How to Visit Pompeii from Sorrento (And Why Book a Tour!)

When I was first planning our trip to the Amalfi Coast & Sorrento, Pompeii was not even on my radar. It’s certainly not an Instagram hot spot like Positano is!

Until a friend of mine told me they visited Pompeii on their trip and would definitely recommend going ourselves.

I’ll admit, it can be hard to justify pulling yourself away from the turquoise water, cliffside villages, and beautiful beach days of the Amalfi Coast for a history detour… but it is so worth it!

Standing in a preserved Roman city that I read about in my middle school history book was one of the most memorable experiences from my travels, and one you can’t get many other places in the world!

Luckily, visiting Pompeii isn’t too complicated, especially if you are staying in Sorrento like we did! But there are definitely some things you’ll want to know before visiting.

This guide will cover all the details of taking a day trip from Sorrento to Pompeii, including how to get there, what to focus on, and why I 100% recommend visiting with a guide!

Top Tips for Visiting Pompeii from Sorrento

✅ Book a guided tour in advance — it’s so much better with a guide!

✅ Board the train Circumvesuviana early — Sorrento is the end of the line, so the train is usually already waiting at the platform

✅ Get off the train at Pompeii Scavi station for the closest access to the entrance

✅ Don’t book anything time-sensitive in the hour or two after Pompeii — trains can be cancelled and you’ll want the buffer

✅ Wear comfortable shoes — you’ll be walking on uneven stone roads all day

✅ Bring water and sunscreen — there’s very little shade inside the ruins

✅ Do the self-guided portion after your tour, not before — the guide will give you context that makes the exploring easier and much more interesting

Getting to Pompeii

The city of Pompeii sits roughly halfway between Naples and Sorrento and is connected to both cities on the Circumvesuviana train line that runs between them (I cover this more in my Naples to Sorrento guide – coming soon!).

If you’re visiting Pompeii from Sorrento, the easiest way to reach the ruins is via train (more on that in the next section).

However, if you’re staying on the actual Amalfi Coast in towns like Positano or Amalfi, the journey is significantly longer and more complicated on public transportation.

In that case, I’d strongly recommend booking a guided tour that includes pickup and drop off from your hotel so you’re not adding hours of buses and transfers on top of an already full day. 

P.S. Not sure whether to base yourself in Sorrento or on the Amalfi Coast? Check out my full guide to help you decide (Coming soon!).

How to Get to Pompeii By Train from Sorrento

The easiest and fastest way to get from Sorrento to Pompeii is the Circumvesuviana, the commuter train that runs between Sorrento and Naples.

The ride on the train from Sorrento to Pompeii is about 30 minutes and a ticket costs less than €3 each way.

(There is a bus option from Sorrento to Pompeii too, but the train is faster and costs the same amount).

No need to buy tickets in advance for the train – just head to the ticket window when you arrive at the Sorrento train station.

However, I do recommend arriving to the train station around 20-30 minutes before the train departs to secure a seat. Because Sorrento is the first stop on the line, the train is normally sitting at the platform waiting.

This is a very popular train ride, so you can expect the train to fill up and all seats to be taken. So if you want to sit down for the 30 minute journey, arrive early!

The stop for the Pompeii ruins is Pompeii Scavi station (a large chunk of the train will probably get out here, so it’s hard to miss).

By Guided Tour with Transport Included

If you’d rather skip the train logistics from Sorrento, you can also book a guided tour like this one that includes roundtrip transportation by coach bus directly to Pompeii.

By booking this tour, you don’t have to worry about train logistics (or deal with cancellations – more on that later…)

We felt comfortable navigating the trains ourself, so we just booked a tour that met at the entrance of Pompeii. However, this is a great option if you want to skip the train that doesn’t add too much more to the cost!

Arriving at Pompeii

Once you’re off the train at Pompeii Scavi station, turn right, and the entrance to the ruins is a 2-minute walk straight ahead (just follow the crowds!).

The main entrance to Pompeii (shown below) is called Porta Marina.

There is another entrance on the other side of the ruins called Piazza Anfiteatro – that one is closer to the present-day city of Pompeii and is much further from the train station.

The ruins officially open at 9:00am. If you are navigating Pompeii on your own, I highly recommend purchasing your tickets online in advance a few days before you visit (at a minimum).

Entry to Pompeii is time-slotted, and I also recommend trying to get the 9:00am time slot (as soon as they open!).

We personally met our guide at the Porta Marina entrance just before 9:00am to collect our tickets and start our tour!

Why You Should Book a Tour for Pompeii

If you’re thinking about visiting and exploring Pompeii on your own, let me convince you otherwise!!

First, the ruins of Pompeii are absolutely massive – it covers about 170 acres of land!!

It was a whole Roman city after all, so the ruins include everything from homes, shops, temples, theaters, baths, markets, and more!!

Navigating Pompeii without a guide would be overwhelming to say the least!

(And I’m not just saying that. I don’t feel the need to do guided tours for every experience. For example, we conquered our Capri day trip on our own with no issues!).

Not only is Pompeii massive and hard to navigate, but you will miss SO much of the history by navigating alone. You’ll spend most of your time wandering around going “okay, that’s… a wall” and “okay, that’s a column”.

There are some signs explaining the architecture and history, but not nearly enough to give you the full picture.

With an archeologist guide, you’ll learn so much more about the history, structures, and most importantly, the people of Pompeii!

What she explained completely transformed our experience. She pointed out things we never would have known or noticed on our own. Here were some of my favorites!

• How to tell the difference between the entrance to a private home versus a food stand based on the shape of the doorway and whether it had sliding door tracks
• The massive stepping stones across the main road — placed so residents could cross without wading through the sewer water that ran down the streets in rainy season
• The worn handprints visible on the edges of water fountains from centuries of people resting their hands as they drank
• The explicit symbols carved or painted into the road at intersections, pointing toward the brothel
• How the bath houses were heated: a system of raised floors and hollow walls that circulated hot air from furnaces below

We booked this 2-hour guided tour, which was the perfect introduction to Pompeii!

She took us to her favorite spots for first-timers, and once the tour was over, she gave us recommendations on what else to see based on how much time we wanted to spend exploring.

Again, this is the best way to experience Pompeii in my opinion!

I highly recommend booking the earliest time slot for the tour (we did the 9:10am one) to avoid both the crowds and the worst of the heat, as there is little shade inside the ruins!

What to See at the Ruins of Pompeii

Regardless of whether or not you book a guided tour, these are the main sites that I recommend you visit while exploring the Pompeii ruins!

Again, the ruins are massive, so definitely take a look at the map of Pompeii before you visit to understand the layout and what you want to prioritize, especially if you are not visiting with a guide!

The Forum (Foro di Pompeii) & Temple of Jupiter

The Forum is one of the first spots you’ll reach when entering the ruins from the Porta Marina entrance!

This was the civic and commercial heart of the city, basically the main public square where political, religious, and market life all happened.

It’s a wide open space framed by column ruins, and at the far end stands what’s left of the Temple of Jupiter, with Mount Vesuvius rising up directly behind it in the distance.

This was one of the most jaw-dropping views from our whole day!

The Macellum

Just off the Forum, the Macellum was the city’s covered market. Originally thought to be a temple, archeologists realized it was a market after discovering fish bones and fruit during the excavation process!

This is also where you’ll find some of the plaster body casts — the preserved shapes of people caught in the eruption.

Before we visited, I thought these were actual petrified bodies, but that isn’t the case.

After underground cavities with bodies inside them were discovered, an archaeologist, Giuseppe Fiorelli, invented a technique to fill the cavities with liquid plaster where the corpses had decomposed.

Once the plaster hardened, they were uncovered from the ground, and that is what is on display in cases throughout the ruins now.

🎥 This YouTube video explains this process further and gives a great account (with visuals) of the eruption and what happened after!

The Main Road & Storefronts

The main road of Pompeii is where so much of the everyday life of the city reveals itself, and this was definitely the area where having a guide made a huge difference!

She pointed out things like the food stands, which could be identified by the stone counters with round holes cut into them for holding pots, and shop fronts that had sliding doors instead of permanent ones.

One of the coolest parts was entering the private homes, many of which had beautiful mosaic entryways with tiny stones, tiles, and ceramics that were of course placed by hand!!

You could tell which families were wealthy, as those homes had large entryways, private bathrooms, and columned courtyards with beautiful gardens.

The Bath Houses

The bath houses of Pompeii were definitely one of the most impressive parts of the ruins, especially coming from my engineering background!

Inside the bath houses, you can see the raised floor system up close.

There are small brick pillars supporting the floor with a gap underneath where hot air from the furnaces circulated to heat the room above.

We even know that there were 3 different types of baths in Pompeii: cool, warm, and hot!!

Each bath house has several different areas, including changing rooms, gymnasiums, and the bath rooms themselves. You can even see the niches where bathers stored their belongings!

The Brothel

The brothel is definitely worth seeing, even though you might have to wait in line, as it’s one of the most-visited spots in Pompeii!

It’s a small two-story building with narrow rooms on each floor, each containing a stone bed with a raised pillow carved right into it… I wish I was kidding lol.

Above each doorway are painted frescoes depicting different sexual encounters (they think it was a kind of menu for clients who didn’t speak the local language…).

And as I mentioned, there are stone “signs” on the ground pointing the way to the brothel through Pompeii, so it’s easy to find! Haha.

This was definitely the most entertaining part of the ruins, so don’t skip it!

The Theaters and Amphitheater

Pompeii actually had three performance venues in its time. Near the Forum, you’ll find two smaller theaters side by side. The Teatro Grande could hold up to 5,000 people and was used for theatrical performances.

Right next to it is the Odeion, a smaller covered theater used for musical performances and political meetings.

Just behind the theaters near the Forum is the large four-sided colonnade that served as the barracks and training ground for the gladiators!

And on the complete opposite end of the ruins is the Amphitheatre of Pompeii, which is absolutely worth the walk across the ruins to get to.

This is the earliest known permanent stone amphitheater in Italy and where the larger gladiatorial games and animal shows took place. We walked through here and were blown away by the size and preservation!

Getting Back to Sorrento

Depending on how long you spend exploring Pompeii, your visit could take anywhere from 2 – 8 hours. We stayed around 4 hours total, mostly because it was SO hot.

Once you’ve completed your day, the trip back is the same as the trip there: Circumvesuviana train from Pompeii Scavi station, about 30 minutes back to Sorrento! Trains heading to Sorrento leave from Platform 1.

However, prepare for hiccups on the journey home! And if you have something planned after Pompeii, make sure to give yourself plenty of buffer (speaking from experience!).

After we arrived at the station, the train we planned to get on (leaving in about 15 minutes) was cancelled due to delays in Naples.

When the next train finally arrived, it was absolutely packed and had double the amount of people trying to get on!

We did manage to get on, but it was not a pleasant ride by any means, thanks to no AC and summer heat..

We also missed the ferry we had booked to Positano later that day because of the delay. The tickets weren’t super expensive so it wasn’t a disaster, but it was definitely stressful!

Learn from my mistakes and give yourself plenty of buffer time 🙂

What to Wear to Pompeii

Pompeii is an outdoor site with very little shade, so what you wear really does make a difference, especially if you’re visiting in the warmer months.

When we visited in September it was absolutely sweltering, and the light stone floors reflect the sun right back up at you.

Our guide was even carrying an umbrella to keep the sun off of her, which tells you everything you need to know!

Here is what I recommend wearing:

• Comfortable, supportive shoes — You’ll be walking for hours over uneven cobblestone roads. This is not the place for sandals or anything without grip. Cute but comfy sneakers are a must!
• A sun hat — I really regretted not wearing one (even though I brought this one on the trip!!). There is barely any shade inside the ruins and the sun beats down on you the entire time.
• Light, breathable clothing — It gets very hot, especially in summer and early fall. Wear whatever keeps you coolest. I wore this Free People-dupe dress!
• Sunscreen — Non-negotiable. Apply before you go in and bring some with you for reapplication during the visit!!

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

If you were on the fence about visiting Pompeii, I hope this guide swayed you to go!

The quick 30-minute train ride makes visiting Pompeii an easy half-day trip from Sorrento, and it’s a nice change of pace from the boat and beach days of the Amalfi Coast.

We loved starting the visit with a guide to get the lay of the land and learn so much about the history and people of Pompeii!

Overall, it was a life-changing experience to see up close, and I hope you consider adding it to your itinerary!

If you need more ideas for how to fill your time on the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento, check out my list of the top 15 things to do here!