How much does it cost to visit the ruins of Pompeii?
The Pompeii Express ticket costs EUR 20 and covers the ancient city for one day; Pompeii Plus, which adds the suburban villas and Boscoreale, costs EUR 25, and the three-day combined ticket costs EUR 30.
Verifiable answer
The Pompeii Express ticket costs EUR 20 and covers the ancient city for one day; Pompeii Plus, which adds the suburban villas and Boscoreale, costs EUR 25, and the three-day combined ticket costs EUR 30.
- How much does it cost to visit the ruins of Pompeii?
- €20 / ticket
- €0 – €30
- Pompeii, metropolitan city of Naples
- 31 July 2026
- Confidence: High
- One day inside the ancient city of Pompeii with the EUR 20 Express ticket; Suburban villas, Villa Regina and the Boscoreale Antiquarium with the EUR 25 Pompeii Plus; Oplontis, the Stabiae villas and the Libero D'Orsi museum with the EUR 30 three-day ticket; Access to whichever areas are open to the public on the day of the visit
- Any booking fee charged by the authorised online reseller; A licensed guide or guided tour, which is paid separately; Audio guide and printed material; Train or bus to reach Pompeii and car parking; Left luggage for anyone arriving with suitcases or oversized backpacks
- Which ticket you pick among Express, Plus and the three-day pass; Age and citizenship, which decide free entry or the two-euro rate; The day you visit, since the first Sunday of the month is free; How many Vesuvian sites besides Pompeii you want to see; How many times you expect to come back within twelve months; The sales channel, which may add a booking fee on top of the tariff
- 3 sources
Short answer
Pompeii does not sell one ticket but four overlapping ones, and since 12 January 2026 they all cost about five euro more: picking the wrong one is the easiest way to overpay or to miss half the site.
Search for the price of Pompeii and you will usually be given a single figure, but the archaeological park actually sells four different tickets covering different areas, and the gap between the cheapest and the most complete is ten euro. The basic ticket, called Pompeii Express, is valid for one day and covers only the ancient city inside the walls. Pompeii Plus adds the suburban villas — the Villa of the Mysteries and the Villa of Diomedes — together with Villa Regina and the Boscoreale Antiquarium. The three-day combined ticket widens the perimeter to Oplontis, the Stabiae villas and the Libero D'Orsi museum. There is also an annual card that suits people who live nearby. Since 12 January 2026 every one of these fares has risen by four or five euro, officially to fund accessibility work and maintenance. At the same time the park left the concessions untouched: under-18s free, a EUR 2 rate for EU citizens aged 18 to 25, and free entry for everyone on the first Sunday of the month. The result is a price list where what you pay depends far more on who you are and how much time you have than on the ticket itself.
What is included
- One day inside the ancient city of Pompeii with the EUR 20 Express ticket
- Suburban villas, Villa Regina and the Boscoreale Antiquarium with the EUR 25 Pompeii Plus
- Oplontis, the Stabiae villas and the Libero D'Orsi museum with the EUR 30 three-day ticket
- Access to whichever areas are open to the public on the day of the visit
What is not included
- Any booking fee charged by the authorised online reseller
- A licensed guide or guided tour, which is paid separately
- Audio guide and printed material
- Train or bus to reach Pompeii and car parking
- Left luggage for anyone arriving with suitcases or oversized backpacks
How the price breaks down
| Item | Type | Frequency | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pompeii Express ticketAdmission to the ancient city inside the walls, valid for one day. It is what most visitors buy when they arrive by train and give the site half a day. | Compulsory | one-off | €20 |
| Pompeii Plus ticketAdds the suburban villas — Villa of the Mysteries, Villa of Diomedes — plus Villa Regina and the Boscoreale Antiquarium. Five euro more than the basic ticket. | Optional | one-off | €25 |
| Three-day combined ticketCovers Pompeii, Boscoreale, Villa Arianna and Villa San Marco, Oplontis and the Libero D'Orsi museum in Castellammare di Stabia, valid for three days. | Optional | one-off | €30 |
| Reduced rate for EU citizens aged 18 to 25The national reduction on state museums survives the price rise: two euro instead of the full fare, with a document proving citizenship and age. | Optional | one-off | €2 |
| Single entry to Boscoreale, Oplontis or the Stabiae museumVisiting just one of the Vesuvian sites without going through Pompeii costs eight euro. The Stabiae villas, by contrast, are free. | Optional | one-off | €8 |
| MyPompeii annual cardA twelve-month pass at EUR 45, dropping to EUR 10 for EU citizens under 25. It pays for itself on the third visit. | Optional | per year | €45 |
| Free entry for under-18s and on the first Sunday of the monthUnder-18s get in free all year, and everyone gets in free on the first Sunday of each month. Booking is still required. | Optional | one-off | €0 |
What the price depends on
- Which ticket you pick among Express, Plus and the three-day pass
- Age and citizenship, which decide free entry or the two-euro rate
- The day you visit, since the first Sunday of the month is free
- How many Vesuvian sites besides Pompeii you want to see
- How many times you expect to come back within twelve months
- The sales channel, which may add a booking fee on top of the tariff
Hidden costs
- The cap of 20,000 visitors a day: in high season, turning up without a booking can mean buying a ticket for another date and paying for an extra night
- Bags may not exceed 30x30x15 centimetres, so anyone arriving from the station with a travel backpack has to pay for storage
- Tickets carry the visitor's name: one bought for someone else cannot be transferred and has to be repurchased
- The site is 44 hectares in the open air, so water, a hat and proper shoes become a real expense on summer days
- Choosing Express and then discovering that the Villa of the Mysteries lies outside the walls means buying a second full ticket instead of paying the five-euro Plus difference
Three realistic scenarios
Economy scenario
€0
Visit on the first Sunday of the month, when state sites are free for everyone: you pay only for travel, but you still need to book because the daily visitor cap stays in force.
Typical scenario
€20
A couple arrives by train from Naples, spends five or six hours on site and buys Pompeii Express: twenty euro each for the ancient city inside the walls.
Premium scenario
€30
Anyone staying three days in the Vesuvian area takes the EUR 30 combined ticket and sees Pompeii, Boscoreale, Oplontis, the Stabiae villas and the Libero D'Orsi museum on a single admission.
How to spend less
- Decide upfront whether you want the Villa of the Mysteries: if you do, Pompeii Plus at EUR 25 costs five euro more than Express and saves a second full ticket.
- If you are between 18 and 25 and a citizen of an EU country, bring proof: you pay two euro instead of twenty.
- With children under 18, count only the adults' tickets — minors get in free all year round.
- If you live in Campania and expect to return, the EUR 45 MyPompeii card pays for itself on the third visit, and costs EUR 10 for EU citizens under 25.
- State sites are free on the first Sunday of the month, but book anyway: free entry does not reserve you a slot.
- If you have three days and want Oplontis and Stabiae too, the EUR 30 combined ticket beats three separate admissions.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Pompeii Express and Pompeii Plus?
Express costs EUR 20, covers only the ancient city inside the walls and is valid for one day. Plus costs EUR 25 and adds the suburban villas — the Villa of the Mysteries and the Villa of Diomedes — together with Villa Regina and the Boscoreale Antiquarium. The Villa of the Mysteries, which many visitors assume is included, sits outside the walls: an Express ticket will not get you in. Five euro of difference therefore saves buying a second admission.
When is entry to Pompeii free?
Entry is free for under-18s all year and for everyone on the first Sunday of each month, because Pompeii takes part in the Ministry of Culture scheme covering state museums and archaeological parks. The 20,000-visitor daily cap still applies on free days, so you must book anyway: the concession covers the price, not the availability of a slot.
How much is the reduced ticket for young visitors?
Citizens of an EU country aged between 18 and 25 pay EUR 2, a reduction the park confirmed even after the tariff rise of 12 January 2026. You need a document proving both age and citizenship. The MyPompeii annual card is discounted for the same group: EUR 10 instead of 45, which makes it worthwhile even for one extra visit during the year.
Why did Pompeii tickets go up in 2026?
From 12 January 2026 the park raised Express from EUR 18 to 20, Plus from 22 to 25 and the three-day ticket from 26 to 30. In the release announcing the increase, the management links it to investment in accessibility, maintenance and visitor services, arguing that maintenance is what allows the site to survive and stay open. Concessions for minors, young Europeans and the first Sunday of the month were left unchanged.
Is the MyPompeii annual card worth it?
It costs EUR 45 and lasts twelve months, so it pays for itself on the third visit at the EUR 20 Express rate, or the second if you would otherwise buy Plus. For EU citizens under 25 the card costs EUR 10, less than a single full admission, so it pays off from the first visit. It is designed for people who live in the Vesuvian area or return regularly, not for a one-off tourist.
Can I buy the ticket at the gate or only online?
Both work: the park sells at the ticket offices of every entrance and at the automatic machines in Piazza Esedra, Porta Marina and Piazza Anfiteatro, while online there is a single authorised reseller. Tickets carry the visitor's name and cannot be transferred. With the cap of 20,000 visitors a day, arriving without a booking in high season means risking not getting in at all.
Sources and methodology
How we worked it out
The headline figure — EUR 20 for Pompeii Express — comes from the tariff published by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, the body that sets the price and therefore the primary source by definition. To rule out a stale page, the amount was cross-checked against the park's own press release announcing the rise from 12 January 2026, which spells out the previous fares: EUR 18 for Express, 22 for Plus, 26 for the three-day pass. The two agree. Free entry on the first Sunday was verified separately on the Ministry of Culture portal, because it is a national rule rather than a decision of this park. The published range excludes any booking fee charged by the authorised online reseller: the park's tariff does not state one, and we did not estimate it.
Why this confidence level
High confidence: the price comes from the tariff of the body that sets it, a level-5 source, and is confirmed by the official release announcing the 12 January 2026 rise, which also states the previous amounts. The two sources agree on all four ticket types. What remains uncertain is the final outlay rather than the price: the tariff does not publish the online reseller's commission, which is why the top of the range reflects only the three-day ticket.
The park's official tariff page: proves the EUR 20 Pompeii Express ticket, the EUR 25 Pompeii Plus, the EUR 30 three-day pass and the free-entry rules
Orari e tariffe — Parco Archeologico di Pompei (opens in a new tab)
Parco Archeologico di Pompei — Ministero della Cultura · Public authority · Verified on 31 July 2026
Tariff page checked on 31 July 2026. It lists the prices in force since 12 January 2026, the EUR 8 charged at the smaller sites of Boscoreale, Oplontis and Stabiae, free access to the Stabiae villas, the MyPompeii annual card and free entry for under-18s. It does not cover the booking fee an online reseller may add, which is absent from the tariff itself.
Authority5/5
Press release dating the increase and stating the previous prices: Express from EUR 18 to 20, Plus from 22 to 25, three-day pass from 26 to 30
Parco Archeologico di Pompei — Ministero della Cultura · Public authority · Verified on 31 July 2026
Used to date the rise and rule out stale figures on the tariff page: the release gives 12 January as the effective date, confirms the EUR 45 annual card, the EUR 2 reduced rate for EU citizens aged 18 to 25 and that free entry on the first Sunday of the month is unchanged.
Authority5/5
Proves that free entry on the first Sunday of the month is a national rule for state museums and archaeological parks, not a site-level promotion
Domenica al museo (opens in a new tab)
Ministero della Cultura · Public authority · Verified on 31 July 2026
Checked to confirm that the free admission mentioned by the park comes from the ministry-wide scheme covering all state institutions, and that booking stays mandatory wherever the site requires it.
Authority5/5
Revision history
First published on 31 July 2026, with the fares in force since 12 January 2026 verified against the Archaeological Park of Pompeii's tariff page and its official release announcing the increase.
- 31 July 2026
- 31 July 2026
- 31 October 2026
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