Anywhere Italy
Stemma di Pompei

Campania · Napoli

Pompei

The Roman city buried by Vesuvius in 79 AD, dug back up since 1748, and a modern town around Bartolo Longo's 1876 sanctuary.

Known for

  • 79 AD ERUPTION

    Five to six meters of ash and lapilli buried the Roman city in October 79 AD, killing the residents who had not fled the early tremors.

  • BARTOLO LONGO

    The lawyer who founded modern Pompei in 1881 around the Santuario della Madonna del Rosario, beatified in 1980 and canonized in 2025.

  • VESUVIUS

    The volcano three kilometers north of the town, last erupted in 1944, with the national park trail climbing to the 1,281-meter crater rim.

  • POMODORO S. MARZANO DELL'AGRO SARNESE-NOCERINO

    The commune lies inside the Pomodoro S. Marzano dell'Agro Sarnese-Nocerino DOP production zone.

When to visit

Best · May–Sep

  • J13°
  • F15°
  • M16°
  • A18°
  • M23°
  • J27°
  • J31°
  • A31°
  • S27°
  • O23°
  • N18°
  • D15°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 28° and coldest in February at 15°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

The festa: Madonna del Rosario, 8 May

Why come

Pompei sits on a volcanic plateau on the south slope of Vesuvius, twenty kilometers from Naples and a hundred meters from where the Sarno meets the sea. The Roman city was buried under five to six meters of ash and lapilli when the volcano erupted on 24 October 79 AD, killing the part of the population that had not already left. Excavations began in 1748 under the Bourbons and have never stopped; the site has been UNESCO-listed since 1997 alongside Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata, and is the third most visited archaeological site in the world.

Modern Pompei was founded in 1881 by the lawyer Bartolo Longo, who built the Santuario della Beata Vergine del Rosario as a center for pilgrimage and social work. The basilica with its 80-meter campanile and the surrounding grid of streets are entirely a creation of the 1880s, separate from the dig and laid over fields that had been farmland until then.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Pompei’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

How to get there

From Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 30 minutes by car.

Rome (FCO) is about 3h 15m away.

By car from the centre of Naples 24 minutes or Salerno 31 minutes.

Driving in is restricted: there is a limited traffic zone here (Zona a Traffico Limitato). Check the signs and the times before you drive into the centre.

There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.

Coming from Naples?

Coming by train into Napoli Centrale? Pompei is about 23 minutes away by road.

Every town within reach of Naples / Salerno airport.

Pompei — photo 1
Pompei — photo 2

What to see

  • Parco Archeologico di Pompei

    The Roman city buried in 79 AD and excavated since 1748, UNESCO-listed since 1997, with the Forum, the Villa dei Misteri and the Lupanare.

  • Santuario della Beata Vergine del Rosario

    Pontifical basilica built between 1876 and 1891 by the lawyer Bartolo Longo, the heart of modern Pompei and a pilgrimage site of four million a year.

  • Casa del Fauno

    Roman patrician house in the dig with a bronze faun at its center and the Alexander Mosaic floor depicting Issus, now in the Naples museum.

  • Villa dei Misteri

    Suburban Roman villa with frescoes of Dionysiac initiation rites, painted in the first century BC and uncovered between 1909 and 1930.

  • Teatro Grande di Pompei

    Hellenistic theater carved from the slope of the southern wall, seating five thousand and still used for summer performances.

  • Vesuvio

    1,281-meter active volcano three kilometers north of the town, last erupted in 1944, with a national park trail to the crater rim.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Pompei fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

We recommend

Where to eat

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

  • Il PrincipeRistorante

    Il Principe carries two Gambero Rosso forks (84/100), plus a spot in the Michelin Guide.

  • CapasantaRistorante

    Capasanta holds a spot in the Michelin Guide.

  • Cosmo RestaurantRistorante

    Cosmo Restaurant has a spot in the Michelin Guide to its name.

  • PresidentRistorante

    President has one Michelin star to its name.

Living here

  • Population 23,910
  • Commuter belti
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Naples / Salerno, 30 min drive
  • Regional capital Napoli, 24 min drive

Common questions

What is Pompei known for?
Pompei is the Roman city buried by Vesuvius in 79 AD, dug back up since 1748, and a modern town around Bartolo Longo's 1876 sanctuary.
Where is Pompei?
Pompei is a comune in the province of Napoli, in Campania, at 30 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Pompei?
Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 30 minutes by car.
Can you get to Pompei without a car?
Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
How long is the drive from Naples to Pompei?
About 24 minutes by car.
When is the best time to visit Pompei?
Best in May–Sep. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Pompei?
The town keeps its patron saint's day: Madonna del Rosario, 8 May.
Which other towns are like Pompei?
Bacoli, Vico Equense and Piano di Sorrento.
How many people live in Pompei?
23,910 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 30 m
  • Population: 23,910
  • Surface area: 12.42 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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