Good, reliable tour of Pompeii

wind,

You might try Gaetano Manfredi as he's an outstanding guide.

Totally agree with Ken. Gaetano is the best! We took a tour with someone else on our second visit and it was very disappointing. Gaetano earns his fee. well worth it.

Good idea to hire a solid tour guide. We were at Pompei last March, deciding against a guide because reports had a lot of them being scam artists, and we didn't really know which day we were going to be there anyway.

We entered through the Nocera gate from the modern Pompei town, and were given a brochure that was pretty much worthless. And almost nothing is marked. Fortunately, I had some of my own info printed out and also had Rick's podcast at the ready. We did OK, the ruins were spectacular but I know we missed a fair amount.

We picked up a guide at the entrance to Pompeii. He was excellent. I think it was a flat rate for two hours and little more for more. Good English. Inquired as to primary interests, what we knew about Pompeii, had we been to the museum in Naples (as a background) and a few others questions and then lead us around with lots of good information. After two hours we took a small break and we then circled back for some things we wanted to see in greater depth or to photograph.

wind,

If you decide to go with Gaetano, I'd suggest booking early as he's very popular and very busy. He's also a local guide for the RS tours.

Walks of ITALY also has a 2 1/2 hour tour of Pompeii. We've taken their tours in Florence and Rome and were impressed by the small group size and caliber of the guides. We have signed up for their tour of Pompeii this coming May. The tour starts at 2:30 and goes until 5. The site is open until 7:30 PM if you want to stay longer. I think the later start time avoids some of the crowds in the morning, and maybe some heat, as well. The promo code "Ricksteves10" gives you 10% discount over their rate of 49 euro each.

If Gaetano is booked or you find the fee to steep for your wallet, there is nothing wrong with using one of the tour guides at the gate to the Pompeii site. They are accredited and usually quite good. You can chat with them for a moment to see if the person's English skills are sufficient and you're able to understand the accent. We had a very good experience with our guide - excellent information and quite affordable.

Hello, Thank you for all you replies!
I did contact Gaetano, however he was not available. He referred me to someone named Marcello Uzzi. Is anyone familiar with this person?

Thank you again