Naples 3 Day Itinerary (Not Just the City)
Three days covers the two unmissable ancient sites, Pompeii and Herculaneum paired with Vesuvius, plus one island day at Capri. Amalfi, Procida, Paestum and Ischia all need a longer trip to do properly. For more ground, see the 4-day version ; for less, drop to 2 days .
Book these before you go:
- Vesuvius crater trail ticket , nominative, timed, online-only, no gate sale exists
- Pompeii entry via the official Vivaticket portal , the only sales channel from 2 March 2026
- Capri ferry , booked loosely rather than to a fixed return time
| Day | Stop | Distance | Train/ferry time | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pompeii | ~23km | 30-40 min, Circumvesuviana | Ancient city, Villa dei Misteri |
| 2 | Herculaneum + Vesuvius | ~12km, plus shuttle | 20-25 min train, plus shuttle bus | Smaller ruins, crater hike |
| 3 | Capri | by ferry | 45 min-1h15 | Island day, Blue Grotto optional |
Day 1: Land in Naples, then straight to Pompeii
Base yourself near Napoli Centrale, every Circumvesuviana train in this itinerary starts there, so a taxi across town each morning is wasted time. Drop your bags and take the Circumvesuviana to Pompei Scavi-Villa dei Misteri, about 30-40 minutes. The site covers 44 shadeless hectares, so budget a genuine half-day minimum; the Villa dei Misteri sits a 15-minute walk beyond the main exit, and most tour groups skip it, which is exactly why the extra walk is worth it. Pompeii standard entry runs EUR 20 (EUR 25 for Pompeii Plus, with the outlying villas); from 2 March 2026, tickets sell only through the official Vivaticket portal , not the touts working the station forecourt. Book a Pompeii skip-the-line tour if a guide beats a self-guided walk for you. For the deep in-city plan without any of these day trips, see our Naples-only itinerary .
Day 2: Herculaneum and Vesuvius, same train line
Both sit off the Ercolano Scavi stop, about 20-25 minutes from Naples on the same Circumvesuviana line as yesterday; check current timetables before you leave, service gets crowded and occasionally delayed. Herculaneum costs EUR 16 and rewards a shorter visit than Pompeii, buried in volcanic mud rather than ash, so wood and rope survived where Pompeii kept only stone; check hours and tickets , it closes Tuesdays. A connecting shuttle bus from the same stop runs to Piazzale Quota 1000, the trailhead for the 30-40 minute hike up the Gran Cono to the crater rim. Vesuvius tickets are nominative, timed, and online-only, with no gate sale at all, so book the crater trail or reserve directly through the official park ticketing ; the fee runs EUR 10 face value, EUR 11.68 once the mandatory booking charge lands. The crater itself is a wide, hazy bowl, not a lava spectacle; the bay view is the actual payoff.
Day 3: Capri, by ferry
Hydrofoils leave from Molo Beverello, roughly 45 minutes to just over an hour depending on the operator, for about EUR 20-30 one way. Book loosely rather than committing to a fixed return time, since the whole point of Capri is not rushing it. The Blue Grotto is a separate cash-only EUR 18 charge on top of any boat fare and closes outright in rough seas with no warning, so treat it as a bonus, not the plan. Book a Capri day tour if you would rather have the boat and the grotto attempt arranged for you than piece together ferry times and a rowboat transfer yourself.
Book Vesuvius before anything else, tickets are nominative and there is no gate sale if you arrive without one. Capri’s ferry is the only other booking that genuinely needs sorting before you land.