Swannee

Hello

Does anyone have a good recommendation for a company that does day tours in Capri and Pompeii but not from Rome or Naples, but rather directly on Capri or from Positano or Amalfi ?
Or are we better just to wing it and do it ourselves?

I'm surprised not to have found too much information on the web for this.

Re Capri -- we are staying at a hotel in Maiori and would like to do a day trip to Capri -- see Capri and Anacapri, the Tiberius gardens, major sites and ideally also the Blue Grotto. I read about a lot of boat tours but not too much about regular tours (yet I read about lots of groups -- but not much about group tour)s. We are only two persons and don't mind joining a group, What I'm trying to avoid are the exhorbitant prices that I have been quoted for private tours. The boat/land tour would be ideal, but if I had a choice, I woud prefer land and just do the Blue Grotto if possible. We only have the one day unfortunately and would like to see as much as possible while still relaxing.

Re: Pompei, We will have a car and will be staying near Vico Equense which is about 15 km from Pompeii. Is it best just to go there on our own and are there tour guides on site?

If anyone has done this as independent travellers, it would be a great help.

kybourbon

You will find guides/tours at Pompeii by the entrance. You can easily hop the train from there to Pompeii (get off at Pompeii Scavi) if you don't want to take the car. Pompeii also has handheld audio guides you can rent if you want to self-tour. The sites are numbered and you enter the number into the audio guide. So you can just select the ones you are interested in and not worry about rewinding/fastforwarding like you do with some types of audio guides. If you decide to rent, they will require you to leave an ID with them while you have the guide.

There are quite a few tourist agencies in Sorrento and I'm sure you can find a Capri tour that would suit your needs. I would train there to Sorrento, instead of driving. Parking can be a problem.

Steve_James

Swanee - This website lists several tour companies on Capri:
http://www.capri.net/salsa/lang/en/page/home.html

From the Amalfi Coast there are bus tour companies that run excursions to Pompeii.

There are also several companies which offer boat trips around Capri from Positano:

www.gennaroesalvatore.it
www.lucibello.it
www.bludream.it
www.bluestarpositano.it
www.coopsantandrea.it

Hope this helps ...

Steve

nessundorma

It will really be worth your while to invest in a good guidebook about Pompeii and Ercolanum and read it before you go on your trip. Even if you hire a private guide, you will have a much better chance of making the most of your visit. I encourage you to consider visting the archeological museum in Napoli after your visit to Pompeii, although I don't enourage you to drive there. Instead, drive your car to one of the train stops of the Circumvesuviana and take the train in. And have lunch in Napoli.

gabriele

We did both of these locations independently. As already mentioned, there are guides at the entrance to Pompeii, and we thought our guide was very knowledgeable and interesting and reasonably priced. Capri can also be done independently quite easily. When you arrive at the port, there are a number of boat tours that leave regularly on trips around the island, including the Blue Grotto. The price was something in the neighborhood of 10 euros per person, and the boat went to the same places as the smaller private guides who wanted 100 euros. The boat tour was fabulous, and one of our favorite activities involving Capri. The Blue Grotto is only one of the grottos you will see, and the high cliffs on which the island sits are magnificent. Once in town, everything else will either be done on foot or by bus (up to Anacapri). The boat tour will take 1-2 hours, depending on how long you have to wait before it leaves, and how long it takes at the Blue Grotto, so you will have to pick and choose your remaining activities on the island. Anacapri will take a minimum of two to three hours, depending on what you choose to do there, with the balance of your time spent in and around the town of Capri. You will not have time to go farther afield. However, the basic sights in both locations can be seen easily and independently for only the admission fees. Capri is one place I don't think a tour would be necessary, since public transportation is plentiful and cheap and easy to find, and many of the sights are close together.

Swannee

Thank you everyone
This is all really very helpful.

Fodorites always come through!

cheers

jannygirl

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