We loved this tour! Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and easy to understand walking around Pompeii, which was just an incredible experience. It did feel a bit rushed at times getting from Pompeii to lunch and then to the bus, without a lot of explanation of what we were doing. The view from the top of Mt Vesuvius was worth every second of the climb, but it was an intense climb and on a not awesome road. The path was all loose, uneven gravel, so be prepared for that. We were covered with dirt when we got back to the bus.
Review by: Brittany S, July 2018
I believe our guide was named Maria, but either way, she was funny, informative and very charming! We loved seeing Pompeii and after walking Vesuvius. However I would recommend people adhere to timelines, we ran late to Vesuvius and had very little time to get to the summit and back. Also recommend don't take pictures on the side a volcano while you are walking, bound to make yourself a sacrifice to the Gods by accident.
Review by: Ericque G, July 2018
Mt. Vesuvius was a rutted at times steep trail to the crater I saw 5 people slip and fall. Pompeii was great lunch was great.
Review by: Manish P, July 2018
We got off the ship and waited with our group for the last family. A family of 6 who then didn’t fit on the bus. So we left them. I assume they went on a different bus. The bus was fine. The guide didn’t really keep us entertained. She didn’t go over any facts so we sat in silence for most of the time til we reached Mt Vesuvius. I proceeded to go buy the tickets So we waited for longer The hike was great although their was no guide arranged. When we asked for one he sat and began to show us pictures clearly not wanting to take us on the tour to the top. We left after 10 minutes sitting on the side since we only had 30 minutes left to reach the top. We made it and took pictures. Then went to lunch food and restaurant were great. Then our guide left and they made us wait for another group for over 30-45 minutes after eating. Was a waste of time. We could have spent at Pisa. The tour at Pisa was great. They got us to the ship just on time. The lunch and Pisa were great. A lot of wait around down time that was wasted because of their disorganization.
Review by: Heidi O, May 2018
This is the most disappointing Viator tour I have ever taken. I certainly would NOT recommend it. From the meet up point by our ship, things seem disorganized - it turned out there were two groups. We had to walk a long way to meet the bus at the curb on a busy street. Then we drove around the city picking up others. So, we spent at least 45 minutes - one hour in transition before the tour even started. That is time we could have spent doing more meaningful activities. It was a cloudy, foggy day at Mt. Vesuvius and even though the tour said Pompei is visited first - the guide reversed the order. That was not in the write up that I saw. When I asked Viator customer service about this - they checked - and the tour company said sometimes we reverse it. Well they should make that clear! We were at Mt Vesuvius in the mist - could see nothing and at Pompeii in the crowds and heat. I think the reverse would have been better - I doubt the morning was more crowded than the afternoon.
Review by: bobandgeri, February 2018
Wear your walking shoes and be prepared to walk on uneven stone roads. What a wonderful adventure into history. Loved our tour guide who wore high heel boots during our excursion. She gave us a super history lesson and was so much fun to be with this day.
Review by: Rabs, November 2017
Enjoyed the tour. Our tour guide was quite cheerful and funny when she was explaining the history. We really enjoyed the Pompeii trip. Mt Vesuvius was a bit disappointing when looking inside the volcano, but the view was beautiful at the top. The walk was tough at times and my worry was about time. I rushed down as I thought I would have missed my bus.
Review by: bhixson2, November 2017
absolutely fabulous. so worth it. very educated English speaking tour guide. other travelers with other tour companies complained that their tours were to big. all of our tours through Viator were small and very personable. I would book all these tours 100 times over again. these tours made our trip as fabulous as it was. thank you Viator
Review by: Betsy M, October 2017
LOVED this tour! It was a full day -- essentially half at Pompeii and half at Mt Vesuvius with a fabulous Italian lunch in between at a nice restaurant. Super happy we booked through Viator vs. the cruise line and the excursion was very well organized and comfortable. Lot's of walking in Pompeii and climbing at Mt Vesuvius, but both are MUST sees. I really recommend, tour guide was fantastic.
Review by: BRADLEY D, October 2017
Great tour with a great guide. Will use Viator again.
Review by: Steven M, October 2017
We booked the Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius tour expecting the same small group experience we have had in the past. Unfortunately this one turned out to be the opposite. We felt herded around from one guide to another. First, the tour began in the late morning which resulted in a late arrival in Pompeii with hundreds of other large tours. Second, a large bus was used to collect people from all over Naples. The one high light was our Pompeii guide who was most knowledgeable. Next we were herded to lunch in a large restaurant, then switched over to a new guide for the tour to Mt. Vesuvius. The organization of finding the correct guides was chaotic.
Review by: Donald E, October 2017
This tour crams a lot into the time allotted. Eric was a knowledge guide. If you only have the day from your cruise, this is the tour to take.
Review by: karen, October 2017
We booked this shore excursion about a week before the excursion date giving all the necessary information about our boat and the departure time. We were picked up at the boat and transferred to a large bus which proceeded to pick up a large number of other people from their accommodation. We eventually got to Pompei and had a one and quarter hour tour which was interesting, bit felt very rushed. We then proceeded to go to the restaurant for the included pizza lunch before continuing on to Mt Vesuvius for the remainder of the tour. As we made our way into the restaurant we were told by one of the guides that we needed to leave at once with the people who were only doing the half day tour as we didn't have time to do the full tour before our boat left, and they wouldn't get us back to the boat in time. We were herded back onto a stifling hot boat and taken back to the boat, not having had the included lunch or the rest of our tour. We were told that they thought our boat was leaving an hour later than it was, despite us providing all this information when we booked. Also they said there was a road closure on Mt Vesuvius due to a bike race, which I am sure they were aware of when making the booking. We asked for a refund of the money we paid for the tour. Viator has refunded us 92 on the full amount of 284 , which is disgusting as we got only the Tour of Pompei and not lunch or the tour of Mt Vesuvius. We complained to Viator about the refund amount, but they seem to think this is reasonable. We had used Viator for 5 tours previously on this trip. Unfortunately we will not use Viator again, which cost them a lot of business seeing we were in Europe for 3 months!
Review by: Lynda H, October 2017
Don't take this tour from the ship. We spent the 1st hour picking up and waiting at hotels around Naples, illegally parked on busy streets. We reached Pompeii more than an hour late. It was packed and I can only describe chaos as the tour guides tried to separate us into groups depending on language. We had another long wait as the line for the ladies room was unbelievably long. The tour of Pompeii itself was fine. Then came lunch and more separation into groups going to either Vesuvius or Sorrento. The tour guides were quite rude when we did not immediately understand which group we should be in. We had different guides for each part of the tour. When I told one guide I was concerned that we would not make it back to our ship on time he blew me off with of course you will but when I approached another guide an hour later as we were leaving for Vesuvius she looked shocked and got on her cell phone. We had to race up to the top of the volcano and then they arranged for another vehicle to take us back to the ship so we would get back on time. We were glad to see both Vesuvius and Pompeii but it was a fairly stressful day.
Review by: robinct01, October 2017
We were not quite sure where to go once we got off the ship, but found our guide and boarded a small 15-ish person bus. Then we stopped at two more hotels to pick up more people. We got to Pompeii and we were handed off to the Pompeii guide, but she was about 15 minutes late. No backpacks are allowed in the site, and no one knew this, but lockers were available. Restroom line was very long. There was quite a bit of disorganization getting started and some grumbling amongst the group about not knowing where to be or what to do. We collected headsets so we could hear our guide and she was wonderful.
Review by: Devin S, September 2017
The tour achieved what it said in the itinerary though it could have been a bit more timely allowing for more time at the sites. We had to pickup several people from various hotels which added to the wait time given an already late start time. The time spent in Pompeii was fine and the guide was great. We got a good sampling of the site in case we want to return in the future. The included lunch was a great inclusion, but the only negatives were that nothing was gluten and dairy free so my wife ended up eating a protein bar instead. The pizza was good though and we enjoyed meeting two couples that sat at our table. Sadly we spent quite a long time at lunch which slowed us down even further. The time spent at Mt. Vesuvius was good though if we had more time we could have reached the peak. Also the guided portion was only the time spent on the bus and was split between English and Spanish. Overall I thought the tour was good, but it just wasn't as timely as we would have hoped for in order to see more things.
Review by: Lynda D, August 2017
Shore excursion for 3 generations of same family cruising together, a great day enjoyed by all 5 of us, we all managed to get to the crater of Mount Vesuvius and after lunch our excellent guide explained the history of Pompeii. The restaurant at lunch time , with pre knowledge, catered for food allergies and provided a most enjoyable. meal. The minibus was on time, comfortable, and our guide Alex very helpful and attentive._br/_ Have already recommended this company to friends for shore excursions from cruise ships.
Review by: marlad521, August 2017
This tour was just ok, and not well organized at all. The tour was described as being picked up at your cruise ship and taken to Pompeii and Vesuvius. What they didn't mention is that after they pick you up at the ship, they then go to another stop and wait for 30-40 minutes for more people to join the tour. No communication was made to us that this was going to happen or even the reason for the stop. No water was offered. We just sat, and waited. Not a good thing when you have young kids with you. Also, tour was described as being a relatively small group. Not so. There were at least 20 people, and with one guide, it's hard to hear what is being said. Yes, they do have headphones, but the sound quality isn't good, so they don't really help. The tour just wasn't as described and again, NOT well organized. Do not book with this company.
Review by: caroline m, August 2017
great trip and we saw many beautiful things , the only problem i had was the guide , he was too intense , he was interesting but gave people a hard time because we were taking too many pictures , he got iin an intense argument with some people who were passing in front of us in line , definitely too intense and i wanted to walk away .There were son many explanations that we didnt get to see so many things
Review by: Louise M, August 2017
Great day, just remember to go early. The day got hotter and hotter. Guide was very knowledgeable, and stayed with our group. Pointed out little details, and made the history interesting.
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