Rick Steve's share tours

Wasn't aware that RS tours were being sold anywhere except through RS on the website or by calling the tour office directly.

Mark, it's the Mondo Guide tours; Shared tours for Rick Steves:

https://www.sharedtours.com

Here is the text from the website. Sounds like this is a new option they are testing so not many people will have already done the tour.

Hello from Rick Steves

The Naples region has many fascinating sights and areas that are best
explored with a local guide. To make things easier and more affordable
for my readers, I've partnered with Naples-based Mondo Guide to
coordinate shared tours. I'm not making any money from this
arrangement; this is an experiment to see if we can make the luxury of
a private guide affordable for my readers. Just sign up for the
tour(s) you're interested in. Mondo will do their best to assemble a
small group of like-minded travellers. If enough people sign up,
they'll send you a confirmation; if the tour won’t run, they’ll alert
you. A shared tour is a smart way to experience the sights, while
meeting up with fellow Rick Steves readers. For more details, see the
latest edition of the Rick Steves' Italy guidebook. And if you have
feedback on your tour, please let me know at [email protected].
Happy Travels!

This is a link to RS blog on the subject from a couple of years ago - basically the same as the text that Jen posted from Mondo Guides website: http://blog.ricksteves.com/blog/good-guidebooks-provide-creative-solutions-shared-minibus-tours-of-the-amalfi-coast/

Going to give it a try! At this point there are only 4 reserved. The company will notify us, if and when the tour is at 6-8 people and a go! I am hoping for a go. Mondo's $1.25 reservation hold sent my CC into a block even when I called to forewarn the CC. You and I can cancel 3 days prior to a reserve date by email.

As Nancy's link indicates, this local tour offer has been going for several years now and described in Rick's Italy guidebook. October is not really low season for American visitors. But I'm sure it has sometimes happened that a tour didn't fill and therefore Mondo Guide didn't operate as planned or might have offered a private service at a higher per-person price.

We took the Mondo shared Amalfi Coast tour in late March of this year. There were only 5 signed up for that day (our party of 3 plus 2 others). I asked Mondo if they would ask the other two people if they would be willing to pay 60 Euros each (so the 5 fares would equal the 300 Euros total that Mondo would normally receive for 6 people) to proceed with the tour. They said they would ask and it turned out that the other two were agreeable, so the tour proceeded. We had a wonderful day (almost 10 hours) beginning in Sorrento and stopping at Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello, then back to Sorrento. The way it worked was the driver would drop us off and then suggest a time for us to meet back at the van, typically about 1.5 to 2 hours per stop. I highly recommend the Mondo Guide shared tours. The driver was excellent (and spoke very good English), the van was very comfortable, and the scenery was unforgettable, especially the view from the gardens of Villa Rufolo in Ravello. Frankly, even if we were the only 3 people signed up that day and had to pay 100 Euros per person, it still would have been well worth it, as a typical 10-hour day with a private driver and car in Western Europe normally costs at least twice that much (based on our prior trips to Italy and other countries).

Yay! I just looked and my Capri tour is filled... hoping no one backs out by Oct 22nd.

No more sign ups yet on the 23rd for Amalfi yet..just me :(

Has anyone actually taken any of these shared tours? If so what did you think?

Thanks Robert! That is a good idea to ask if the other parties would like to still go for a little extra if there is not enough people!

Thanks Laura for your insight on the October tourist season. I have gotten feed back on the time of year that span from... October is lousy, lots of rain, to plan ahead its just as busy in October as in June.

Thanks for posting. I never knew this existed. Definitely something I have to look into for my next Italy trip!

Robert, I had emailed Mondo to request a possible coordination with the other two people if 6-8 do not reserve. It is good to know we might be able to coordinate a share with the other two. If a no go on to option Z.

Mark, I am glad my question brought more awareness to this tour option! I look forward to hearing from anyone who took the Caprice boat tour!

I took the Amalfi Coast tour from Sorrento last September, and enjoyed it very much. I bet your tour will fill up as the date gets closer.
Cynthia

Just signed up for the Almalfi coast tour from Sorrento on 8/2. My wife prefers this over taking the public bus. Just the day before I signed up for another shared boat tour to Capri, a little more expensive 90 Euros vs 80 but I've heard go things about this other company, so we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the feedback Cynthia! I bet you're right, it most likely will fill up!