Hi all,
My wife and I are planning our honeymoon and we're looking for advice. I was going to book the mondotours rick steves experience (140e). Upon contacting them they also offered a "deluxe" tour at 200e per person. Has anyone had experience with either tour or would recommend one over the other? Thanks!
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
17011 posts
Welcome to the forum -
I've never heard of a "deluxe" RS shared Mondo Capri Tour, and can't find anything on their website by that name or price. I guess I would go back to them and ask what added benefits this tour adds to the tour you were originally going to book (linked below) for the additional price?
https://www.sharedtours.com
(click on "Capri in Private Boat; full day from Sorrento")
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Ah interesting. Here is the link that mondo sent me....
https://www.sharedtrips.com/shared-city-tour/sorrento/35/capri-deluxe-max-12-people#tour-details
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
17011 posts
Ah, OK. I was only looking at the RS shared tour page so this tour is new to me. Never mind.
Having been to Capri. I think trying to cover the ground that tour describes in 8 hours is ambitious.
I'm also a bit put off by listed "have the chance" activities as many of them are not covered by the price of the tour, such as:
Lunch (reasonable expectation)
Blue Grotto entrance fee €18 Per Person to be paid in cash
Chair Lift to Sunny Mountain (Mt Solaro) entrance fee €13 Per Person to be paid in cash
S.Michele Villa entrance fee €10 Per Person to be paid in cash
Caesar Augustus Gardens fee €2 Per Person to be paid in cash
So the 200e pp could end up costing 43 euro pp more, not including lunch. The Blue Grotto also isn't a given. It's not accessible in heavy seas, and even when it is you could be bobbing about for a lengthy amount of time waiting for your turn at the rowboats necessary to get inside so I wouldn't buy this tour JUST for that attraction. Otherwise, you could give it a shot knowing that hitting all the bases might be tough in the time allowed.
I'll also mention that we weren't interested in boat tours during our 2 nights on the island - exploring its corners on foot was more our cuppa tea - but we're all different so if that appeals, then that's perfectly all right. It's YOUR trip! :O)
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you so much for the insight!
Posted by
Walnut Creek, CA
693 posts
Yes, we did the "Deluxe" capri tour with Mondo and absolutely recommend it OVER the Rick Steves experience. And you while you can't do everything they state in 8 hours, (those are options) it's still worth it.
The difference between the "Rick Steves" tour and the "Deluxe" tour is that the Deluxe tour includes private land transportation. You meet you guide at the ferry port in Sorrento at a very early hour. The ferry takes us all over to Capri. A private van is waiting for you at the dock. You go straight from the dock up to Anacapri. Since you arrive just as the chairlift opens, the tour guide recommended to do and we did that first.
Then you have about ½ to find lunch. The tour recommended a sandwich shop for a quick bite. It is NOT a sit down lunch. We ate an our sandwiches on a bench in the town square. We had some time to stroll the walkway out to a villa for the views and then walk back to the meeting point.
One couple didn't want to do the chairlift, so they walked out visit Villa San Michele. We and they did not see the Gardens.
Then we were driven in the van to Capri town. We took a walking tour with the guide around Capri town and given 45 minutes to wander around on our own. We bought ice cream and shopped for souvenirs. Then the van takes you down to the marina and we boarded our private jet boat around the island. The boat stops at several lesser known green and coral grottos and goes through the arch of love and at one stop we got to swim in the water for about 15-20 minutes.
Then The boat continues on around the island and stops at the Blue Grotto. The Blue Grotto cost is extra and you have to transfer to a rowboat. The Grotto was closed on the day we went, but frankly it was no loss to us. The boat ride around the island was worth it. Then the jet boat goes back to the marina and you board the ferry back to Sorrento. Our guide was excellent.
We took this tour because we only had one free day from Sorrento to visit Capri.-and we were on the RS Best of South Italy tour.
The additional costs were the chairlift, lunch, and ice cream, the Blue Grotto admission (if it was open) plus a tip for the guide at the end.
If you can afford it, do it.