Billiam Posted July 18, 2007 #1 Share Posted July 18, 2007 My wife and I are taking a day trip from Rome in Oct. and would like to get a local driver. We will take the train to Naples and spend the day on the coast and Pompeii. We have chosen a day that no ships are scheduled so hopefully we'll miss the crowds. Any good drivers that you have experience with would be appreciated as well as contact information. Also rejects :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alinehu Posted July 18, 2007 #2 Share Posted July 18, 2007 If you want the best contact Giovanni Benvenuto info@benvenutolimos.com See their website http://www.benvenutolimos.com and read the guest comments. Very professional Excellent!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betonic Posted July 18, 2007 #3 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I strongly recomend Fabrizio from allarounditaly.net. This will be the third year that we've used him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanatravel Posted July 18, 2007 #4 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I can positively recommend Francesco Marrapese. Take a look at his web site to see what he generally offeres for a day tour; http://www.francescomarrapese.com Bon Voyage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentuckyTraveler Posted July 19, 2007 #5 Share Posted July 19, 2007 I can recommmend Giovanni of www.tourofitaly.com. There are many great review for him on the forum. We did a tour with him in June and it was a wonderfully memorable day. He seemed to know everyone and everywhere in the coast and made the day special for us. He is native and really allowed us to experience the area. He picked us up at the port, arranged for a fantastic guide in Pompei and made it a truly special day. To be warned, the Amalfi Coast is known for crazy driving and incredibly tight winding turns and he certainly lived up to that reputation. I would high recommend him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magical914 Posted July 19, 2007 #6 Share Posted July 19, 2007 We just got back from a cruise with a stop in Naples where we used Aldo as our guide along the Amalfi Coast. We had a day that none of us will ever forget. Aldo was sooo great. He knew all the best spots for sightseeing and picture taking, he really loves (and lives in)the area so he is very educated in its history, we had a great lunch on the beach in Positano, he seemed to know everyone and had no problem getting us right into the heart of all the areas. He introduced us to locals along the way and accompanied us whenever we wanted to make a purchase to make sure we got the best price or the freshest food. Since we were on a schedule(cruise ship) he was very careful to plan our day to insure that we made it back on time. Since we had a little time left before we had to be onboard he took us on a spur of the moment tour of Naples. He was accommodating and had no problem changing our itinerary as we felt necessary. We loved our day and can highly recommend Aldo. His secretary, also his wife can be reached a chrismiller@libero.it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twiga Posted July 19, 2007 #7 Share Posted July 19, 2007 My husband and I used Benevenuto Limos. We took the train from Rome to Naples and were met at the train by Giovanni's father. He was very interesting and a fun guide. We were driven to Ravello, Amalfi, Positano, and then to Pompeii where Giovanni had arranged a private guide for us (which I highly recommend). Then we caught the train back to Rome that evening. Giovanni and his father gave us a wonderful tour! I can't wait to go back to the Amalfi Coast and use their services again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High C's Posted July 20, 2007 #8 Share Posted July 20, 2007 We used Salvatore of Drive Amalfi last year. Excellent! We enjoyed his service so much that we have booked him again for next year. You'll find Salvatore is recommended on these boards often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiam Posted July 20, 2007 Author #9 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Thank you Kentucky Traveler, I have accepted your recommendation. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrishaHamilton Posted July 24, 2007 #10 Share Posted July 24, 2007 I can recommmend Giovanni of www.tourofitaly.com. There are many great review for him on the forum. We did a tour with him in June and it was a wonderfully memorable day. He seemed to know everyone and everywhere in the coast and made the day special for us. He is native and really allowed us to experience the area. He picked us up at the port, arranged for a fantastic guide in Pompei and made it a truly special day. To be warned, the Amalfi Coast is known for crazy driving and incredibly tight winding turns and he certainly lived up to that reputation. I would high recommend him. Hello Kentuky Traveler: I was wondering what you meant by Giovanni living up to the reputation of the roads?? Was he a good driver or did he driver crazy. Do you mind me asking what the cost was for this service and how many were you? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiam Posted July 24, 2007 Author #11 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Trisha, I'll chime in and give you some information I acquired before I selected Giancarlo. The following are posts from these boards. Tour of Italy We just returned from Millie on Sunday. For Naples, we used www.tourofitaly.com Giovanni as our private driver. He picked us up at the ship, made arrangements for private guide in Pompeii (not to be missed) - GREAT GUIDE, and showed us the coast like someone who has lived his whole life there. He is a character and seemed to know EVERYONE there. It was a delightful day - I would highly recommend him. Tour We had a very good day with Giancarlo. He took us wherever we wanted to go, and so we let him make most of the decisions. We were interested in Pompeii and swimming somewhere, and he filled in the gaps. He is young, and works with his Father Giovanni. We found him in a google search of tour of Italy dot com and would recommend you study or buy a guide book of the Amalfi coast and read it on the way. Giovanni from www.tourofitaly.com was our driver and we loved him. We spent all day together. He gave us a wonderful tour of the Amalfi Coast, with plenty of time to stop and shop, take pictures, etc. You will have wonderful and entertaining day. Oh, great. He is scheduled to drive us as well. I have been corresponding with his son, Giancarlo. I understand Giovanni used to have restaurants in NY and California. What did you do for your day? Since we are keeping our group small (4 persons) unlike other ports, I haven't gotten into any details about our day. Just that we wish to stop at Pompeii first (I have been there before). Do you recall where you stopped for lunch? Where did you go? Thanks! We are booked with him too about a month. It is so nice to see such positive comments for him and are excited to learn more! Giovanni gave us a tour of the Almafi Coast last May and we had a great time with him. Go to: http://www.tourofitaly.com/ You won't be disappointed! I can recommmend Giovanni of www.tourofitaly.com. There are many great review for him on the forum. We did a tour with him in June and it was a wonderfully memorable day. He seemed to know everyone and everywhere in the coast and made the day special for us. He is native and really allowed us to experience the area. He picked us up at the port, arranged for a fantastic guide in Pompei and made it a truly special day. To be warned, the Amalfi Coast is known for crazy driving and incredibly tight winding turns and he certainly lived up to that reputation. I would high recommend him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Having posted that I have agreed to pay him 400 euro for my wife and I for 9 hours including 2 hours at Pomeii with an archeological guide who can get you into the buildings and not walk around them, that was important to me. As for his driving I did note one comment about that but everything else was positive. His father is the boss and he also has a cousin who drives too I understand. He was cheaper than the others and is why I did the research above. If I have a problem with his driving I'll ask him to slow down. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiam Posted July 24, 2007 Author #12 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Trish, I'll chime in and give you some information I acquired before I selected Giancarlo. The following are posts from these boards. Tour of Italy We just returned from Millie on Sunday. For Naples, we used www.tourofitaly.com Giovanni as our private driver. He picked us up at the ship, made arrangements for private guide in Pompeii (not to be missed) - GREAT GUIDE, and showed us the coast like someone who has lived his whole life there. He is a character and seemed to know EVERYONE there. It was a delightful day - I would highly recommend him. Tour We had a very good day with Giancarlo. He took us wherever we wanted to go, and so we let him make most of the decisions. We were interested in Pompeii and swimming somewhere, and he filled in the gaps. He is young, and works with his Father Giovanni. We found him in a google search of tour of Italy dot com and would recommend you study or buy a guide book of the Amalfi coast and read it on the way. Giovanni from www.tourofitaly.com was our driver and we loved him. We spent all day together. He gave us a wonderful tour of the Amalfi Coast, with plenty of time to stop and shop, take pictures, etc. You will have wonderful and entertaining day. Oh, great. He is scheduled to drive us as well. I have been corresponding with his son, Giancarlo. I understand Giovanni used to have restaurants in NY and California. What did you do for your day? Since we are keeping our group small (4 persons) unlike other ports, I haven't gotten into any details about our day. Just that we wish to stop at Pompeii first (I have been there before). Do you recall where you stopped for lunch? Where did you go? Thanks! We are booked with him too about a month. It is so nice to see such positive comments for him and are excited to learn more! Giovanni gave us a tour of the Almafi Coast last May and we had a great time with him. Go to: http://www.tourofitaly.com/ You won't be disappointed! I can recommmend Giovanni of www.tourofitaly.com. There are many great review for him on the forum. We did a tour with him in June and it was a wonderfully memorable day. He seemed to know everyone and everywhere in the coast and made the day special for us. He is native and really allowed us to experience the area. He picked us up at the port, arranged for a fantastic guide in Pompei and made it a truly special day. To be warned, the Amalfi Coast is known for crazy driving and incredibly tight winding turns and he certainly lived up to that reputation. I would high recommend him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Having posted that I have agreed to pay him 400 euro for my wife and I for 9 hours including 2 hours at Pomeii with an archeological guide who can get you into the buildings and not walk around them, that was important to me. As for his driving I did note one comment about that but everything else was positive. His father is the boss and he also has a cousin who drives too I understand. He was cheaper than the others and is why I did the research above. If I have a problem with his driving I'll ask him to slow down. Have to confirm with credit card and 20% is charged for no shows. Payment is due in full with cash at end of tour. Hope this helps. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrishaHamilton Posted July 24, 2007 #13 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Trish, I'll chime in and give you some information I acquired before I selected Giancarlo. The following are posts from these boards. Tour of Italy We just returned from Millie on Sunday. For Naples, we used www.tourofitaly.com Giovanni as our private driver. He picked us up at the ship, made arrangements for private guide in Pompeii (not to be missed) - GREAT GUIDE, and showed us the coast like someone who has lived his whole life there. He is a character and seemed to know EVERYONE there. It was a delightful day - I would highly recommend him. Tour We had a very good day with Giancarlo. He took us wherever we wanted to go, and so we let him make most of the decisions. We were interested in Pompeii and swimming somewhere, and he filled in the gaps. He is young, and works with his Father Giovanni. We found him in a google search of tour of Italy dot com and would recommend you study or buy a guide book of the Amalfi coast and read it on the way. Giovanni from www.tourofitaly.com was our driver and we loved him. We spent all day together. He gave us a wonderful tour of the Amalfi Coast, with plenty of time to stop and shop, take pictures, etc. You will have wonderful and entertaining day. Oh, great. He is scheduled to drive us as well. I have been corresponding with his son, Giancarlo. I understand Giovanni used to have restaurants in NY and California. What did you do for your day? Since we are keeping our group small (4 persons) unlike other ports, I haven't gotten into any details about our day. Just that we wish to stop at Pompeii first (I have been there before). Do you recall where you stopped for lunch? Where did you go? Thanks! We are booked with him too about a month. It is so nice to see such positive comments for him and are excited to learn more! Giovanni gave us a tour of the Almafi Coast last May and we had a great time with him. Go to: http://www.tourofitaly.com/ You won't be disappointed! I can recommmend Giovanni of www.tourofitaly.com. There are many great review for him on the forum. We did a tour with him in June and it was a wonderfully memorable day. He seemed to know everyone and everywhere in the coast and made the day special for us. He is native and really allowed us to experience the area. He picked us up at the port, arranged for a fantastic guide in Pompei and made it a truly special day. To be warned, the Amalfi Coast is known for crazy driving and incredibly tight winding turns and he certainly lived up to that reputation. I would high recommend him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Having posted that I have agreed to pay him 400 euro for my wife and I for 9 hours including 2 hours at Pomeii with an archeological guide who can get you into the buildings and not walk around them, that was important to me. As for his driving I did note one comment about that but everything else was positive. His father is the boss and he also has a cousin who drives too I understand. He was cheaper than the others and is why I did the research above. If I have a problem with his driving I'll ask him to slow down. Have to confirm with credit card and 20% is charged for no shows. Payment is due in full with cash at end of tour. Hope this helps. Bill Thanks very much Bill; we booked him. 300 euros for 8 hours and 20% no show fee just like you said. We will be picked up at the ship and then it sounds like he takes you quite a few places so I'm sure we will be happy. Thank you very much for chiming in!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentuckyTraveler Posted July 26, 2007 #14 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Hello Kentuky Traveler: I was wondering what you meant by Giovanni living up to the reputation of the roads?? Was he a good driver or did he driver crazy. Do you mind me asking what the cost was for this service and how many were you? Thank you! He was a good driver and a little crazy too! All drivers on the Amalfi Coast are insane! They make New Yorkers look timid. We had 7 in our group. I think we paid him 600 Euro for a great Mercedes Van and 100 Euro to the Pompei guide (worth every Euro) (his name was Giuseppe). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrishaHamilton Posted July 26, 2007 #15 Share Posted July 26, 2007 He was a good driver and a little crazy too! All drivers on the Amalfi Coast are insane! They make New Yorkers look timid. We had 7 in our group. I think we paid him 600 Euro for a great Mercedes Van and 100 Euro to the Pompei guide (worth every Euro) (his name was Giuseppe). Now I'm worried :eek: I usually like to drive myself when on hairpin turns as I'm the only person I trust! I don't even let my husband drive!! We booked him and Giovanni is supposed to be the one coming to get us. He is charging us $300 euros for 8:00 am to 5:00 which I feel is quite reasonable. We were debating the Pompeii guide though...not sure if that is something I would like to do...how is it different from touring by yourself?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
212cruiser Posted July 26, 2007 #16 Share Posted July 26, 2007 He was a good driver and a little crazy too! All drivers on the Amalfi Coast are insane! They make New Yorkers look timid. That was not our experience (fortunately). Nor did we happen to observe any "unsafe" driving. If you want insane driving I invite you to visit Beijing, Istanbul and to a much lesser degree, Rome. The Amalfi drive is a lovely experience. Sit back and enjoy the ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedommom1 Posted July 26, 2007 #17 Share Posted July 26, 2007 We used Salvatore of Drive Amalfi last year. Excellent! We enjoyed his service so much that we have booked him again for next year. You'll find Salvatore is recommended on these boards often. I second Salvatore of DriveAmalfi who is the safest and calmest driver ever ! Salvatore's email address is are ***** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusier98 Posted July 26, 2007 #18 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Got to be Salvatore of DriveAmalfi email ***** who actually lives in Amalfi and takes the driving there in his stride as opposed to many of the out of the out of town drivers. If he is not available ask for Adriano or Roberto they also got rave reviews from our group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentuckyTraveler Posted August 15, 2007 #19 Share Posted August 15, 2007 That was not our experience (fortunately). Nor did we happen to observe any "unsafe" driving. If you want insane driving I invite you to visit Beijing, Istanbul and to a much lesser degree, Rome. The Amalfi drive is a lovely experience. Sit back and enjoy the ride. Sorry if I left the impression that it was not a pleasant experience or that we felt unsafe in any way it Giovanni. The roads are very tight and curvy. It was just a wild ride but totally amazing! I would not have missed it and would go again tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiam Posted August 15, 2007 Author #20 Share Posted August 15, 2007 I would also reccomend Giancarlo from www.tourofitaly.com. Just used him July 21, 2007 and he was great. He is Giovanni's son and we had a great day with him. I would highly reccomend them Thank you Ikupper, I have Giancarlo in early Oct. and it's good to hear your comments. I chose him from the positive comments on this thread as well as his quote was lower than the other 4 I asked to quote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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