Marty

A group of 8 friends are taking a Holland America cruise which stops in Naples. Should we each spend $50 to take the cruise line tour to Pompeii, or can we do better for ourselves at the dock? We are worried that the ship's cruise only allows 2 hours in Pompeii and that we will want to stay longer. We have the time, since the ship is in port all day. Thanks for any advice.

Howard

I don't know what options you will have, but $50 a person seems high to me. However, I would think that eight of you could certainly arrange for transportation and a tour for less than $400. <BR>You can certainly get to Pompeii easily and cheaply from Naples. Perhaps some Fodorites can provide some tips for arranging for a guide at Pompeii. (Sorry I can't be of more help but our guide are arranged for by an Italian friend.) <BR>Chances are that you will want to spend more than 2 hours there.

Betsy

Hi Marty <BR> <BR>Certainly agree with Howard. Why don't you repost with a title such as "Need help finding a guide for Pompeii" or something similar? <BR> <BR>In addition, you could do a search for previous messages about Pompeii. If you haven't done this before, type Pompeii into the Text Search box at the top of your screen. Ignore the "Subject Search" box and press "Find" over to the right. Provided the search function is working, in a few seconds (sometimes minutes) you should have a lot of posts to read.

SteveJames

Hello Marty, <BR> <BR>$50 a head?!! Well, - if you go by public transport it'll cost you about 6.000 LIRE return, plus 16.000 LIRE admission. If you re-post this as Betsy suggests, I'm sure someone'll help you find a guide ... <BR> <BR>Steve

Sue

Hi Marty, <BR> <BR>I just returned from Italy and took a tour of Pompeii. We went by train to Pompeii. The entrance to Pompeii is right beyond the train station. There are plenty of guides available. Tell them you only want a small group, just the eight of you and negotiate a price. I think there were about 12 people in our group. They will do a two hour or a four hour tour. I can't remember what we paid, but I think it was around $12.00 a person. The guide was wonderful. He gave us useful and fun informatiom. We took the two hour tour and then looked around on our own. Four hours is too long for my attention span. The two hour tour was not two hours, more like 1 and 1/2 hours, but very good. Try going on your own as it is very easy. While in Naples go to the Capella Sansevero and see the marble carving of Christ on a soft pillow under a realistic veil. The Chapel is very small. There are two other statues in this chapel. All are by the artist Sammartino. They are like nothing I have seen. We took a cab from the train station to this chapel, because of time. It cost about $4.00 for the ride. You can walk in 20 minutes. These statues are so memorble, you will be glad you took the time. If you take a cab to the chapel the whole process takes about 30 minutes out of your day.(depending on how long you want to view the statues) Have fun. <BR>Sue

Lisa

After reading these boards, we decided to go to Herculaneum rather than Pompeii on our Naples port stop. Friends who had done Pompeii before went to Herculaneum too and agreed with the recommendations. That it is more compact, better preserved, more shaded and easier to get around. <BR> <BR>We negotiated a price with a taxi driver to wait for us while there and then negotiated with a guide who was waiting at the entrance. We still landed up paying a lot more than friends who negotiated with a different guide so sharpen those negotiating skills. <BR> <BR>We also went to Capri in the morning so we had plenty of time to do both.

Linda

Sue, <BR> <BR>So nice to find that somebody else has "discovered" the Capella Sansevero and my favorite statues. I've been many times and am awed each time. I'm surprised that so few people know about it. <BR> <BR>Did you get downstairs into the crypt and see the "specialty statuary" down there?