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.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Pompei is on our list
It holds UNESCO and Città della Nocciola.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 24 min from Naples
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 23,647
- J13°
- F15°
- M16°
- A18°
- M23°
- J27°
- J31°
- A31°
- S27°
- O23°
- N18°
- D15°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 28° and coldest in February at 15°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Pompei sits on a volcanic plateau on the south slope of Vesuvius, twenty kilometers from Naples and a few kilometers inland 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.
How to get there
From Naples (NAP), about 30 min by car.
Rome Fiumicino (FCO) is about 2 h 50 min away.
By car from the center of Naples 24 min or Salerno 31 min.
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 center.
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 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Naples airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
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.
From the guides
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.
1 more place the guides name in Pompei
PresidentRistorante
President has one Michelin star to its name.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Pompei meets 1 of our 2 rules for a small town.
- 23,647 people, above our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: big enough that it can split into neighborhoods.
- Castellammare di Stabia, a city of 62,320, is 12 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 23,647, down 7.1% since 2015
- Nearest city Castellammare di Stabia, 12 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Boscotrecase, 5 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €2,150 to €3,300 per m² to buy, €6.80 to €10.50 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 70% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Naples airport (NAP), 30 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Naples, 24 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
3% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Ukraine, China and Bulgaria, against 9% across Italy. 14 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly France. There are 170 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 22% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Naples province ranks 104th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Boscotrecase, 5 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Naples, 25 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Vico Equense, 11 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 210 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is École Francaise de Naples Alexandre-Dumas, 24 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.06% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: check before you count on it. The limit rose to 30,000 people in April 2026 and guidance is still to come. The regime is for someone with a foreign pension who has lived abroad for five years: 7% on foreign income, for ten years.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Campania spends about €1,800 a month, €650 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €328 a year for water, on the Campania average. In Naples, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.25, a meal in a pizzeria €11.02 and a man's haircut €18.55.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone C, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 15 to March 31, up to 10 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 21% in a high or medium one. They show no residents in a high landslide zone.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
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.
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?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Naples (NAP), about 30 min 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 min 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.
- Which other towns are like Pompei?
- Bacoli, Vico Equense and Piano di Sorrento.
- How many people live in Pompei?
- 23,647 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Pompei a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Pompei is a small town that meets 1 of our 2 rules. The nearest city, Castellammare di Stabia, is 12 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Boscotrecase, 5 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 70% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
The numbers
- Elevation: 30 m
- Population: 23,647
- 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.
The ranked lists
Lists Pompei appears in
- The best towns that eat well within 45 minutes of NaplesNear Napleswithin 45 mineats well6 towns · smallest 23,647 residents · closest 16 min away
- The best towns with a World Heritage site that sit inside a national park in CampaniaCampaniainside a parkWorld Heritage6 towns · smallest 4,819 residents
- The best towns inside a nature park that eat well in the province of NapoliNapoli provinceinside a parkeats well7 towns · smallest 12,213 residents
- The best towns you can reach by train within 45 minutes of NaplesNear Naplesby trainwithin 45 min7 towns · smallest 23,647 residents · closest 16 min away
- The best towns with a serious restaurant that eat well within 90 minutes of NaplesNear Napleswithin 90 minserious restauranteats well8 towns · smallest 6,368 residents · closest 24 min away
- The best towns with a World Heritage site that you can reach by train in CampaniaCampaniaby trainWorld Heritage8 towns · smallest 5,832 residents
Featured on
Pompei appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Pompei
What all six share with Pompei: over 10,000 people · near sea level · have a railway station in the comune
Bacoli
Province: Napoli
both on the Tyrrhenian coast
Vico Equense
Province: Napoli
both on the Tyrrhenian coast
Piano di Sorrento
Province: Napoli
both on the Tyrrhenian coast
Minturno
Province: Latina
both on the Tyrrhenian coast
Fondi
Province: Latina
both on the Tyrrhenian coast
Ercolano
Province: Napoli
20 min apart by road
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