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Pompeii, Positano and Amalfi tour

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Rome Pompeii Positano Amalfi

I was searching for the convenient public transportation to go to Pompeii / Amalfi coast tour but I could not find any direct bus or train to get to Pompeii
Fortunately in the Rick Steeves guide book I found the name of Gaetano Manfredi who helped us organize the transportation for our group - door to door with admission fees /tickets /skip the queue to the archeological site of Pompeii and a private tour

Gaetano was not available for the tour but he recommended his son Ciro. Initially I was unsure if that would be a good choice because I was not able to find any reviews about Ciro, then I realized that it’s been 3 years that Ciro is working as tour guide. Because we’re a family of 6 with seniors and kids and the accommodation looked good, I decided to accept and it’s been a good decision
The driver whom Gaetano sent was very professional , with excellent command of English language and with clean van with air conditioning.
Along the route the driver provided us with great narrative of what we were seeing and we felt welcome and comfortable.
Once in Pompeii we met Ciro who got our tickets. There was a long queue of people waiting for purchasing tickets but we didn’t have to waste any time and we soon started our tour

By the way Ciro is a fourth generation tour guide of Pompeii !
Ciro exceeded all our expectations, he carries forth all the great traditions of the tour guides of the Manfredi family
He is young but very knowledgeable, courteous, easy going and accommodating and he brings the same passion to the ruins that his father , grandfather and great grandfather did.

We’ve had great experience and have made many beautiful memories for the years to remember

The cost of the entire service was not cheap but they provided high quality of the services and we all agreed that it was worth every penny so I highly recommend it

You can find Gaetano and Ciro on their website
Https://www.pompeiitourguide.com

Brigitta Lindgren

Posted by
1025 posts

Why does this sound like an ad for this guide service? Wonderful accolades without too much detail. Color me skeptical.

Posted by
454 posts

My spouse and I and two friends had a great tour of Pompeii with Gaetano in October 2021. He sent a driver to pick us up at our hotel in Rome. Gaetano greeted us when we got out of the car, tickets in hand. We then had a glorious 3 hour tour, followed by lunch on our own, and then the very personable driver (whose name was Leonardo, or Leo for short) took us to our hotel in Sorrento. While we were on our tour with Gaetano, we crossed paths with a group that his son was guiding. It looked like that group was having a fabulous time with their young and energetic guide! Gaetano told us that his son became a licensed guide in Feb. of 2020 but then his career was derailed by the pandemic. He was finally able to start guiding in mid-2021. Gaetano's broad smile and wave to his son as our two groups passed each other was an open display of fatherly pride, very touching to see. Per the notes that I jotted in my journal that day, Gaetano has been guiding since 1981. His father was a licensed guide from 1955 to 2007. And his grandfather from 1935 to 1977. Passion for Pompeii runs in the Manfredi family's DNA. I believe the OP's post is a legitimate review after a wonderful tour, although it does appear that if they thought Ciro had 3 years experience as a licensed guide, that was in error. He's a bit more of a newbie, but I'll bet he's great! I could see it!

Posted by
2 posts

I couldn’t help but reply to the skeptical comment to my initial post -
So since when a well- deserved praise for an excellent service is an accolade ?
When have we become so negative and skeptical so that after reading a good review our first inclination is to doubt ?

I personally still do believe in professionalism , dedication, genuine goodness and kindness- and let me assure you - they still do exist
But that sentiment would be perhaps for another thread to cover

As a seasoned traveler who travels several times a year abroad for business and pleasure I know that it can be hard to find a good service in the plethora of mediocrity - that’s why I wanted to be sure and share my wonderful experiences

On another note , the book of Rick Steves that I used is an old one from 2014 that I bought for my first trip to Italy
Not sure if the current edition still has the names and contact numbers of these excellent guides that I mentioned

So since you felt that my review lacked in detail - please feel free to contact me for more details, contact numbers , emails and further Information and I will be happy to assist all the skeptics 😊

Respectfully,
Brigitta

Posted by
4402 posts

Don't use old guidebooks, it's not that much money to buy the current fresh version. Like eating old fruit.

And FWIW, I thought your post was just a positive review of a tour guide. Didn't smell like a troll post at all.

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