We just returned from our trip and want to recommend our wonderful guide Gaetano Manfredi. My husband and I had a private tour with him. Picked up by a driver at our hotel in Sorrento and met at Pompeii by Gaetano. He's tremendously knowledgeable, enthusiastic and personable. Because Pompeii is so large, he was able to use our time efficiently. Without him we would have been wandering around not really knowing what we were looking at. Just looking at my pictures, I'm reminded of the many details he shared with us which gave us such a memorable experience. After lunch, our driver brought us to Herculaneum where we enjoyed another couple of hours with another guide, Teresa, who was also great. Our driver brought us back to hotel at the end of a very full and memorable day. Gaetano was very responsive to my emails in arranging the day and provided efficient communication on all aspects. He's listed in Rick's book. pompeiitourguide.com I also recommend the driver he sent us, Anthony, in case you need transport around the Amalfi Coast area amalficarexperience.com He's a professional and pleasant fellow and we were so glad to have worked with him. We also used a driver to bring us back to Naples: Gaetano Franza +39 339 790 9294 He is delightful, and I encourage you to engage him in a conversation about cooking! Our drive from Sorrento to Naples was the high point of the day -- no kidding.
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I am very interested in your driver and guides. Can you tell me approximately how much the trip from and back to Sorrento cost? We are staying in Sorrento for 2 weeks and looking for a driver during that time for a few days per week and also for guides etc. Thank you so much. Best. Joan. Washington DC
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The guides we hired through Askos were less than half the price quoted by Gaetano to another poster on this Forum. And they were excellent!
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This fairly recent thread may be helpful if wondering about prices...which would be really helpful when recommending a guide service, and I'm puzzled why that's so often left out of reviews:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/no-luck-with-private-guides-so-far
Relevant to this subject is the price Allan was quoted (€820 all cash, not including entrance fees) by this guide for both guide service + driver(s) for his desired day trip, and Ricky's posts about the sharp rise in cost of private car service. There are some useful suggestions for cutting some of that cost, such as being willing to meet the guide AT Pompeii (or Herculaneum, etc) via public transit versus using a private driver. Sure, if you have a healthy budget, then go for it but many travelers can't swing the sort of prices Allen was seeing, not that all services will have the same costs but, well, you get the idea from his opening post.
jmcentee2, Pompeii is very easily and very inexpensively reached from Sorrento in abt. 30 minutes by commuter train; as we have, thousands of visitors do just that every year. It would be a middle-of-the-road solution if wishing to use the recommended guide but cutting the cost of a driver. Granted, the cost of a driver just to Pompeii and back would be less than a trip taking most of a day but will still add a considerable amount: see the 150 Euros Allan was quoted for the drive between Pompeii and Herculaneum - that appeared to be just one way - which is roughly similar in distance as Sorrento>Pompeii.
Commuter train schedule: the Pompeii stop is Pompei Scavi - Villa dei Misteri