Which Naples Train Station Should You Arrive At?

Napoli Centrale or Napoli Afragola?

The gorgeous Napoli Afragola. If you see this, you're almost certainly in the wrong station.

To avoid milking this too much, without a doubt, you want Napoli Centrale, often called "Napoli Garibaldi" after the Piazza Garibaldi the train station is located at.

What's the difference between the two Naples train stations?

Napoli Centrale is the main train station for Naples. Where Rome has one major station (Termini) and a minor station (Tiburtina) with both having pros and cons, that isn't the case here.

Napoli Centrale is located in the center of the city, but on the edge of the tourist district. It's also where you will the Campania Express or Circumvesuviana (both are trains that can bring you to Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Sorrento, with the Campania Express being nicer and faster). Likewise, slightly behind the station is the bus station, which is where you will find buses to Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast, and Salerno.

(However, for the airport bus, which is also located at Napoli Centrale, you will need to leave the train station and cross to the right of the piazza where the bus picks up and drops off passengers).

Napoli Centrale is also where you will catch the only Metro line that exists in Naples and it brings you to some popular tourists stops (like Dante and Toledo).

On the other hand, Napoli Afragola is one stop before Napoli Centrale if you're coming from the north (Rome, Florence, etc.). I can't tell you the amount of times that Darcy and I overheard English-speaking tourists get out at Napoli Afragola and tried to explain to them that they probably don't want to be there.

Why?

Napoli Afragola is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by farmland, and a gorgeous building. It's a space-age building that emphasizes passive cooling techniques, sound-cancellation technology, and actively-cooled benches for the hot summer days. Unfortunately, it's close to nothing, you need a car to reach it, and as a tourist, there's no reason you should be getting off there, except to see the station itself.

Keep in mind:

While in Italy, you have to keep your passport on you at all times. By law, Italian police are allowed to ask for anyone's documents at any time, for any reason. If you don't have your passport on you, you can get fined.

This means, when walking through the train station (a hotspot for police to stop and ask for passports), it's best to have your passport on you if you're just using the train station as a hub for day trips to the coast or Pompeii.