A day card that only says “Pompeii” often hides the real constraint. The park’s official pages combine nominative tickets, a daily visitor cap, and — in summer — separate morning and afternoon admission ceilings. From 15 October, last entry moves to 15:30. Treat the slot as a hard arrival window with a transfer buffer, not as a soft intention.
The signal: capacity windows, not a casual afternoon
On 13 October 2026 we opened the Archaeological Park of Pompeii’s timetables-and-tickets page. From 16 March to 14 October, admissions are split into two windows: 09:00–13:00 with a maximum of 15,000 entries, and 13:00–17:30 with a maximum of 5,000 entries, inside an overall daily limit of 20,000. Tickets are personal (nominative). Online purchase goes through the official Vivaticket channel; advance buyers receive a PDF for the turnstiles.
The same page shows the season clock. From 15 October to 15 March, Pompeii opens at 09:00, last entry is 15:30, and the site closes at 17:00. Summer closing runs later (last entry 17:30, close 19:00). A family that plans “Pompeii after a late lunch” on a winter date is planning past last entry.
A parallel museum example, not Pompeii policy: MANN’s visitor regulation recommends buying online with a preferred time slot and warns that on-site purchase does not guarantee quick entry. Timed arrival language shows up in more than one Campania ticket path.
What breaks when a slot is read as soft
The morning ceiling: summer’s larger cap sits before 13:00. Treating “timed entry” as “any time before close” ignores which window you actually hold.
The nominative ticket: a personal ticket is not a transferrable walk-up voucher. Names and dates have to match what Vivaticket issued.
The transfer buffer: Circumvesuviana time, the walk from Pompei Villa dei Misteri to Porta Marina or Piazza Esedra, and security all sit before the slot starts counting as “inside”.
The season flip: after 14 October, last entry is 15:30. A plan copied from a summer blog without reopening the hours table fails quietly until the gate.
Four checks before you write “Pompeii” on the day
Treat a timed slot as a hard arrival window
Which window you hold: morning or afternoon in summer; or the winter day with its 15:30 last entry. Write the clock on the day card.
Which names are on the ticket: nominative tickets need matching travellers. Do not assume a spare adult can use a child’s spare.
How you reach the gate: which Circumvesuviana stop and which entrance, plus a buffer before the slot — not a hope that the train is punctual.
What happens if you miss it: whether your ticket path allows a change, or whether missing the window means buying again. Re-open the Vivaticket rules for your date, and don’t assume a refund.
The four checks are our recommendation, built from the park’s own pages. They are not a single handout the park publishes for families. Hours, caps and ticket rules change, so re-open the page the week before you go.
Where Alfred fits
Alfred starts from a travelling profile. On web Lets Go, Holiday takes origin, destination, dates, a budget step and a day pace, then Plan my trip queues generation. Alfred does not issue a Pompeii ticket, hold a Vivaticket slot, read the 20,000 daily cap, or verify winter last entry while it writes the day.
When the itinerary is ACTIVE, it can be viewed, edited and shared. An item’s title, notes and times can be edited by hand, so “Vivaticket morning window — last entry 15:30 winter” can sit on the Pompeii card itself. Book opens a partner checkout. It does not buy a park ticket.
Practical next step
Take every timed park or museum morning on your plan and fill in the four checks. If the window, the names, the transfer buffer or the miss-plan is blank, the slot is still a soft intention. Write the hard clock on the day card before the morning you go.
Plan your trip with Alfred
Start with your people, dates and pace, then review the editable plan before booking.
Plan your trip with Alfred