Best Day Trips from Naples
Are you looking for the best day trips from Naples, Italy?
Naples is the regional capital of Campania in southern Italy. It’s the third largest city in Italy after Rome and Milan, and it’s known for its delicious pizza, crazy drivers, and proximity to the Amalfi Coast.
A lot of people skip Naples or only spend a short time there, thinking it’s a dirty and chaotic city that’s not worth a visit. And I’ll be honest with you, Naples is a little rough around the edges. But if you can look past some of the grittiness, you’ll also find hidden charm and elegance around every corner in Naples.
Naples actually makes a great base for exploring Campania, including the Amalfi Coast. Staying in a large city means you’ll have convenient access to public transportation, including trains and ferries. Hotels and other accommodation in Naples is also much cheaper than than the Amalfi Coast.
You could easily spend a week in Naples just taking day trips around the region, visiting picture-perfect coastal towns, gorgeous islands, ancient ruins, and lesser-known gems in the countryside.
Here’s a look at the best day trips from Naples:
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Best Day Trips from Naples:
- Sorrento, Positano, and Amalfi day trip from Naples
- Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius combo tour with lunch
- Day trip to Capri from Naples with ferry tickets and a guide
Sorrento
One of the most popular day trips from Naples is Sorrento. This town marks the start of the Amalfi Coast, which stretches roughly 34 miles from Sorrento to Salerno. The great thing about Sorrento is it’s one of the few towns along the Amalfi Coast with a train station, making it an easy day trip from Naples.
By regional commuter train, it’s one hour and 15 minutes from Naples to Sorrento. Another options is taking the ferry, which doesn’t run as often as the train, but only takes 40 minutes. In Sorrento, you can explore the charming town, relax on the beach, sample limoncello, or shop in the many boutiques.
If you’d prefer to visit multiple destinations along the Amalfi Coast in one day, it’s better to drive since the smaller towns don’t have train stations. This full-day guided tour is a great option that includes pickup and round-trip transportation from Naples and stops in the towns of Sorrento, Positano, and Amalfi.
Positano
Positano is one of the most famous towns along the Amalfi Coast, and it’s also doable as a day trip from Naples. This colorful village looks like something straight out of a postcard, with its hilly streets and umbrella-adorned beach. Positano is also known for its high-end shopping and exclusive restaurants.
From Naples, it’s a little trickier to get to Positano. The most straightforward way is driving, but I don’t recommend renting a car in southern Italy, especially for the Amalfi Coast. The roads are narrow and winding, and the drivers are crazy. Not to mention, finding parking is a total nightmare.
You can get to Positano by taking a train or ferry to Sorrento, then taking the bus to Positano, but this can end up taking well over two hours. In my opinion, a tour is the easiest option for visiting Positano.
The full-day tour I mentioned above includes free time in Sorrento, Positano, and Amalfi, so you can get a taste of three great towns along the cost without having to worry about the logistics yourself.
Vietri sul Mare
One more town along the Amalfi Coast I wanted to highlight for a day trip is Vietri sul Mare. This town is on the southern end of the coast, close to Salerno. It’s not quite as touristy as Sorrento, Positano, or Amalfi, so it’s a great place to go if you want to avoid some of the crowds without sacrificing any of the charm.
Vietri sul Mare is absolutely breathtaking, with a quaint town and a lovely beach. The town is also known for its colorful ceramics, making this the perfect place to shop for a one-of-a-kind souvenir.
To get the Vietri sul Mare, you can take the high-speed train from Naples to Salerno, which takes 40 minutes. Then you just hop on the regional train and ride it two quick stops back to Vietri sul Mare.
Pompeii
If you’re interested in ancient history, the ruins of Pompeii is one of the best day trips to take from Naples. When nearby Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, the town of Pompeii was buried in ash, preserving it for nearly millennium and a half until the remarkable ruins were uncovered again in the 16th century.
Today, you can visit this incredible archaeological site to learn what life was like in ancient Pompeii before the eruption. You can also hike up Mount Vesuvius for sweeping views of the Gulf of Naples.
If you want to visit Pompeii on your own, the town is just a 30-minute train ride from Naples. Then it’s a 10-minute walk from the train station to the archaeological site. Another option is a tour.
This highly-rated tour includes pickup and round-trip transportation from Naples. You’ll visit Pompeii and take a guided tour of the ruins, have an included pizza lunch, and then hike up Mount Vesuvius. If you aren’t interested in hiking, this half-day tour from Naples just included a guided tour of Pompeii.
Capri
Capri is an amazing island in the Gulf of Naples known for its glamorous hotels, luxury shopping, and high-end restaurants. Rather than staying here and spending over $1,000 a night on a hotel, it’s the perfect destination to visit on a day trip instead, and you can easily get here by boat from Naples.
If you want to visit Capri independently, you can take the ferry from Naples. The fastest ferries take just 40 minutes, while the slower (and cheaper) ferries take one hour and 20 minutes.
You can also visit Capri on a guided tour. This full-day tour from Naples includes your ferry tickets, a guide who will accompany you to Capri, and a guided tour of Capri with transportation by minibus.
Procida
Although Capri gets a lot of hype, I actually think Procida is even better for a day trip. This small island in the Gulf of Naples has an area of just 1.6 square miles, making it easy to explore on foot in a day.
Procida is also a photographer’s dream, with colorful pastel houses overlooking a harbor filled with fishing boats. The island is super cute and fun to explore, and there are also some great beaches to check out.
You can easily get to Procida by ferry from Naples. The fastest ferries take just 40 minutes, while the longer ferries take about an hour. Like with all ferries in Naples, I recommend buying your tickets to Procida in advance to ensure they don’t sell out, especially if you are traveling in the summer high season.
Ischia
Ischia is a larger island in the Gulf of Naples that is under the radar for many foreign tourists, but a popular summer getaway for Italians. Since Ischia is larger than both Capri and Procida, you can easily spend several days on this island (which is what I did) but a day trip also works if you are short on time.
From Naples, you can take the fast ferry to Ischia in just 40 minutes. The slower ferries take 1.5 hours, but are cheaper. Once you arrive in Ischia, there is plenty to discover on this island.
My top picks are the Castello Aragonese, an amazing castle on a small island connected the main island by causeway, the Giardini Poseidon Terme, which are amazing thermal baths overlooking the sea, and Giardini la Mortella, a stunning botanical garden. Ischia is also home to excellent beaches.
Caserta
If you’re looking for something a little different than coastal towns and islands, head inland to Caserta to explore the Royal Palace of Caserta. This former royal residence is the largest in Italy, constructed in the mid 18th century for the King of Naples. Today, the sprawling palace and gardens is open to visitors.
Given how massive the whole complex is, you can easily spend the better part of a day here. If you’ve been to Versailles near Paris, this is basically the Italian version of that famous palace.
Getting to Caserta from Naples is very easy. It only takes 30 minutes on the train, and from the train station in Caserta, you are literally just steps away from the entrance to the palace grounds.
Paestum
If you want to escape the crowds of Pompeii, head to Paestum instead. This archaeological site south of Naples isn’t nearly as popular with tourists, yet it’s home to some truly amazing and well-preserved ancient ruins. It’s located out in the middle of the countryside, making it an idyllic day trip destination.
The archaeological park here features Greek and Roman ruins, including beautiful temples. It’s not hard to see why Paestum has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its historical significance. Paestum is also known for its bufala mozzarella, so cheese-lovers will also be happy to visit.
From Naples, you can take the regional train to Paestum, which takes about one hour and 15 minutes. Then it’s a ten-minute walk to the archaeological park. It’s important to note that there are only a couple of restaurants nearby — you’ll find more in the town along the coast, a 25-minute walk away.
Best Day Trips from Naples
This guide showed you the best day trips from Naples, Italy.
If you want to visit the Amalfi Coast on your own, my top two picks would be Sorrento or Vietri sul Mare since they are connected to Naples to train (and ferry too, in the case of Sorrento.) Or if you’d prefer to visit multiple towns along the Amalfi Coast, I’d recommend this full-day tour visiting three different towns.
For history buffs, Pompeii is the obvious choice, although Paestum is a great alternative with fewer crowds. And Caserta is an easy day trip if Baroque palaces are more your speed than ancient ruins.
For islands, Procida would probably be my top picks just because it’s small and easy to fully explore in a day, although Capri and Ischia are two other great islands that are also worth visiting.
Enjoy your trip to Italy!
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