We'll (family of four) be in Sorrento the end of June and would like to hire a driver and tour guide for Pompeii and Herculaneum and possibly Vesuvius. With a driver/guide can we see all three in one day?
I'd love to have a couple of recommendations for driver and guide.
Thanks so much for your help!
Jean,
There's good information on those topics in the Guidebook......
AFAIK, the links I provided are correct. You'll have to contact each of them for prices and availability.
Hello Jean. I can recommend Sasha Bianco based on personal experience. We booked a day with Sasha last September and we toured Herculaneum in the morning and then Pompeii in the afternoon with a wonderful break for lunch in between. Sasha's brother, Gianluca, was our driver and he picked us up at our hotel in Sorrento and drove us to Herculaneum in the morning. Gianluca was delightful; very professional and interesting to talk with. He gave us some history of the area during the drive because he and his family live in the area and grew up there, he knew it like the back of his hand. He was also an excellent driver.
Gianluca delivered us to Herculaneum where Sasha was waiting for us. Sasha was incredible. His knowledge of the ruins was vast and he was passionate about the history and details. His father was also a guide at the ruins and Sasha grew up at both sites. Sasha insisted that we tour Herculaneum first because it would help us to better visualize Pompeii when we got there since Pompeii isn't as well preserved and he was right. It was helpful to have seen Herculaneum first. After Herculaneum, Sasha and Gianluca suggested that we have lunch at a winery at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius. It was a nice experience and we enjoyed sitting down and resting for a while in a beautiful setting before embarking on Pompeii! Sasha had a wonderful sense of humor which we really enjoyed and he made the day fun while fascinating. I can not recommend Sasha enough. His web-site is: http://www.tourspompei.com/. You can inquire about visiting Vesuvius in addition to Herculaneum and Pompeii and see what Sasha recommends but I think it can be done. Gianluca delivered us back to our hotel in Sorrento at the end of the day and my husband and I both agreed that while personal guides and drivers are costly, it was well worth it! It would not have been as relaxing if we'd had to worry about the logistics of getting from site to site and then trying to navigate each site (especially Pompeii) without a guide would have been exhausting. We were there in September so it was very hot and Sasha knew where all the shady spots were and made sure to position us in shade while he was giving us information and talking. It was a wonderful day that we will always remember thanks to Sasha & Gianluca Bianco. Have a great trip!
One more comment! One of Ken's suggestions was Pina Esposito. We also have personal experience with Pina. We used her for a tour at the Archaeological Museum in Naples. She was very knowledgeable and extremely well educated in art, history and archaeology. She was very professional and she sure knew her stuff! But, Sasha and Gianluca Bianco made a huge impression on my husband and me and I would not hesitate to use him again.
