I was answering another poster when I had this question. I’m 90% sure you can’t buy Vesuviana tickets online or in advance, but I wasn’t sure.
Note to people trying to make a connection from Rome, if you are counting on making a connection…
I speak a little Italian and I still think the Vesuviana kiosks are particularly confusing. So if you need to count on ticket window, you may not make a particularly tight connection.
I think you are right. IIRC we had to buy our tickets at the station.
You can actually book eg. Rome - Sorrento on Trenitalia, and you will get the Circumvesuviana ticket add to your booking.
The Circum...... is a private, commuter line. You buy the tickets in the station prior to boarding. No reserve seats or anything. If it is packed you stand still a seat becomes available. Mid-morning, mid-afternoon will have plenty of room.
At least one poster here said he saw Tap and Go starting to be installed at the Circumvesuviana. But who knows how far it is, and whether (and where ... ) you might have to Tap OUT. No personal observation.
As who has taken thousands of NYC subway trains, I don't see much point in worrying about missing a twice-hourly Circumvesuviana departure. Not only it is likely to not be on time (we're talking about southern Italy here!!), but your arriving transport will not be on time, either. So it's all a matter of PROBABILITY whether you miss the next train. It's a long walk from the foot of the Naples escalator, by the way. And twice as far from the paid toilets on the same level.
Social Psychology studies issues like how people perceive waiting time. But the fact remains that the Average Waiting TIme for a twice-hourly Circumvesuviana is 15 minutes. Except when a scheduled departure fails to take place. What!!!
@Tim Because an extra half hour wait is fairly significant in the context of evaluating whether a daytrip makes sense.
