Practical Information for visiting Pompei Comune

Naples Capodichino is the nearest airport, roughly half an hour away by road. Pompei is unusually well connected for a town of 23,612: the A3 Napoli–Salerno motorway crosses the comune, and three railway lines serve it — two Circumvesuviana routes (Napoli–Sorrento and Napoli–Poggiomarino) and the Trenitalia Napoli–Salerno line, which links to the national network at Naples Centrale. Coaches run from Naples and Salerno. That density is a function of the 2.5 million annual visitors, not of the town's own size.

Pompei is an ordinary small Italian town and the risks are the ordinary ones, concentrated where the visitors are.

Pickpocketing on the Circumvesuviana is the realistic hazard — the Naples–Sorrento line is heavily worked, especially on crowded trains around the Pompeii stops. Keep bags closed and in front of you, and be particularly alert boarding and alighting.

Unofficial guides and ticket sellers operate outside the entrances. The park sells nominative tickets with a daily cap; buy from the official channel rather than from someone approaching you in the car park.

Inside the site, the hazard is the ground. Roman paving is deeply rutted by cart wheels, kerbs are high, and stepping stones across the streets are uneven. Most injuries at Pompeii are ankles and falls, not crime.

No vaccinations or special precautions are needed, and tap water is safe to drink. Pharmacies in the town operate the usual rota for nights and holidays, posted in the window.

Heat and sun are the real risk. The excavations are 64 to 67 hectares with very little shade and limited water points; between June and September the morning is the only comfortable window, and heat exhaustion is the commonest problem the site deals with. Carry water, refill where you can, and wear a hat.

Footwear matters more than usual. Ancient paving, high kerbs and loose volcanic grit over several kilometres of walking make proper shoes a health measure rather than a comfort one.

Hospitals are in the town and at Torre Annunziata and Castellammare di Stabia, with larger facilities in Naples. EU and UK visitors should carry a valid EHIC or GHIC; everyone else should have travel insurance.

The single emergency number across Italy is 112, which reaches police, fire and ambulance and has English-speaking operators. 118 still works for medical emergencies directly.

Inside the excavations, report an incident to park staff at the nearest gate — Porta Marina, Piazza Esedra or Piazza Anfiteatro — rather than trying to describe a location by street name; the site is 66 hectares and its Roman addresses mean nothing to an ambulance. The park's own information contact is pompei.info@cultura.gov.it.

Pompei has local police and Carabinieri. Consulates for most countries are in Naples, about half an hour away.