Pompeii & The Amalfi Coast - suggestions?
 

We are going to Pompeii & hope to drive along the Amalfi Coast. Does anyone have suggestions for Pompeii - Is it easy to get a guide there? Also, are there any neat places to stop along the way ?

At Pompeii you can get a guide at the gate,lots there plying their trade.
Ecpect to pay about 100Euros for a private 2 hour tour,but what most guides do is gather a group of 10-12 people and take them on a 2 hour tour for abiout 10 euros each.
don't know your starting point for Pompeii or the Amalfi coast.
Sorrento is a nice place and a popular area for the British holiday makers lots of hotels and appartments there.
There are a few places down the Amalfi coast and Positano is the most popular,the problem you may have in this whole area is getting a parking spot as they are very limited.
Ravello above Amalfi is a must see place and if you drive further down the coast you have Salerno and nearby the wonderful temples at Paestum.

Yes, you can certainly get a guide at the gate and join one of those impromptu group tours. I did this last spring. But I caution you: Some of these guides are not the best..the one we had rushed us through and made far too many jokes instead of imparting serious information about what we were seeing. If I were to return and wanted a guide, I would try to arrange one beforehand; perhaps get recommendations for a private guide, if your budget allows..

thanks for the great info!

Hi 7,

If you are going between late-May and the end of Sept, the AC road is likely to be completely clogged.

From whence are you starting?

((I))

Ira - we are leaving next week - hopefully we will be able to avoid some traffic. We are leaving from Naples.

I think you will find things a bit quieter and certainly not the numbers of tour buses that would normally be on that stretch of road.
parking as i said before will still be limited in Positano and in Ravello,but i do seem to remember a car park just outside the main part of Ravello.there are some decent car parks in Sorrento and Amalfi just park up and walk.
The road from Naples to Sorrento is pretty good after that things get a lot narrower and twisty.
take your time and enjoy ,it really is a stunning part of the world

No problem getting to Pompeii. Tolls on highway take credit card.

A stop in Torre del Greco if you like coral jewelry. Rich history there.

Herculaneum is an excellent destination as well.

Enjoy.

A slap on the hand for anyone who buys coral jewelry!

Not to mention much of the coral comes from Asia.



http://www.coral.org/what_you_can_do


http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/new...htm?page=Page2

Torre del Greco artistry in coral such as cameo brooches goes back to the Romans. Plenty of antiques for sale all over Campania.

I believe it is illegal to take coral from the Mediterranean these days...antiques are fine, obviously.

not into any form of jewellery,but I will second the recommendation of Herculeneum,it is just on the outskirts of Naples and well worth the stop ,there is a fairly new car park close to the site,the Villa oplontis is nearby to there also.
I believe you can buy a card to cover,Herculeneum,Oplontis and Pompeii at a slighlty discounted price.