Pompeii entrances: which one to use

Porta Marina

It's the entrance almost everyone uses, and for good reason: the Pompei Scavi Circumvesuviana station is just a short walk away. From here, you head up toward the Forum and enter the city from the upper part, which is also the best way to understand how it was laid out. It's also where you pick up your vouchers, along with Piazza Porta Marina Inferiore.

Piazza Anfiteatro

It gives you direct access to the eastern area: the Amphitheatre, the oldest known Roman amphitheatre, and the Great Gymnasium. It makes sense if the Amphitheatre is your main interest, or if you want to explore in the opposite direction to the crowds and only cross paths with tour groups at the end.

Piazza Esedra

This is the entrance designed for groups, so you’ll often see it listed on organised tours, and it’s the recommended access point for the Antiquarium. There’s a supervised car park here too.

A special case: tours with a fixed meeting point

Some tours have a specific meeting spot — the tour combining Pompeii and Herculaneum, for example, meets at Porta Marina Superiore in front of Hortus Bar. If you’ve booked a guided tour, the entrance is chosen by the operator and you follow that: the options are in the guided tours. If you’re entering on your own, pick the entrance based on how you arrive (how to get there).

Frequently asked questions