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Amalfi Coast excellent value: "Shared Tours Mondo Guide for Rick Steves"

My spouse and I did the "Amalfi Coast Full Day from Sorrento" tour, which we learned of from the Rick Steves Italy guidebook. https://www.sharedtours.com/

On-line signup and notification process was smooth. One can easily check to see how many people have signed up on specific days. (We signed up a year early. No others had signed up until a week before the tour.)

Many people had signed up for the same day as us, so we were divided into two groups travelling in separate vehicles. (We never encountered the other group). We were assigned to the smaller group, so traveled in a minivan with a single driver/guide. The other group was apparently in a small bus.

Our guide/driver was excellent. Vincenzo is an experienced and polished guide who was a pleasure to ride with. We tourists were 3 couples; my wife and I were lucky to have the front-most seat next to Vincenzo. The front center seat legroom was a bit cramped, but this was offset by the fantastic front-row view and close proximity to Vincenzo’s narration. (We offered to switch with the other two couples on the way back, but they preferred the rear seating.)

The tour was excellent and a great value. We really enjoyed the opportunity to visit and freely roam within the 3 towns. At Amalfi we ate at a small place named cuoppo d'Amalfi that deep-fried smelt and octopus (and other ingredients) on demand, and served it in a cone. Delicious! (Though the web site recommends bringing a snack, we didn't need one.)

This was a great way to experience the Amalfi Coast, avoiding the stress of driving and instead simply enjoying the scenery, free to independently explore three picturesque towns.

Posted by
6526 posts

A few years ago we signed up for a Mondo tour of Pompeii. Unfortunately, only 3 of the people who signed up showed up, so our guide, Vincenzo, cancelled the tour. However, he took the three of us to the main entry, sat down on the ground with us surrounding him, and proceeded to spend about 45 minutes giving us an overview of the site, including history and the role of Pompeii in the economic and social milieu of its time.

We were very impressed, and decided that if we ever book another tour in the area, it will be with Mondo.

Posted by
266 posts

Jane: glad to read of your good experience with Vincenzo. During our drive with him, he pulled out a photo of himself in a suit standing next to... Rick Steves.

Posted by
1 posts

For anyone who has taken the Mondo Amalfi Coast tour, does the tour only stop in the three towns listed or are their short photo stops made along the road?

Posted by
266 posts

We had six people in the van, and on the return trip the driver/guide stopped at a scenic viewpoint overlooking Positano. (I think a person among our group had asked him to stop someplace to take photographs.) Vincenzo (the driver) knew the woman selling fruits and spices at the kiosk at the viewpoint. It was a nice stop. My impression was that the driver was open to requests, and that he would stop at a scenic point if there was time following the three town visits.