By Train in Naples and Pompeii

By Train

The crowded, chaotic, and somewhat grubby Stazione Centrale overflows onto Piazza Garibaldi, northeast of old Naples and the port. The station is currently being rebuilt, and a new, more modern station should emerge in 2008. At this writing, services include a pharmacy, travel agency, money exchange office, 24-hour luggage check (EUR 3.50 every 12 hours), post office, and visitor information office. A Wasteels branch office sells BIJ train tickets Monday-Saturday 9-7:30. If you're staying in Mergellina, some trains stop first at Stazione Mergellina, also near a hydrofoil port. If you arrive at night, consider taking a taxi to your hotel, especially as local rail transport around the stations grinds to a halt between 10 and 11 PM.

Efficient and generally reliable Eurostar trains leave for Rome almost every hour, and farther north to Florence and Milan, and south to Reggio Calabria every couple of hours. It is essential to prebook these services, and reserve a seat, though you can do this up to five minutes before departure. To avoid long queues at the ticket offices, you can buy tickets from many travel agents at no extra cost, or use the machines in the station concourse. For some services it's possible to book online.

Other than the two center-city metro lines, the lower level of the Stazione Centrale is also a main stop on the Ferrovia Circumvesuviana, which has its terminal at the Stazione Circumvesuviana, on Corso Garibaldi. Destinations include Ercolano (Herculaneum), Pompei (Pompeii), and Sorrento.

Contacts

Ferrovia Circumvesuviana (081/7722244. www.vesuviana.it). Stazione Centrale (Piazza Garibaldi, Piazza Garibaldi. 848/888088. www.fs-on-line.it). Stazione Mergellina (Corso Vittorio Emanuele 4, Mergellina. 848/888088. www.fs-on-line.it). Wasteels branch office (081/201071).