POMPEII --Guided or Self guided tour?

[Falcons07]

Trying to decide whether to do our own self guided tour or hire a guide for Pompeii???..... My husband & I, as well as the couple traveling with us, have all done research on Pompeii, but I want to get an opinion from anyone who has done either guide / DIY or both !

 

Thanks...:)

 

 

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[hubofhockey]

Trying to decide whether to do our own self guided tour or hire a guide for Pompeii???..... My husband & I, as well as the couple traveling with us, have all done research on Pompeii, but I want to get an opinion from anyone who has done either guide / DIY or both !

 

Thanks...:)

 

 

....

 

My opinion is that you should hire a guide. We had one and we would have been lost without one.

 

The Princess guest port lecturer (not a Princess employee) recommended hiring guides for Pompeii, Acropolis, and Ephesus. I would agree with him.

 

Have a great cruise.

[dileep]

We did it with 2 other couples using our guide book at our own pace.

[ab0si]

Personal preference.

 

My first trip to Pompeii was with my spouse. She wanted a guide, so we hired a guide. She enjoyed it but I heard nothing from the guide that I didn't know already from my research. But, then, I'm a dweeb and a nerd. Also, I was younger than with a better memory. :)

 

The cost per person for a guide (with your group of four) is really not all that much, so unless you are as crazy as I was (am), it will most likely be a good investment.

[gemz]

Thank you ab0si. Should we just use one of the tour guides that are just outside the Pompeii ruins or should we pre-book someone and meet us there?

Would you know approximately how much a tour guide outside the Pompeii ruins would be?

[cruisemom42]

.......I heard nothing from the guide that I didn't know already from my research. But, then, I'm a dweeb and a nerd.

 

You and me both!

 

I have done most major sites both ways. I prefer to do them on my own, without a guidebook. Most guides repeat what I already know and have a tendency to rush me through areas where I want to spend more time (and conversely spend an inordinate amount of time where I have little interest.....like, say, the map room at the Vatican museum.)

 

However, as was pointed out on another recent thread, the key isn't what WE prefer, it's what YOU prefer. Do you enjoy things more if you can have someone telling you the information while you look? Have you already done so much research that you feel a guide would just repeat a lot of what you know?

 

By the way, there is an excellent detailed map and brochure available at Pompeii. They don't give it out automatically; you have to ask for it. But it reallys helps in terms of finding your way to many of the key sites.

[chipmaster]

The place is simply HUGE, we choose not to get a guide, to this day we still regret it as we were a party of 13 and a guide would have been almost nothing divided by so many. We were on a tight schedule so the guide would have really helped out in getting us quickly to the big sights and giving us stories.

 

Trying to decide whether to do our own self guided tour or hire a guide for Pompeii???..... My husband & I, as well as the couple traveling with us, have all done research on Pompeii, but I want to get an opinion from anyone who has done either guide / DIY or both !

 

Thanks...:)

 

 

....

[cruisemom42]

You and me both!

 

I have done most major sites both ways. I prefer to do them on my own, without a guidebook.

 

 

Oops, that should read "with a guidebook." Or maybe "without a guide." :o

[ab0si]

Thank you ab0si. Should we just use one of the tour guides that are just outside the Pompeii ruins or should we pre-book someone and meet us there?

Would you know approximately how much a tour guide outside the Pompeii ruins would be?

 

It was quite a few years ago (like 20 years), so the cost then is irrelevant to what you will pay today. I've self-guided myself since then. We used a guide we picked up on site. I would guess (note: guess) that it will be less expensive to pick one up rather than pre-book.

 

I completely agree with Cruisemom's comment: She and I are nerds who read several books and study maps in advance. The fact that we prefer self-guided adventures certainly does not mean it is best for everyone. Note also that Ihad a full day to wander around the site.

[financialgrl]

I went with ship sponsored tour in the 3 ruins places - Pompeii, Ephesus and Acopolis. I am not a great history buff but will say Pompeii and Ephesus had absolutely fantastic guides, while Acropolis only so so. Still enjoyed all 3 tours, though.

[carlmm]

It depends on your level of interest and the amount of time you are willing to spend at Pompeii, too.

 

If you have only a limited amount of time, let's say not more than two hours, and just want to get a kind of impression, a guide could be a good choice. He will lead you on a proven route and give you basic information of the history and a few sights in a limited area.

 

If you have more time, have done some research before, are interest in a deeper insight, I would recommend to use a very good guide book or the audio tour available on site; you get much more out of the experience if you do it on your own. The excavation site is vast, actually large parts of a whole city, and you could visit for several days and still see something new. DIY gives you the chance to discover more at your own pace.

[Ontariotrekker]

Check on their website to see if they rent headphones and a map guide. I'm pretty sure I saw people walking around the site with them in June. Enjoy

[cruisemom42]

Thank you ab0si. Should we just use one of the tour guides that are just outside the Pompeii ruins or should we pre-book someone and meet us there?

Would you know approximately how much a tour guide outside the Pompeii ruins would be?

 

From what I've read here, guides are available onsite and cost around 100 euro for an approximately 2 hour tour for up to 10 or so people. If you have only 2 people, the cost is still 100 euro; but most guides will be willing to try to get a larger group together.

[Falcons07]

From what I've read here, guides are available onsite and cost around 100 euro for an approximately 2 hour tour for up to 10 or so people. If you have only 2 people, the cost is still 100 euro; but most guides will be willing to try to get a larger group together.

 

 

First, let me say I LOVE reading your posts !!! I have gleaned so much information from you.

As for Pompeii, we are touring with Romeinlimo, so we can get the guide through Jany. There will be 8 in our group. I, along with my husband and one other couple have read extensively about our ports, esp. Pompeii. Our original plan was to just do the DIY, but heard from friends they regretted not having a guide. So I am gathering some other opinions from here.

Thank you again for sharing all your knowledge !

 

Take care, Terry

 

 

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[SimplyGaia]

I think a guide is a MUST. The audio guide at Pompeii is really confusing so I wouldn't go for that. A good guide does not just repeat what you get in the guide books but understands what you are interested in and tries to make what's on offer pertinent to you. They also know how to skirt the crowds of this vast site and get you into private villas that aren't always open to the public. We had Franco Morvillo and have referred him to many people who think he's the best like we do. His email is just his full name at hotmail.it.

[ajtraveler66]

Trying to decide whether to do our own self guided tour or hire a guide for Pompeii???..... My husband & I, as well as the couple traveling with us, have all done research on Pompeii, but I want to get an opinion from anyone who has done either guide / DIY or both !

 

Thanks...:)

 

 

....

 

Just got back from a W. Med cruise. We did a tour that combined Pompei and Amalfi Drive. Our tour guide was with us all day, and he was the most enthusiastic of our guides all week long. I would suggest you go with the guide while in Pompei. But it is very, very hot in Naples (at this time of year especially). A full day at Pompei might be a bit exhausting). I would strongly suggest that you throw in the Amalfi Drive while you are in the area.

The Naples day was my favorite day of the cruise. Skipping the Amalfi Drive would have been a shame.

[Falcons07]

Just got back from a W. Med cruise. We did a tour that combined Pompei and Amalfi Drive. Our tour guide was with us all day, and he was the most enthusiastic of our guides all week long. I would suggest you go with the guide while in Pompei. But it is very, very hot in Naples (at this time of year especially). A full day at Pompei might be a bit exhausting). I would strongly suggest that you throw in the Amalfi Drive while you are in the area.

The Naples day was my favorite day of the cruise. Skipping the Amalfi Drive would have been a shame.

 

Thanks, our tour does include Almalfi Drive. We will be at Pompeii for about 2 1/2 hours, our 'group' has decided on getting a guide ,there are only 8 of us. Our cruise runs Sept.24 - Oct 6....hope the weather is a little 'less hot' ...LOL :eek:

 

My husband and I are fortunate, we will be doing the Med. again next Sept.. Rome, Naples & Livorno are repeats..so we can follow up on things we missed.:)

 

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[whenthecatsaway]

Would definitely get a guide as its a really large site and I don't feel we did it justice when we tried to do it independently last November:(.Walked from the ship to the train station but didn't think Naples was very savoury so just be aware of where your wallets, cameras etc are:eek:

 

Voyager of the Seas Western Med 2009

[labeachcomber]

From what I've read here, guides are available onsite and cost around 100 euro for an approximately 2 hour tour for up to 10 or so people. If you have only 2 people, the cost is still 100 euro; but most guides will be willing to try to get a larger group together.

 

Just came back from Celebrity Equinox 7/16. This is correct. A guide is 100 Euro for up to 10 people. There were some guides trying to round up groups of 10 before heading in. I don't think it is any cheaper if you are not able to get 10.

 

There are audioguides that you can get for a nominal cost.

 

We downloaded Rick Steves free Podcast about Pompeii. It was excellent. We only had about two hours to walk around, and his Podcast gave you about 50 minutes or so. Seemed to follow pretty much the same route that a lot of the big ship excursion tours were going on. We don't feel like we missed out on anything. Had some conversations with other passengers that night about Pompeii who went on ship excursion and we were all talking about the same details and things.

[whale-watcher]

We are also dweebs, and prefer to read up in advance, and then explore on our own with the help of a good guidebook...

 

a good guide can be wonderful (we had one in ephesus), but otherwise, they tend to spend too much time in certain areas and not enough time in others; we prefer to concentrate on the things that interest us the most.

[nic_x]

Glad to hear about the quality of the Rick Steves podcast. My husband and I have been to Pompeii before. However, we'll be there with our kids in August and downloaded the podcasts. Given that you can sometimes wait awhile for a guide to get a group, and that it'll be hot, we wanted to be able to get started right on arrival and go at our own pace (and then get out if it's blistering hot, because the kids will lose interest fast if they're overheated.)

[michaeleds]

We just got back from Italy and Pompeii... we had a great Tour guide and it was amazing... check out our short video you will notice at towards the end of video where you will see a portion of our tour guide...

 

[notentirelynormal]

Very nice... thanks michaeleds

[artistcleveland]

Just got back from a W. Med cruise. We did a tour that combined Pompei and Amalfi Drive. Our tour guide was with us all day, and he was the most enthusiastic of our guides all week long. I would suggest you go with the guide while in Pompei. But it is very, very hot in Naples (at this time of year especially). A full day at Pompei might be a bit exhausting). I would strongly suggest that you throw in the Amalfi Drive while you are in the area.

 

The Naples day was my favorite day of the cruise. Skipping the Amalfi Drive would have been a shame.

 

Which tour company did you use for this excursion?

[artistcleveland]

We just got back from Italy and Pompeii... we had a great Tour guide and it was amazing... check out our short video you will notice at towards the end of video where you will see a portion of our tour guide...

 

 

nice video; which tour guide company did you use? did you get the guide when you arrived at Pompeii or booked ahead?