Pompeii Shore Excursion from Naples with an Archaeologist Guide

Convenient pick-up outside a Cafe. Bus co-ordinator was in touch on the morning giving directions and photo of where to meet (via WhatsApp). Bus took us to Pompeii where a guide took over the actual tour. Informative, interesting tour, friendly guide, she mentioned that we only saw 6% of Pompeii as there is so much to see. We were back earlier than 5 hours so gave us time to look around Naples old town.

2 días antes me informaron de que no tenían guía que hablara Español, sólo inglés. Con tan poco tiempo no pude encontrar otra empresa que tuviera plazas con guía de habla castellano. Era ir con guía de habla inlgesa o no ur a Pompeya. Finalmente decidimos ir por poder ver y descubrir Pompeya. La guía hablaba algo de italiano y por eso pudimos al menos saber los horarios de salida en el tiempo libre, que al final tan sólo fue una vez salimos de Pompeya, en las tiendas de souvenir y bares. De la explicación de la excursión mas bien no entendimos nada pero bueno, pudimos apreciar la ciudad. Muy mala gestión por parte de la empresa, debería de haber avisado con más tiempo para que la experiencia hubiera sido óptima. Son viajes que no se pueden hacer a menudo y no se si podré volver allí. Decepcionado

We had a great trip to Pompeii. Our transportation person, Gaia, was pleasant and helpful. We had trouble getting to the meeting point - our ship was docked a 30 minute walk away - and she called to help us find the spot. Our guide at Pompeii - Imma, was funny, engaging, and knowledgeable. The only negative was that she wanted us to leave the site before looking in the souvenir shop, using the washroom or checking out the bookstore. I don’t know if the souvenir shop inside the site is better - but the one outside was not worth even looking at. As a result, we had ro wait for 30 minutes for our return trip just sitting outside on the pavement rather than using decent washrooms and exploring the souvenir shop.

The guide at Pompeii was amazing , engaging. Just made the day ! If it wasn’t for her this review would read differently. The description on line was luxury coach transfer, the seats were Brocken the air conditioning didn’t work and we had to ask for it to be put on. The guide at pickup didn’t engage with talk as we drove to Pompeii . She didn’t call names she said nothing . Both there and back. Maybe having a bad day. The only time she spoke was to ask to review the excursion . I can’t praise the guide at Pompeii enough , for her alone I recommend the tour.

Communication-horrible. 1st-time of tour changed-new time or cancel. 2nd-initial meeting place-extremely confusing. Picture shared no longer exists & spot cannot be seen from pier or street. Google maps took us to metro station. After 30 min walk, organizer sent message on WhatsApp w/a location pin that still walked us in a circle. She called, but another tour guest gave directions that got us to group. 3rd-tour in Pompeii was challenging-group was almost 40 people-archeologist said she does 30 max. Areas were narrow & we couldn't all see what she was talking about at the same time. Direct sun & no rest breaks for 2.5 hour tour. Bring water. Refill by toilets at start & end-not in middle. No time for souvenir shopping & such. Rushed back to meet bus & wasn't there yet. They don't meet you at the pier-depending on where ship docks prepare for long walk to & from the meeting point. My family was very stressed & disappointed before things even got started & didn't really improve much.

The highlight of the tour was our guide Francesco, an archaeologist who brought Pompeii to life with his extensive knowledge and humour. He also was very aware of keeping track of all people in the tour. This made up for the tour bus being 45 minutes late at the start of the tour while we stood waiting in the sun. The bus was old and on the way to Pompeii the AC wasn’t working, however it was working g on the way back. Overall a good tour.

We were looked after very well, easy to find the meeting point from the cruise ship at Naples. Our tour guide Franscisco met us at Pompei and was fantastic. Very knowledgeable, he is from Pompei and worked as an archeologist in Pompei. He was also very personable, there was a lot of humour in the tour and he managed a group of 25 (approx) very well. Pompei is amazing and shouldn’t be missed. Take sun protection and water, there is not a lot of shade. You can fill water bottles at the fountain outside the toilets just within the gates. Our parasol got its first outing, and I bought a cap from the street sellers in the port. Both were very welcome