private guides

What's your definition of "reasonably priced private guides?"

email Mariano Florentino at [email protected] he is an excellent private guide. He will pick you up at your hotel and has room for a group up to 7 people in his van. He does a great job for Florence, Rome, and the Almafi coast.

Greg

We are going to use Mariano Fiorentino (based upon Greg's recommendation in another post) in July, for the Amalfi Coast.

He has been wonderful, so far. Very helpful in e-mails.

I am not sure waht a guide should cost in Italy. I had AMex send me some names but they wanted almost $ an hour. What prices have people paid that have used private guides in the recent past?

From the quotes that I got, it seems that €40-50/hour is pretty average. My quotes were for a family of 5, though, requiring a minivan. I don't know whether a smaller vehicle is less expensive. Also, my quotes were specifically for the Amalfi Coast. So, your mileage (literally and figuratively!) may vary.

Guides in Italy have a range of rates. Leslie's answer is close to what I've been exposed to. The guides I've worked with - and done consultant work for - are paid a minimum of €30 and hour and up. Many work on a "daily basis" which equates to about 8 hours. Since many are working for companies they also accept gratuities, usually in the neighborhood of 10% of the 'daily" rate.

Knowledgeable Guides will easily make €150 - €250 a day - and some MORE! There are less experienced (and non-certified guides) who will work for about €15-€20 an hour, usually on a more limited (say 3-4 hour) basis. Most of the time these are college students attending John Cabot, for example, and studying in Rome. They just need cash! There are also many EXPATS doing guide service in Rome

Their expenses (which primarily is entry fees - NOT MEALS) are usually included in your costs; That of course depends on how "inclusive" your service is - which means, "What are you paying for up front?"

If you do a web search for "private guides for Rome" you will get many hits - and many price options; With a car and a guide, your costs can run easily over €300+ a day! Note we are not talking about a "driver service" - rather a guide!

Tour group guides are also paid by the hour, usually at €25-30 an hour plus tips. With 30 people on a 3-hr tour, they are also pulling down €75-90 + about €60-100 in tips. They usually try and do 2 tours a day (some work the pub crawls at night too!).

Probably more than you want to know... but that's been my experience with these folks!

Ciao,
Ron