Private Tour of Naples-Pompeii, Sorrento and Amalfi Coast

[dianefish]

Please suggest a reasonably priced Private Tour Company and guide for 4 people to tour Pompeii, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast as well as any suggestions. We are taking our two little children with us. Limo In Rome was 500 Euros-too much money for our budget. AP Tours was 360 Euros. How much money is it to hire a Private Guide at Pompeii? Is it easy to find a guide to hire? Please suggest anything else along the route to do, see, eat, experience.

[agabbymama]

That sounds pretty much the going rate for the tour you want to do.

 

I had planned to take the hydrofoil to Sorrento, then the Circumvesuviana train back to Pompeii and on to Naples, then taxi back to the ship. My plan was foiled when the Grand Princess docked at the opposite end of the pier from the hydrofoil/ferry pier. Princess announced a shuttle would be available. The first hydrofoil left at 9:00, so we were off the ship at 8:15 only to be told the shuttle wouldn't start until 9:00. We were very disappointed, but a persistant taxi driver started talking to us, and we ended up hiring him for 200 EUROs (just two of us) to take us to Pompeii then on to Sorrento. We had him for 8 hours as our own personal driver. He wasn't a licensed guide, but it was wonderful. It was like living the life of the "rich and famous". We stopped where we wanted, and wasn't forced to go anywhere we didn't want to go. He escorted us across busy streets, carried our packages for us, recommended a nice restaurant for lunch, took us on a mini-tour of Naples (even though that wasn't in our initial proposal). It was expensive, but it was the best day of our 21 day trip.

 

There are plenty of taxi drivers at the port of Naples, all lined up waiting for folks to come off the cruise ships. You could always look for one with a large vehicle (most are smaller cars). They will usually haggle the price, and it is usually for the vehicle, not pp.

 

Have a great trip!

[chipmaster]

Please suggest a reasonably priced Private Tour Company and guide for 4 people to tour Pompeii, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast as well as any suggestions. We are taking our two little children with us. Limo In Rome was 500 Euros-too much money for our budget. AP Tours was 360 Euros. How much money is it to hire a Private Guide at Pompeii? Is it easy to find a guide to hire? Please suggest anything else along the route to do, see, eat, experience.

 

Private licensed guide at Pompeii are available for hire ~ 100 euros. They linger around the ticket entrance. We hired such a guide in Acropolis but made the mistake of not hiring in Pompeii. The place is huge and even with a good map a guide is invaluable. We enjoyed Pompeii with our free exploring but would probably have enjoyed it more with a guide.

 

The price you quoted is about right for RIL for a single vehicle. If you find a couple more people it becomse less then 100Euros/perons. The AP tour price is a good one, I doubt you can find a private for much less, you can always try a freelance taxi driver with its associated risk.

 

If you are doing Naples on a budget Pompeii and Sorrento or Capri make a good combo and doable for likely less then 50 / person ( NO guide of course ).

 

Good luck

[texancruzer]

We used APTours and this is indeed a good price. It is actually a new lower price as they recently lowered them.

 

This is one place you do not want to skimp....... a good reputable company will be sure and get you back to the ship on time.

 

Also.... you really need to remember there is a difference in a Driver and a Guide. The driver will get you from A to B to C etc..... but no info, history, etc etc..... they are expensive as their costs are ...... car, maintenance, insurance, gas ($10 a gallon) and their time. A guide (they must be licensed in Italy) that will be used in the major sites must go thru an extensive process to be licensed thereby assuring you a quality product. Actually - Europe is expensive. I always say "whatever you think you will need - double it"

[Aubiecruiser]

I highly recommend Francesco Marrapese. http://www.francescomarrapese.com/

He was our guide in Naples and went to Sorrento, Postiano, Amalfi, and Ravello. He will take you anywhere you want to go and was very professional. This private excursion was the highlight of our 12 day Med cruise last year.

Aubie

[dianefish]

Thank you for your responses. I too looked up Tour of Italy and found them to be the cheapest. Has anyone ever used them before? I thought I read that you could link up with other people when you arrive at Pompeii and pay 11 Euro admission along with 10 Euro per person for a group guide at Pompeii. Is this true? 100 Euros for my husband and I seems high. How difficult is it going to be to bring a 3 year old to Pompeii. We don't want to leave them on the ship as that would limit us to Pompeii only. We would not want to leave them in the camp for 9 hours. How much do you tip these private drivers and guides?

 

Please educated me on the Amalfi Coast. I looked at what the Solstice offers and some tours include Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, Pompeii and/or Capri. We definitely want to see Pompeii. Some tours include bus and boat combos in order to see it all.

 

One reply stated that you took a private taxi. Did you feel comfortable doing that? How aware was the driver on time? I heard that traffic can be horrible in that area. I don't want to miss the boat.

 

Thanks a million!

[Billiam]

I have used tourofitaly and also had Giovanni. You will be delighted. I don't know about a 3 year old at Pompeii however. It is difficult to traverse with rock walkways and curbs. You may want to skip this as it's not easy for anyone to walk with a child. My wife and I did this and had Giovanni hire us a guide for 2 hours and we enjoyed it but thought is was 4th behind Athens, Esphesus and Rome, we could have skipped it. This is subjective but IMO. We missed part of the Amalfi coast because of Pompeii and our Oct. trip will be the coast only and with Giovanni-------------- Happy Cruising-------

Edited June 23, 2009 by Billiam

[peaches80]

We just got back Sunday and we used Tour of Italy with Giovanni as our guide. The price was excellent - well below the others and worth every penny. Giovanni got us a tour guide at Pompeii whom we split with a few others so it ended up being about 13 Euros each. Pompeii is HOT!!! Be prepared, especially with children as it is grueling. Giovanni took us to Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, Sorrento and Positano. We really enjoyed it and would book with them again.

[dianefish]

Thank you for your recent information. I sent Giovanni an e-mail and am waiting for his response. What kind of transportation was it? How many people in your car? If Pompeii gets too difficult with the kids, then would you see it as being a problem to leave with Giovanni and move on to the next area ie. Sorrento? What did you do in the other areas? How much time in each? What time did you leave in the a.m. and return in the afternoon? I truly appreciate your insight.

[daring]

just returned from a wonderful experience.

 

Fabrizio Fiorinelli

direct line: +(39) 338 32 43 809

limousine@amalfi-drive.com

fabrizio@amalfi-drive.com

www.amalfi-drive.com

[texancruzer]

First of all you are going to love Solstice. We did the maiden Mediterranean voyage on her in May.

 

Second, Pompeii with a 3 year old can be done..... but be flexible. Like you said....when on a private tour you can leave whenever you want. Yes you can hook up with a group and a guide at the gate....but you might have to wait a while for the group to reach 10 people..... I have read about people waiting 30-45 minutes for the guide to get enough people..... we had our guide waiting for us when we got there (thru APTours) so not a minute wasted.

[Queenk2]

has anyone done a ghost tour with another company other than Viator? I was thinking of contacting my hotel, simply because you never know who you will get with Viator. In addition, you have to pay in advance and if the weather is terrible, you will feel obligated to go anyway,

Thanks,

Karen

[Billiam]

has anyone done a ghost tour with another company other than Viator? I was thinking of contacting my hotel, simply because you never know who you will get with Viator. In addition, you have to pay in advance and if the weather is terrible, you will feel obligated to go anyway,

Thanks,

Karen

We have done several tours with Viator and they are similiar to ship tours. I didn't do the ghost tour but didn't book in advance either. I usually booked the day before because of weather concerns and had no trouble getting the tours we wanted. There was usually a line buying tickets just before the tour began too. Be prepared to do the bus thing but it is structured to see the highlights. I had the hotel make the reservations and at least our hotel represented several different companies available for tours. You have choices, don't hurry to book. We were pleased with Viator if that helps-------Happy cruising

[elleen]

I've read about several of you who have used tourofitaly.com - a father / son tour group. We did contact them via email and they sounded nice, however wondered if you folks gave them your credit card number to hold the reservation and all was ok....they asked for cash when we got there for the tour. Please advise

[wactedout]

Hello, I read your posting. Do you have the email or how I can contact this APTours? I thank you. Going in Sept, Celebrity. Madelon Email Wactedout@att.net

[texancruzer]

Hello, I read your posting. Do you have the email or how I can contact this APTours? I thank you. Going in Sept, Celebrity. Madelon Email Wactedout@att.net

 

 

check your mail for aptours contact info :D

[canuck.qc]

Dianefish

We just got back from a Med tour and had similar questions.The train to Pompeii is the VERY VERY easy, fast and cheap, leave early a.m. save your $$ a taxi takes longer! Take a private guide at the door, 2-3hr max. with child, no wasted time with a guide. Then train back to Sorrento by 2:00ish. You could then take a private drive to Ravello, Positano, Amalfi. We used Benvenutolimos, went at our own pace (baby might sleep while you take in the sights on the drive) All this will depend how long you have in port....it was all much less complicated than I had antisipated, be prepared for the heat!

[xiaobei]

hi i am interested in knowing more about the train to Pompeii. Can someone tell me how to get there and the cost?

[Susan-M]

hi i am interested in knowing more about the train to Pompeii. Can someone tell me how to get there and the cost?

 

The Circumvesuviana train runs between Naples and Sorrento, with two of the stops being Ercolano Scavi, for Herculaneum and Pompei Scavi for Pompeii.

 

By scrolling through the threads on this forum and doing searches on both this forum and the Med forum, you'll see many threads on the topic of taking the train to these sites from Naples. Here's a recent one that should be of help: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1013419&highlight=circumvesuviana

 

Rick Steves guidebook on Italy has detailed advice on this as well.

Here's a link to some info from his website that is helpful for understanding this area. http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/italy/amalfi.htm

[CintiPam]

hi i am interested in knowing more about the train to Pompeii. Can someone tell me how to get there and the cost?

 

The Circumvesuviana train from Sorrento to Pompeii (which we took last month) costs less than 5 Euros roundtrip (was it 3.80 Euros?). Because Pompeii is about halfway between Naples and Sorrento, the cost should be about the same from Naples. The train station is an eight-minute walk from the main plaza in Sorrento, Piazza Tasso, west down the main street from the plaza. The ride takes about 30 minutes. Request the schedule when you purchase your ticket because the train does not run on the hour and half-hour. The station, Pompeii Scavi, is right across the street from the entrance to the excavations.

 

Easy peasy!

Edited July 28, 2009 by CintiPam

[erez]

We are a family of 11 members from Israel and we have just come back from a 12 days cruise in the East Med with RCL

We used Fabirzio Melaragno from Allarounditaly - he was great, knowledgeable, reliable, flexible and funny. He took care of all our transportation in Italy: from the airport to Rome, from Rome to Civitavecchia, from Napoli to a full day tour in Amalfi, Positano and Ravello, and from the port to the airport including a full day tour in Tarquinia, Bracciano, Ceri and Etruscans tombs. He has an air-conditioned van, and has very good English. He went out of his way to make our time with him enjoyable and unforgettable. We highly recommend him.

[carriecaz]

We have used Paolo Bellantonio for over 10 years, most recently this past June on our Windsurf cruise from Venice to Rome. He comes up with great ideas for how to see Amalfi coast. He is a great driver, not a guide, but can put you in touch with some amazing guides especially for Pompeii. He provides a personal touch and we consider him a friend of the family now.

 

www.bellantoniolimoservice.com

 

or his mobile

 

+39 338 248 4301

 

carriecaz

[sdsundance]

We returned from our cruise a month ago and really recommend allarounditaly.net for Naples and other cities in Italy. We also used this company for our tour of the Tuscan Countryside too. Our group of 11 was picked up promptly at the dock in Naples and we traveled on the Amalfi Drive with our guides Peppe and Julio in two large vans. The stops were terrific and commentary along the way outstanding. We even got to stop at Julio's home near Sorrento to see an Italian family household. Both guides are very knowledgable, particularly Peppe, a history buff. Their English was excellent. The had arranged a lunch for us and we stopped at a fabulous restaurant in Positano called Ristorante Da Costantino. The views were spectacular and the food all homemade and amazing. After lunch, we continued our tour with a trip to Pompeii where we met our private guide who was a university professor. He as so knowledgable and was able to show us some special areas that were not open to the big tours. We learned so much. We were returned to our ship on time and we were so grateful for our outstanding day in Naples with All Around Italy.

[flaff]

just returned from a wonderful experience.

 

Fabrizio Fiorinelli

direct line: +(39) 338 32 43 809

limousine@amalfi-drive.com

fabrizio@amalfi-drive.com

www.amalfi-drive.com

 

We were just with Fabrizio on August 28 doing the Amalfi Coast and it was SPECTACULAR!! Super guide and super tour; can't recommend him enough. His little "extras" really made the tour fantastic.:)

[Magster1]

We just returned from the Celebrity Equinox and hired Tour of Italy for ourselves and 12 year old daughter. Our driver was Giancarlo, the son. He was excellent. The car was a comfortable luxurious Mercedes and his price was well below the other company's we contacted. This was our second trip to the Amalfi coast and we didn't want to see Pompeii again, but did want to spend more time in the coastal towns. He drove us to Amalfi, Ravello and Positano where we had plenty of time to explore in each destination. His English is excellent, he was very informative and a pleasure to spend the day with. I highly recommend this company.