Amalfi towns & Pompeii questions

[hylasgirl]

Just wanted to say thanks for the additional info and replies. I was surprised to see this thread bumped up again! We ended up booking with RIL and will be visiting Pompeii and Amalfi coast next month. They advised to try for Sorrento and Positano, so I will take their word for it. If we can squeeze in another town, great, if not, oh well! There's always another time. I'll make sure to update on how it went when I get back.

 

 

Romeinlimo is fantastic. You will have a great day. We did both Sorrento and Positano with them this last year... and also the year before that. On a whole, I prefer Sorrento, but the drive to Positano is certainly nice! We had them take us to this restaurant WAY above Positano on both occasions and it was fabulous! We actually had clouds coming in the windows. It's called Tagliata. We made reservations beforehand with them so they knew we were coming. Also... Pompeii is amazing! I keep thinking I will do something different each time I return to Naples and then once I get there I want to see more of Pompeii.

 

Have a great time!

[GeorgiaPeach51]

First, I'm not interested in tour sharing with the roll call. I'd rather not be cramped in a van with others, a private car is preferable to me. I'm fine with that cost, but the added tour guide cost is pretty pricey for two.

 

Thanks again, Hank and Texancruzer, your explanations were exactly what I was looking for! You two are great. Now I understand so much better how the Amalfi coast driving will go, and the reason for the ferries. In that case, if taking the ferry back allows you to spend more time in the towns, I think it's worth it. I'm glad that there are tour guides available at Pompeii - 10euros pp definitely seems more reasonable. I think we'll go with that option. Thanks so much again! :)

 

 

To echo a few opinions on here, we also showed up at Pompeii and got a 10 euro pp tour....very nice. Enjoyed the guide, very knowledgeable, fun, funny...gave us the highlights. Pompeii is huge and though there are plenty of people who will tell you things will be fine if you self-tour, I strongly believe that for those of us who are short on time and trying to do the best we can with the time we have at a particular site, having a tour guide at Pompeii is the only way to go. The licensed guides will have a badge hanging from their neck, and will probably show it to you so you know they are officially allowed to be there.

 

As stated before, they make it much more easy to understand and see as much as possible in such a limited time period. Less time wandering on your own, more time moving and seeing. Is it a bare overview? Yes! but that's all you can expect to get in a couple of hours. I think you're making a good decision. Have fun!

[BigGuy25]

We had a great experience with Rome in Limo in Naples last year (we also booked them in Livorno and Rome). We wanted to do a similar tour of the Amalfi Coast (called by many the world's best "road trip") and Pompeii. We left the details in the hands of our driver Giovanni. I figured he knew his country much better than I and would know how to avoid traffic congestion, crowds, etc. He didn't disappoint! We left the ship early and headed directly to Positano for a great visit. Giovanni asked us what type of lunch we would like and we asked for something along the sea. Many head up for a view down ... but we love the sea and wanted to eat along side it. Giovanni made the reservation and took care of all of the details ... including a lemoncello toast as we were leaving. Meal "stops" are great on a private tour because you can get into restaurants and areas of towns that tour busses and large crowds can't! It really adds to the day.

 

Then we headed for Sorrento and a bit of time wandering. The girls did some shopping while the guys enjoyed a cigar under a lemon tree in one of the plazas.

 

After that visit we headed to Pompeii. We were probably there for about two hours. As other have said, there were many guides at the front gate. We didn't use one. We did use the map you can get when you purchase your tickets. It is possible to spend and entire day (maybe more) at Pompeii. But we felt we got a real feel of this historic site in our couple of hours of wandering.

 

As I've said in other posts, we done 12 past cruises and booked a lot of private tour companies. We've experienced many wonderful days with wonderful tours. Rome in Limo is at the top of our list!! Their style and grace is to be commended. You'll feel like your guide is a "long lost relative" who is really excited that you're "in town" and wants to make sure you have a visit that you'll long remember. We've booked them again for our stop in Rome in July.

[samavarcruiser]

Just wanted to say thanks for the additional info and replies. I was surprised to see this thread bumped up again! We ended up booking with RIL and will be visiting Pompeii and Amalfi coast next month. They advised to try for Sorrento and Positano, so I will take their word for it. If we can squeeze in another town, great, if not, oh well! There's always another time. I'll make sure to update on how it went when I get back.

 

We just loved Positano!!

Enjoy your cruise :)

[hummy0605]

We’d recommend having your private tour operator set up a licensed guide in advance for Pompeii. Ours made the area come alive for us.

 

We used AP Tours in 2007 (and will again this June) and they suggested that if the seas were calm' date=' that we take the hydrofoil from Sorrento back to the cruise dock. They adjust their price by almost the cost of the ticket so it is very close to a wash, as we got some extra time there. (I still recall Alberto walking is to the end of the pier to make certain we boarded the correct ferry. :p )

 

The views along the coast are breathtaking. Enjoy.[/quote']

 

Yep we had Alberto to and he did the same with us - gorgeous too!!!

[texancruzer]

Yep we had Alberto to and he did the same with us - gorgeous too!!!

 

I sometimes wonder if Alberto reads any of the posts here........ we had the exact same experience with APTours and Alberto. Awesome day !