How to get to the Naples Archaeological Museum

Metro line 1, Museo stop, and it's the most convenient: the museum's east staircase is immediately to your right as you exit the station. Alternatively, metro line 2, Cavour stop, and buses 201, R1, 139, 168, C63 and 178. Address: Piazza Museo 18/19, 80135 Naples. Two things that might throw you off: the main entrance will be moved to the west gate from February 5, 2025 due to works, so old maps will send you to the wrong door, and it's also the accessible entrance; and the museum has no parking; there are only blue-striped paid parking spaces around it.

Metro line 1Museo stop

Metro line 2Cavour stop

Bus201, R1, 139, 168, C63, 178

Entrancewest gate

Museum parkingdoes not exist

Alibus with Artecardexcluded

Are you choosing how to get in?At the ticket office, the ticket costs €20 with no booking fee. What you find online adds an app, a guide, or skip-the-line access.

Compare the six options

By metro, which is the right way

La line 1 stops at Museo and line 2 at Cavour; the two stations are connected, so whichever line you took, you've arrived. From the Museo stop, the museum's east staircase is immediately to your right as you exit: this detail can save you two minutes and a wasted walk, because the square in front is large and disorienting.

Then there's the part almost no one mentions: the Museo station itself is an “Art Station”. Opened on April 5, 2001, designed by Gae Aulenti with artistic coordination by Achille Bonito Oliva, platforms about 18 meters deep, Pompeian red plaster. It contains a full fiberglass reproduction of the Farnese Hercules and a bronze reproduction of the Laocoön. Considering that the real Hercules is in room 11, which is outside the guaranteed open rooms, there's a certain irony in the fact that the copy is always visible and the original is not. Which rooms are guaranteed, and which are not.

One thing not to promise anyone: the Stazione Neapolis, which collects artifacts found during the subway excavations, is “currently closed to the public”. Some pages, including Artecard's, still describe it as open.

From the airport

Alibus to Napoli Centrale, then metro. Just one warning, and it's the one that makes people angry at the bus stop: the Alibus is not included in any Campania Artecard, of any type. Urban transport is, but that bus isn't. If you bought the card thinking you'd get to the city centre for free, the Alibus ticket is paid separately. I've done the maths on the Artecard and when it's worth it on the tickets page.

By car, and why it's not worth it

Ring road exits Corso Malta o Capodimonte. Then the problem: the museum has no parking and there are only blue lines around it. I'm not rooting for the metro for show: in the museum's neighbourhood, finding paid parking mid-morning is a lottery, and your museum ticket doesn't give you any parking concessions.

The western entrance, and the map that sends you elsewhere

From February 5, 2025 the main entrance is moved to the western entrance due to works. Anyone arriving with an old paper guide, a two-year-old screenshot, or an audio guide recorded before the move will walk around the building before realising. This isn't hypothetical: a review of an audio guide sold online says exactly this, "A bit difficult to understand where things were, as the entrance has been moved since the guide was created", and the operator responds confirming the works. Reviews of the six products, without discounts, are here.

The western entrance is also the accessible entrance. The museum guarantees priority access to people with disabilities, pregnant women, and elderly people with reduced mobility.

Insider tip

If you arrive by metro and have difficulty walking, note that once inside, the lifts "only serve the wing of the Museum in which they are located": on the first floor, to change wings, you go back to the ground floor. The second floor, however, can be crossed entirely, passing through the Salone della Meridiana.

Once you arrive: ticket office, cloakroom, rules

Ticket office. It opens with the museum and closes at 6:30 PM, which is the last entry; closing operations begin at 7 PM. At the ticket office, the ticket costs €20 and the pre-sale fee is zero, so booking on the official museum ticket office doesn't save you money or cost more: it only changes the queue.
Phone. CoopCulture ticket office and reservations, 081 0098800, every day 9 AM–5 PM. The museum's contact page doesn't publish any number, so this is the one to keep.
Free cloakroom. The museum asks you to leave backpacks, helmets, umbrellas, bags, and bulky items; it does not accept luggage over 55×40×20 cm, nor food or glass containers. Coats and jackets stay with you.
Photos. "You are free to photograph, video, and draw, always and exclusively for personal use". Authorisation is required for flashes, tripods, drones, and professional equipment; selfie sticks are not allowed.
Closed on Tuesdays, except when it falls on a public holiday: then it opens and closes on Wednesday. Don't make the trip without checking the opening hours and calendar.

If you want to enter without thinking about it

There is a queue at the ticket office, and it's noticeable in high season. The product with priority entrance and digital guide starts from €34 at the time of writing, compared to €20 at the ticket office: fourteen euros not to queue and to have a guide on your phone. One review defends the choice directly — "The purpose of the purchase was to avoid the huge queue at the ticket office. And I entered without queuing" — and another on the same listing says the audio guide was disappointing. You decide which of the two statements resonates with you.

Priority entrance availability

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before on all six options listed here — book now and decide later.

Priority entrance

Frequently asked questions

How do you get to the Naples Archaeological Museum by metro?

Line 1, Museo stop: when you exit, the museum's eastern staircase is immediately to your right. Alternatively, Line 2, Cavour stop. The address is Piazza Museo 18/19, 80135 Naples, and from February 5, 2025, entry is through the western door.

Where do you enter MANN?

From the western door, from February 5, 2025, due to works: this is also the accessible entrance. Maps and audio guides created before that date indicate the old entrance, which is why some people walk around the building. Once inside, the room-by-room itinerary is here.

Is there parking at the Naples Archaeological Museum?

No, the museum does not have parking: there are only blue lines around it. By car, you exit the ring road at Corso Malta or Capodimonte, but for the center of Naples, the metro remains the fastest solution.

Is the Alibus from the airport included in the Campania Artecard?

No, not in any Artecard option. Urban transport is included in the Naples 3-day and Campania 3-day passes, but the Alibus is not and must be paid for separately. I calculate when the Artecard is really worth it on the tickets page.

What time does the ticket office close?

At 6:30 PM, which is the last entry. The museum closes at 7:30 PM, but closing operations begin at 7 PM, so those who enter at 6:25 PM have little more than half an hour.