio guides bought inside the park may be used on site.

A live guide adds a route through the site, the reasons behind what you are looking at, and answers. On the Askos walk, the guide waits 10 minutes for latecomers and uses headsets only for groups of 10 or more. What no guide adds is speed at the gate. The park's ticket page describes no separate fast lane: "skip the line" on a tour means a pre-bought ticket, which you can buy yourself online. Tickets are named, with a cap of 20,000 visitors a day, so on a busy day buying ahead matters more than who guides you.

• You want the Villa of the Mysteries. Pompeii+ at €25 is cheaper than the €29.51 walk plus the €8 villas supplement, and it includes the shuttle.
• You want a full day. Arrive for the 9 a.m. opening with Pompeii+ and a downloaded map; you will cover far more than two hours of highlights.
• You have a Campania Artecard. The Campania cards include Pompeii Express (the Villa of the Mysteries is €8 extra), and the 3-day Campania card the train too; the Napoli card does not cover Pompeii. See whether the Artecard is worth it.
• You are an EU citizen aged 18 to 24. Your ticket is €2, so a €29.51 tour is mostly paying for the guide.

On a first visit with half a day, take the walk. Book the earliest slot you can. From October 15 the last entry is 3:30 p.m. and the site closes at 5 p.m., so a tour starting after lunch leaves you little time on your own. When the guide leaves you, you are still inside: stay as long as you like. Just do not walk out, because tickets allow no re-entry.

Pair it with Herculaneum on another day, which is compact enough to do alone. Or join Askos's combined Pompeii and Herculaneum day at €63.01: the two tickets alone cost €36, so about €27 pays for guiding both sites and the train between them. You make your own way to Pompeii and home from Ercolano.

A Pompeii trip from Naples with transport cost €65 on Viator (Enjoy Pompeii, 3 to 4 hours, two hours guided). The ordinary train gets you there in 29 minutes for €3.30, and Pompei Scavi station is 211 m from the Porta Marina gate. The difference, about €29, buys a minivan seat.

Combined Pompeii and Vesuvius day tours make more sense, because Vesuvius is hard to reach alone. But they give Pompeii two hours too. Note that EAV's Campania Express tourist train is suspended from October 1, 2026; our Circumvesuviana guide explains the regular line. For the full day plan, see the Pompeii day trip and the two-day ruins itinerary.

Pompeii: Entry Ticket and Guided Tour with an Archaeologist

The ticket is Pompei Express (€20 at the park), so no Villa of the Mysteries. You make your own way to Pompeii. Headsets only for groups of 10 or more; the guide waits 10 minutes for latecomers.

2 hours

4.8★★★★★★★★★★(24,264 reviews)

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Rating as shown on GetYourGuide

Sorrento: Skip-the-Line Pompeii Express Tour by Train

Meets at Sorrento station at 9:30 (a second group at 10:15); no hotel pickup, and not for cruise passengers. Uses the ordinary local train, not the Campania Express. The train tickets are valid all day, so you can stay on after the tour.

2 hours plus the train

4.8★★★★★★★★★★(2,817 reviews)

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Rating as shown on GetYourGuide

Pompeii: Small-Group Tour of Pompeii and Herculaneum

Starts at Piazza Esedra in Pompeii and finishes inside Herculaneum, so getting to Pompeii and home from Ercolano is up to you. Pompeii is the Express ticket (no suburban villas). English only, up to 20; lunch not included.

5.5 hours

4.8★★★★★★★★★★(1,059 reviews)

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Rating as shown on GetYourGuide

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