Stabian Baths: are they open, and how do the rooms work?
The men's section is open 9:15 to 16:20, last entrance 16:00, on any Pompeii ticket. Among the oldest baths known in the Roman world, 2nd century BC, in Regio VII with the main door on Via dell'Abbondanza. Courtyard, pool, then the four rooms in order: changing room, cold, warm, hot.
By Chiara Vitale · Sources checked
- Stabian Baths, men's section, Regio VII: 9:15–16:20, last entrance 16:00
- Included in the €20, €25 and €30 tickets; nothing extra to buy
- Nearest gates: Porta Marina or Piazza Esedra, from Pompei Villa dei Misteri station
- Main entrance on Via dell'Abbondanza; the women's door was on Vicolo del Lupanare
How did the baths work?
In from Via dell'Abbondanza into a big courtyard. Pool on the left, colonnade on the right. The colonnade leads to the men's rooms, in the order you'd use them: the apodyterium to undress, the frigidarium for the cold bath, the tepidarium for warm, the calidarium for hot.
The heat came from furnaces and movable braziers, and traveled through pipes in the walls and under double floors. The women's section sat next to the men's: a changing room, a warm room and a hot room, smaller and plainer, with their own door marked MULIER in the northwest corner of the courtyard, on Vicolo del Lupanare. Men and women bathed apart; that was normal.
The baths date from the 2nd century BC, among the oldest known in the Roman world. Dug out in 1853 to 1857 and 1865.
What to see, in order
The men's rooms, in bathing order
Take them in the order a Pompeian did. The niches in the changing room held clothes. The hot room is the one with the double floor; look for the gap where the warm air ran.
The stucco and the courtyard
Look up in the men's section: the vaults keep their stucco. Then back out to the courtyard for the pool and the colonnade. The women's door on Vicolo del Lupanare is worth a look from the lane.
Park Houses list, summer March 16 to October 14.
How do I get there?
- Take the Sorrento line to Pompei Villa dei Misteri. Enter at Porta Marina or Piazza Esedra with your ID.
- Start the park's Path 2: the Stabian Baths are its first stop, on Via dell'Abbondanza east of the Forum.
- Use the main door on Via dell'Abbondanza. The courtyard is first; the men's rooms are off the colonnade to the right.
- Be there before 18:00. Last entrance 18:00; the site itself admits until 17:30.
Park "How to get there"; map and guide.
Will a guided tour include the baths?
All tour selections →Most 2-hour walks do. The walk with the most reviews and the fifteen-place walk with entry both name the Stabian Baths in their route. What I'd do: a guided walk for the sequence of rooms; a guide makes the heating make sense.
Tour selections compare routes, tickets and meeting points; the tour page shows the route line. tour listings, data from September 19 and 20, 2026.
Before you go
Which ticket do I need?
Any Pompeii ticket: €20, €25 or €30. The baths are inside the walls, on Via dell'Abbondanza.
Are the women's baths open?
The park's list names the men's section, 9:15 to 16:20. The women's rooms aren't listed separately. Check the full list; it rereads the park's page twice a day.
Which is the hot room?
The calidarium, last in the sequence. Furnaces and braziers heated it; the hot air ran through wall pipes and under a raised floor.
Where was the women's entrance?
In the northwest corner of the courtyard, opening onto Vicolo del Lupanare, with MULIER written over it.
How long does it take?
The park publishes no times. The four rooms and the courtyard take me 20 minutes. What I'd do: pair it with the Lupanar on the lane behind and the Forum after.
How old are they?
2nd century BC, which makes them among the oldest baths known anywhere in the Roman world. Excavated 1853 to 1857 and in 1865.
Park ticket table, prices effective January 12, 2026; park page on the baths.