Wanting to see Amalfi Coast/Pompeii from Rome

[dlhoward]

We are going to Rome in October. We would like to go see the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii one of those days. My travel agent sent over a tour from booktravelbound that picks you up in Rome, takes you to Pompeii, Amalfi Coast and a couple of side trips. This will be on a Mercedes minibus or similar. 14 hour tour for $291 pp. My question is: Are there any good tours out there besides this one. Is this the best way to go? Is taking a fast train to Naples in the morning and taking a tour from there better? Is getting the fast train there and back easy?

Thanks

[euro cruiser]

The difficulty with the train is that the Amalfi Coast is an area, not one place, and the train does not go out to the coast. Therefore, you'd need to use a combination of train and bus or taxi.

[dlhoward]

I thought I could take a fast train from Rome to Naples and get a tour from there instead of one that comes to Rome to get us. Not sure which way would be better. The one that picks us up from Rome will be a minibus all the way.

[CruiserBruce]

Any of the tour venders mentioned here, like Rome in Limo, will pick you up at the train station. It is the same as picking you up at the ship, or at a hotel. It is just a starting point.

[euro cruiser]

I don't think you're going to find a packaged tour, but you can certainly set up a private one with one of the limo companies.

 

In that case, I'd look at trains to either Napoli Centrale or Salerno to see which gives you the best timing. Naples requires more driving time, but has the benefit of fast trains every hour. Salerno gets you all the way to the Amalfi Coast, but there aren't as many fast trains and the timing may not be what you want.

[dlhoward]

Thanks. I would much rather do that but I worry that if I book the tour and the train tickets and for some reason we don't go (death in family or something) I lose my money. Where I bought travel insurance from AAA so get my money back from everything there if I don't go. I far in advance I have to buy train tickets and book tours? It saves me abt $80 and 3 hours going to Naples and getting a tour. Not to mention that it will be just us on the tour so we will get pampered more. But being with other people can be fun too. I don't care abt the $80 but I do care about the extra 3 hours because we will be taking a mini bus from Rome.

[euro cruiser]

With the trains, early purchase is a trade off of risks. You can get the ticket for much less money but accepting the risk of losing that money if you cancel the trip. Compare that with the full price of the ticket accepting the risk that you won't cancel the trip.

 

Which is more likely? (My guess is that it's more likely that you will go on the trip, by a pretty large factor, but I don't know your family's situation.)

[dlhoward]

Yes, we needed to take the insurance because one of our parents is terminal. Right now they are ok and that is why we booked this trip quickly to go in October thinking we couldn't go next year. But you never know how quickly or how long they have. I did find a package tour that picked us up at our hotel in Rome. I just didn't like that we had 3 extra hours of driving because of taking a minibus over a fast train. Is the countryside beautiful from Rome to Naples? It does save hastle of getting to the train and back but it will be a 14 hr trip instead of an 11 hr trip. We won't get back to our hotel until 9 pm. Maybe it is best to book the one from the travel agent. I have a little more time to wait to decide.

[euro cruiser]

All those hours locked in a minibus sounds like hell on wheels to me, but that's me. I would forgo the Amalfi Coast and just go to Pompei, or Pompei and Naples.

[agabbymama]

I don't think you're going to save much, either from Rome or Naples, it's expensive. What you would save going from Naples, you would have the train fare added from Rome so it's a wash.

 

I checked viator dot com and romecabs dot com. If you are on a cruise, check your roll call and see if you can share. The 500 or 700 EUR is for the vehicle up to 4 or 6 people not pp. The more people you have, the less pp price.

 

viator was a shared coach tour, so not good, the coach wouldn't be able to get into the towns on Amalfi coast, probably lots of walking.

 

romecabs is a private vehicle with just your party. While expensive, they do an excellent job.

 

Have a great trip whatever you decide!

[paul929207]

We did a tour like this about 25 years ago. It was a long day, but a good day. We arranged it thru our hotel.

[dlhoward]

I couldn't get the one from booktravelbound.com because I'm not a travel agent but it is basically like this one. http://www.viator.com/tours/Rome/Pompeii-and-Amalfi-Coast-Small-Group-Day-Trip-from-Rome/d511-2635POM

 

We are doing a couple of days in Amsterdam, flying to Venice for a day then taking a fast train to Rome for 3-1/2 days. I was on a cruise 4 years ago and had a private tour with 12 of us (2 vans). Our tour guide was Carmen Foggia. He was great.

 

There were alot of good reviews about the trip above and I would have the security of getting my money back on the insurance if we don't go. Money isn't much different than what I was quoted with Carmen's company after I add the train fair.

 

So basically I will be trading 3 hours extra time sitting on the bus (but is there a countryside to see on the way) with the package tour and security of a cancellation and being picked up at the hotel and just going and being dropped off right at the hotel.

or

A little cheaper price, a tour with just us (that is what we were told), 3 hours less time to get there but will have to get to the train station and back so that will also take some time as opposed to be dropped off at the hotel.

[goncruzn]

We, too, are sailing in October (27th) and doing a full day excursion from Rome to Pompeii and the Amalfi coast on the 26th. For me and my group, we preferred to go the leisurely route of the tour company picking us up at our hotel in Rome and driving through the countryside vs having to concern ourselves with trains, stations and schedules. I'm on vacation so my goal is to relax as much as possible. I love the idea of door to door service, but that's just me!:)

 

The entire tour will take 11 hours, and includes a guided tour of Pompeii (2 hours), lunch, Positano and Sorrento.

 

For four of us, we are paying 189 euros each.

[dlhoward]

Thanks. I am actually thinking of just doing the tour. I know it will be a long day but I may not ever be back to Italy. If we go back to Europe will will hit other countries. Our tour is 14 hours giving us approx. 3 hrs at the Almalfi Coast and a stopover at a cameo shop. I believe it may be the same one that I went to 4 years ago. I was kicking myself for not getting a cameo so hoping to get one this time. It was our first stop on our 10 day cruise and I didn't want to buy something big right away. Thought I would find other stuff like it but we never stopped at another one. Helpful hint. If you see it, like it, then buy it.

[slidergirl]

Check your trip insurance. It may be able to refund the train and whatever else you pay for in advance. When you got the insurance, did they only ask for a round number for how much the trip is costing? It may help you decide - if you can get refunds for any trip-related costs, there wouldn't be a reason to book a bus tour to ensure you could get the money refunded. It's just a thought.