Amalfi Coast Tour and Pompeii Tour - How Long?

I spent more than a half day in Pompeii (maybe even 5-6 hours?) because it was fascinating - it really depends on your specific interest in the site. Two hours definitely seems short unless you have a very thin interest of the place and want to get through it quickly. I did a self-tour with a booklet they gave me and stopped to read a lot and just to take it all in. In retrospect, it would have been great to have a guide for part of the time (you can even hire them there) and then "alone time" to tour on my own. As far as the Amalfi Coast goes, I would say it really depends how many towns you want to see - you can easily spend a whole day touring different places (and many people stay overnight to spread out the sight seeing). Again, I did this trip independently but I am guessing you'll need to be a bit sensitive to price if you are hiring a driver for "x" hours. If it helps at all, you don't need a driver if you're open to taking a nice bus down the coastline (the upside is the lower price, but the downside is a driver will be more efficient and offer you a customized experience).

I believe we also used Tours of Pompeii (www.tourspompei.com). We used them for a full day tour of Herculaneum & Pompei with a stop at a winery at the base of Mt. Vesuvius for lunch and were very satisfied. Sasha was our guide for both sites and he was wonderful; very knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor and really brought both sites alive. Have you considered Herculaneum? I really suggest it and to be honest I enjoyed it almost more than Pompeii because it's much less crowded, smaller and the buildings were more in tact so it was easier to imagine what the town was like. We hired Sasha's brother (I think his name was Gianluca) as our driver for the day. He picked us up at our hotel in Sorrento, drove us to Herculaneum where Sasha met us for the tour, then drove us to the winery for lunch and then to Pompeii in the afternoon and back to our hotel at the end of the day. I think we spent about 2 hours at each site (Herculaneum & Pompeii). Gianluca was extremely professional, a great driver and also very knowledgeable. He talked to us a lot and gave us an overview of what modern day life is like in Italy and their economic challenges, etc. We really enjoyed chatting with Gianluca and of course we loved our time with Sasha at each archaeological site. I highly recommend both of them. Sasha really brought each site to life and he told us a lot of interesting things which I still remember!

As for a driver for the Amalfi Coast, I can recommend a wonderful one; Francesco Marrapese (www.francescomarrapese.com). We hired him for an all-day tour along the coast and again, we were not disappointed. He picked us up and delivered us back to our hotel in Sorrento and he was an excellent driver. I am prone to motion sickness and was very worried about the twists and turns along the Amalfi Coast. Francesco was such a good driver that I didn't have a problem at all. He solicited our input and interests so he could suggest various stops along the way and we loved all of his suggestions. We stopped at Positano, Ravello, Amalfi and had lunch at a wonderful restaurant off the beaten path in a town way above the coast that we would never have been able to access without a private driver. Francesco drives a large comfortable Mercedes van and we loved his use of an Ipad to enhance the experience. He had movie and commercial clips loaded on the Ipad and as we drove up to a certain spot, he would show us the commercial/movie clip that was filmed in the exact spot. We really enjoyed our day with Francesco and would recommend him any time. I personally would suggest hiring a driver for the better part of a day in order to see as much as possible along the coast.

Both days were obviously not cheap but we saw way more in both days with the assistance of the guide/drivers than we would have on our own and we felt that the value far outweighed the cost. Hope this helps. By the way, both companies have excellent reviews on Trip Advisor.

I'm not sure where you will be staying, but we will be using a driver on the Amalfi Coast who comes well recommended by Rick Steves and many on this forum--Monetti Taxi: http://www.monettitaxi17.it/English.htm. This is the taxi you see on his TV shows of the Amalfi Coast. The website is not extensive, but if you email them, they will get back to you with options. We are staying in Sorrento for this portion of the trip, and will make several stops at towns along the way, and end up at the Greek ruins at Pasteum.

We will be visiting Pompeii while staying in Naples, and have booked a tour with Walks of Italy that starts at Pompeii. We have used them in the past with great success. Again, they are well recommended on this site. The tours goes from 2:30 to 5:00 PM. Pompeii doesn't close until 7 PM, so we have time to wander on our own afterward, if we are inclined. We will leave Naples in the AM and visit Herculaneum before going to Pompeii. The website is www.walksofitaly.com. You want just the tour of Pompeii, not the day trip from Rome.