DECEMBER 2025

Looking for an original daytrip from Naples? Most visitors know Pompeii, but not everyone knows Ercolano. Ercolano was buried under the same lava that destroyed Pompeii in the first century. It is located even closer to Naples, but somehow it is less popular. Ercolano is incredibly well preserved, featuring beautiful mosaics and creepy skeletons. It is quite an easy daytrip to do by yourself, as long as you folllow my recommendations. Read all about our experience at Ercolano in my blogpost.

How to get to Ercolano from Naples

If you are looking for a budget friendly option to travel to Ercolano, you can take the train from Naples station. I personally found the metro and Naples station quite chaotic, as the signage could be improved. This caused us to miss our train to Ercolano and they only go every 30 minutes, so this cost us precious time in Ercolano. Make sure to factor in sufficient time to transfer from your metro to the train and follow the signs with “Circumvesuviana” on it. This is the local train that takes you to Ercolano in about 25 minutes. You have to get off the train at Ercolano Scavi and from there it is about 10 minutes walking to the main entrance. A train ticket only costs about € 2 per person, which is a large difference to the taxi prices.

Ercolano consists out of the actual archeological area, which you enter via bridge, and an area above it that features toilets and a building with vending machines. There are no real restaurants, so make sure to bring some food yourself.

Our experience at Ercolano

Due to our very slow journey to Ercolano we arrived at exactly 3.30PM, which is the last entry time in the off season. Please check the actual opening hours on the website and book a timeslot for guaranteed entry. In the summer season Ercolano is open until 7.30PM and you can last enter at 6PM. We experienced gorgeous lighting during our visit as the sun was about to set at the end of our visit. When we arrived at 3.30PM it was still quite crowded, but the crowds died down pretty soon. I would also expect this to be the case during the summer season. Visit as late as possible for fewer crowds.

The ruins are absolutely stunning, it is quite easy to imagine how people lived in Ercolano before the eruption. You can still see ruins of a bathhouse, a tavern, some houses & gardens, there is a lot to see and learn. The location of Ercolano is very special, as it is surrounded by the new city. The contrast between the ruins and the housing surrounding it is very fascinating. Apparently it used to be located near water, but you can’t see that anymore. We only had about 75 minutes in which we could actually explore the grounds and that certainly is not enough. I would advise to factor in about 2-3 hours. Unfortunately we couldn’t do a guided tour, as we were short on time and visiting with a 4-year old we decided to skip. I didn’t find the app very useful, so a guided visit would be great.

Should I visit Ercolano or Pompeii?

We loved exploring Ercolano. It’s been some time since I visited Pompeii, but I prefered Ercolano. It is smaller and therefore less overwhelming and easier to take in. We were so impressed with the beautiful mosaics that can still be walked on and the way the buildings were constructed. I am not going to give all the historical facts of Ercolano, as there are websites which are much better at that than I am. I highly recommend you to check it our yourself!