Is Gaetano Manfredi worth the extra cost? And full day tour?

I heard that he is a very good guide but my family took the train from Rome to Naples. From there we took a local train to Sorento. Our driver from the hotel was there to pick us up. You know the saying trains, planes and automobiles. Well ours was train, bus, boat , taxi and walking.Go early in the morning and you will have a full day of adventures. when we went to Amalfi Coast we had a driver name Pasquale taxi number 22 , took us around for 4 people 80 euros. Nice man . good Luck and the food is fantastic.

I would say NO, but that is just my opinion.....

Four of us used Gaetano for the two hour tour in 2010. At that time he cost 190 euros and we gladly gave him 200 euros because we enjoyed his tour so much. I had been at Pompeii previously and also had a good tour from a guide hired at the gate. We did not useGaetano's full day tour from Rome but we have done that tour by car with another company and enjoyed it very much We (at that time there were 10 of us) had a great time in the van, stopped along the way to buy snacks and use the restrooms, could nap comfortably, and had a great time socializing and relaxing during the trip, as we didn't have to take the train and then the Circumvesuviana. The van was "our home" for the whole day and that was very nice.

Well put, Michael

We had Gaetano for a two hour tour and thoroughly enjoyed his lively descriptions of the site. He is certainly a character and his ego is very healthy but his knowledge is sound and his personality engaged all of us. He uses humour and flirtatiousness in his 'speil' and that may be a negative (well, obviously) as far as some people are concerned. He wasn't a bit 'slimy' with us... If you are after an academic, pedantic, professorial tour guide he's not the one for you; however, he brought Pompeii to life for us and that's exactly what we wanted. Being filmed w/RS for a show probably took his self-
esteem to a heady level...

I would say "NO". You can hire a guide at the site. Talk to different guides and get a feel for how they are. You can pick the one that you think will work the best for your group. As for a 12 hour tour, I wouldn't have the strength or interest to do a tour for that long, but that's me. If your dates are set you can use the mini fares to cut down the cost of the train. I was just looking and you can get the mini fare for as low as 26 euros for the trip into Naples and for 30 euros from Naples to Rome. I think you're right and that most of your time will be spent inside a car and not inside the ruins. Your parents should be fine on the train. It's very easy to use. If you want to continue on to Sorrento after the ruins you just hop back on the commuter train and take it to the end (about another half hour). Donna

I have no experience with Gaetano, but I would encourage you to take any negative reviews by a first time poster with a grain of salt, as would be true on any bulletin board where anyone can sign up anonymously. That's especially true with a review that recommends an alternate guide. It might be perfectly legitimate, but still... (Note added on 3/12/12 - I see that the questionable response has been removed, lending further credence to my comment.)

For anyone who researches this in the future, I thought I would go ahead and let you know our experience. We chose to do the all day tour option. The driver was very professional, courteous and was at our apartment promptly at 7am and pointed out the sights in Rome as we looked at them through bleary eyes. The time in Pompeii flew by. Gaetano was a very good guide and he held the interest of my children and my parents. Since I haven't had a tour from any of the other guides, I can't tell you whether Gaetano is really that much better. I will say that I would recommend him. After Pompeii we drove to the Amalfi coast and visited Positano. It was a Sunday in February (we had originally requested Saturday, but it wasn't available) and almost everything was closed. We ate lunch at the first (only) restaurant we found open and walked around and weren't impressed. Maybe another day/time of year it's better, but I wouldn't say this option is worth the extra expense unless you really want to check the Amalfi coast off your list of places to see.

I would love to hire Gaetano Manfredi, but unfortunately, he won't fit into my budget. Is hiring a guide at the gate of Pompeii "safe?"
Thanks, Ruth Sorry, Dina. I don't want to detract from your question. Just thought I would ask a quick question.

My husband and I used a guide we hired at the site in November 2010. He was a retired Italian government employee who was well-informed, entertaining, and most pleasant for our 2 hour visit. As we were preparing for that trip, I read that all guides there must meet certain standards set by the site. We visited two "locked houses" not open to the general tourist population with our guide because we had reserved a free admission online earlier. We used www.arethusa.net to reserve admission to the suburban spa and a large residence. At the website you scavi pompeii and then prenotazioni to get to the page where you reserve the admission. They send you an email which you give to the guide. The spa in particular was fascinating as the mosaics in the bath house are vivid blues and yellows and the subject matter quite risqué!

Just a late follow-up and I am a first time poster here. I just got back from Rome last month and experienced Gaetano Manfridi as part of a small tour package for 8 people as a private guide in Pompeii. Sadly, he must have been having an off day with our group. While I can appreciate his knowledge and love for Pompeii, I had a difficult time with his personality. He was rude to guests, told people to go away in a sharp and hard voice if they happened to be in the area who might be listening to his talk and not part of the group, was sarcastic under his breath to us and would chastize you if you wanted to peek into an area he wasn't talking about or to take photos of. And he only showed us a 4 block radius of Pompeii, spending an hour on the brothels. LOL, I grew up near Hollywood and saw enough of that in my lifetime without wanting to. I really would have liked to have seen more of Pompeii than he offered. And his constant telling you how great he was, we should appreciate him because he was the best tour guide in Pompeii as well as the first thing he says to you is that he is in Rick Steve's book is off putting. One poster above said he has a healthy ego... That is putting it nicely. And when looking on Trip Adviser's negative reviews of him, the man himself answers them and rudely. I don't get it? It's great he's an expert, but I can do without the heaping helping of narcissism and the concentration on the brothels with explicit murals... We had kids in our group. I'm no prude, but really... Kids had to be exposed to this for an hour? Anyway, next time I go, I will spend more than two hours and get a different guide. A tour should be about the place and not the guide. Deanna
Houston, Tx

My family (total of four) had the opportunity to tour Pompeii with Mr. Manfredi. He arranged a driver to pick us up in Naples and met us early at Pompeii. We beat the crowds and the temperature was great. I have no idea where the negative posts come from. Gaetano was a fantastic guide. He is proud of Pompeii and is enthusiastic in displaying it. He is a third generation guide starting when he was just 18 years old. His 83 year old uncle is still a guide. He gave us the option of the "red light" district which was a big part of the culture at the time of the eruption. We visited the area and did not find it uncomfortable at all. I see worse everyday on television. The two hours encompassed the main parts of Pompeii and gave examples of how the culture existed. We saw rich and poor housing. Spas, wine bars, baths, and saunas were all visited. He explained the plumbing system the rocks in the road and why they were there. I couldn't ask for more. His price also included a driver in an air conditioned Mercedes van that took us to Positano And Sorrento. The Amalfi coast is beautiful. We had a fantastic lunch with the most beautiful setting I have ever eaten at. We were then taken back to Naples and given a suggestion as to where we could get authentic Naploli pizza. Like I said, I think Mr. Manfredi was excellent and well worth the cost.