Pompeii and Almafi Coast

Hello! Is it possible to do a Pompeii and Almafi Coast tour?? Should we go with HAL tour, private tour or just hire a taxi for the day? Thank you!

We tend to favor some type of private tour, in a car or small van. The problem with the HAL (or any other cruise line's) bus excursions is that the large buses are not permitted to enter into the town of Positano. Seeing the Amalfi coast without visiting Positano is like seeing Manhattan from New Jersey! We would suggest a private tour that included Pompeii, Positano, Amalfi, and (time permitting) a visit to Ravello. That is a stretch for a port day, but doable if you have a late departure.

Hank

Thank u, Hank! Do we have enough time to do Pompeii and Almafi Coast?

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Thank u, Hank! Do we have enough time to do Pompeii and Almafi Coast?

 

 

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Now that is the real question. We think its a yes/no answer since it depends on how much time you need in various places (such as Positano) vs seeing as much as possible in the shortest time. If I were driving a tour group during the busy summer season, we would suggest getting an early start and leaving the port by 8am. We might do the tour in reverse (from most tours) and head directly to Ravello via the Autostrade (not the picturesque Amalfi Drive). We would get to Ravello by 9:15 and stop for some cappuccino, the views, and perhaps a short walk. Then it would be on the road to Amalfi (for a short stop) and then we start working our way back along the famous Amalfi Drive. When we reach Positano (by 11:30) we would drive into the town and stop for some walking and lunch. We would have to leave by around 1:30 and continue to Pompeii...arriving by around 2:45 or 3. We would have about 2 hours at the ruins and then would have to get back to Naples (about a 30 min drive).

So it can be done, but not so sure it would be our kind of day...since we prefer to spend more time in fewer places. But using this type of itinerary gives one the option of extending the time on the Amalfi Coast (if that is what you desire once you are actually there) and skipping Pompeii. This is one important reason why we like to have our own rental car...because we often change our plans "on the fly" based on our mood at the time. If you hire a private car/driver you would have that same kind of option.

You might wonder why we save Pompeii for the afternoon...and there are a couple of good reasons. The traffic on the Amalfi Drive is unpredictable and one must allow for problems. And this route has you working your way back to Naples (the road from Pompeii to Naples is pretty good) and being relatively close to Naples by mid-afternoon. We have sometimes run into problems getting back to Naples from the Amalfi Coast (in the late afternoon) due to traffic....and once....due to a road closure (near Ravello) due to mud slides!

Hank

We have used AP Tours to visit the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii. We were very pleased with them. They provided a wonderful day for a great price (we had 8 people in the van)

Now that is the real question. We think its a yes/no answer since it depends on how much time you need in various places (such as Positano) vs seeing as much as possible in the shortest time. If I were driving a tour group during the busy summer season, we would suggest getting an early start and leaving the port by 8am. We might do the tour in reverse (from most tours) and head directly to Ravello via the Autostrade (not the picturesque Amalfi Drive). We would get to Ravello by 9:15 and stop for some cappuccino, the views, and perhaps a short walk. Then it would be on the road to Amalfi (for a short stop) and then we start working our way back along the famous Amalfi Drive. When we reach Positano (by 11:30) we would drive into the town and stop for some walking and lunch. We would have to leave by around 1:30 and continue to Pompeii...arriving by around 2:45 or 3. We would have about 2 hours at the ruins and then would have to get back to Naples (about a 30 min drive).

 

So it can be done, but not so sure it would be our kind of day...since we prefer to spend more time in fewer places. But using this type of itinerary gives one the option of extending the time on the Amalfi Coast (if that is what you desire once you are actually there) and skipping Pompeii. This is one important reason why we like to have our own rental car...because we often change our plans "on the fly" based on our mood at the time. If you hire a private car/driver you would have that same kind of option.

 

Hank

Thank you

Am I right in thinking you suggest getting to Ravello with the SP 1 that goes through Scala ? How is this road ? Scarier then the Amalfi coast road?

I'll chime in here while you wait for Hank. The route between the autostrada and Ravello that goes over the mountain is beautiful and not particularly scary, although it is prone to cloud cover and your sight line can be limited. I'm not sure I would use this on a port day visit, however, because of the extra time it takes, unless you are just going to Ravello and back and not trying to do too much.

Salerno via the Autostrade and then back to Ravello ? BTW , what's interesting on the SP1 ? Scala ?

Are you saying it would take longer to go on the SP 1 through the mountains rather then driving to

Salerno via the Autostrade and then back to Ravello ? BTW , what's interesting on the SP1 ? Scala ?

If everything goes right it takes about the same amount of time either way. On the mountain pass one bus or truck can completely screw things up, on the other hand traffic along the coast road is pretty awful as well.

I don't remember anything particularly interesting on the pass, it's just the scenery itself.

I think I would wait and make the decision based on the weather that day. If it's overcast or cloudy I wouldn't bother with the mountain pass.

Hello! Is it possible to do a Pompeii and Almafi Coast tour?? Should we go with HAL tour, private tour or just hire a taxi for the day? Thank you!

I don't usually promote companies, etc. because everyone's interests are different but we just returned from a Med. cruise and used All Around Italy (Fabrizio) for our day in Naples port and I have to let you know how great it was. We left as soon as we could get off the ship and he took our group along the Amalfi Coast, to Positano for a quick stop and short free time to look around or shop, then to Sorrento for lunch and then to Pompeii where he arranged a guide for us and we did a 2 hour tour there. We were back at the ship one hour before all aboard time (we didn't run into any traffic or long lineups). We used Fabrizio for the Rome and Florence stops too because of the great reviews from other travel review sites. He was absolutely fabulous, informative, lively and funny. The comfortable van he used accommodated 8 of us on the Amalfi Coast day without any problem. The Amalfi Coast was one of our favourite stops on the 10 port cruise. Enjoy and have a fabulous trip.

We used Aldo Monti's company, Your Tour in Italy, for our day in Naples port. We did the Amalfi coast and Pompeii with stops at Sorrento and Positano. They arranged for us to have lunch at a great restaurant at the top of the hills in Positano overlooking the coast. They also arranged for a private guide for Pompeii (a must if you want to know what you are looking at). The whole day was the highlight of our entire cruise. We were back to the ship in plenty of time.

We booked a group tour with italytours.eu through our Roll Call and visited Pompeii, Positano, and Sorrento on June 7th, 2016. I highly recommend it! We had 14 in our minibus (which could seat 19), and started in Pompeii which was great to avoid the heat. Our Pompeii guide, Sabina, was excellent!! Not sure if you can request a guide by name but she made it all come alive and even got us into some houses that the larger groups couldn't go in to. After almost 3 hours at Pompeii, we drove up the Amalfi Coast and had a short stop in Positano to enjoy the view and had incredible homemade lemon ice and sampled some liqueurs, and also stopped at another point for pictures and purchased some local seasonings. Then we went to Sorrento to have lunch on our own and do a little shopping. A very memorable and pleasant day. If you go in the summer, request Pompeii as the first stop, as there's so much to see and I'd imagine it can be extra tiring later in the day.

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