Naples, Sorrento, Amalfi, Capri in late March before the tourist rush

Con't. Pompeii could be an all-day or more affair. The 2-hour Shared Tour added to our knowledge and got us around this huge site efficiently. We spent six hours in total. The only crowding was waiting in line to buy a sandwich, but tables were available for sitting to eat, so it wasn’t all that crowded at the end of March.

Day 4: The drawback of being on the Bay of Naples in March is that the ferry to the Amalfi Coast isn’t running. So, again we opted for Mondo Shared Tours. The scenery is the draw. It’s even more beautiful, dramatic, and consequently less populated than the Riviera. We aren’t drawn to crowded coastal towns but if you were staying there and found the quiet corners, it’s lovely. Positano and Amalfi were selling the same lemon-themed items we buy on the Riviera. Ravello was where we wanted to spend our time, but with the driver (note that this is not a certified tour guide but a friendly driver) talking up a boat trip in Amafi from the moment we got in his van, that’s where we had to spend more time. In March, the boat trip was 20 euros per person and nice to see the coast from the water. All the van drivers were selling the tickets to their riders and to each other.

Day 5: We opted for a “boat tour” to Capri because it included a circle around the island before docking, which added enormous richness to the day. The geography is magnificent. The “tour” was only 20 euros more than the ferry tickets in March. Otherwise, we went up and down the hills, taking buses, visiting the narrow streets of the two towns. Again, the lemon-themed items were for sale. I don’t think much is undiscovered on Carpri unless you do some serious hiking. Day 6, 7, 8, 9: Naples: Christian Monetti picked us up for the transfer from Sorrento to Naples. I had booked near the Naples train station in a very nice hotel, but the neighborhood had minuses. The famous pizza places were close by, but there were no real restaurants easily reachable. To get to any, we had to cross a large, busy boulevard with no traffic lights: step out between cars, wait in the middle, and finish the crossing. This was not something I ever got used to doing and was unique to our neighborhood. Second, of all the areas we visited in Naples, this was the most rundown. One can live like a local in a better neighborhood, too.

Being March, Mondo Shared Tours did not have enough people to run a Naples tour, so we hired a certified, private guide through our hotel. I knew that Naples had many different areas and neighborhoods and was looking for an orientation, as well as seeing highlights. Our expectations were fulfilled. After the tour, we were comfortable finding our way around.
The National Archaeological Museum was our priority, but we saw only a tiny part of it before deciding that we had to make a return visit to Naples. We thoroughly enjoyed Naples.

Our Naples visit was extended by a day as our flight home from Rome had been canceled due to French slowdowns; the airline offered to fly us the following Thursday, but Thursdays were weekly strike days, so DOA. We found a Naples to Nice flight and a shared BlablaCar ride home since trains weren’t running regularly either. We were reimbursed for train tickets and the airline reimbursed us immediately. We kept our Naples hotel room, giving us a bonus day.

Pros: March had fewer crowds. Where we spent more on private guides, we felt we had received quality service. We had no trouble getting restaurant reservations. Sorrento is a tourist base for going along the coast. Food was good. Our hotel, on the cliff above the ferry, gave us a room overlooking the Bay of Naples, Naples, Vesuvius, something more likely in March.

Cons: One restaurant in Sorrento, in a RS guidebook, put strongarm pressure on us to tip. We would have rounded up otherwise: “add tip” printed in English on the bill. The waiter kept control of the machine, took our card, and asked how much we wanted to tip. We said, “no tip.” He asked why. I reported this to RSE.
The coastal ferry isn’t running in March, which would be my preferred way to see the coast.
We were gob smacked by the number of Americans in Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast until one of my sons told me it’s the in-place, written about in all the Blogs and Influencer photos. Naples was more diverse.

We were gob smacked by the number of Americans in Sorrento and the
Amalfi Coast

Interesting. One thing I left out of my trip report was how many Canadians we ran into compared to Americans. Our first tour to Pompeii was 10 Canadians and 2 Americans. Usually it's overwhelmingly more Americans which is consider normal based on population differences. But it's the Brits that overwhelmed us all, it's like England 2.0.

@Allan, I thought that the three week difference in our dates produced enough variation that it was worth doing a report. The Amalfi boat ride was 18 euros more per ticket only three weeks later. You had the tipping strong arm in Rome, but we went to white tablecloth restaurants in Sorrento and ran into it, along with a few evenings of drunk Americans at neighboring tables. You ran into Brits, we saw few. Interesting variations, but I think we had similar opinions.

Response to the OP's comment, "Being March, Mondo Shared Tours did not have enough people to run a Naples tour, so we hired a certified, private guide through our hotel."

When we (a group of 4) were in southern Italy in the fall of 2021, we were signed up for a Mondo Rick Steves Shared Tour of Naples, a three-hour walking tour with a min. group size of 6. At time of booking, I had asked if we'd be able to still take the tour if we were the only ones, by covering the cost of the missing 2 people. The emailed answer was yes, the company would note on our booking that we were willing to pay for any missing people if min. group size was not met. Our guide contacted us by text message on the day of the tour to confirm the meeting spot. Indeed, no one else had signed up. The published price per person is 30€. Instead, each of the four of us paid 45€ so that the company was making the same fee as if there were six in the group.

We also took a Mondo Shared Tours of Capri, a full day excursion departing from Sorrento, and had the same arrangement with the company, that if the min. group size of 6 wasn't met, our group of four would cover the 120€ per person cost of the missing two people. For that tour, however, min. group size was met.

We had the same experience as Vickie and Bets with Mondo Tours. When only 4 people signed up for our Naples tour in April they offered to run it anyway if the 4 of us would cover the cost of what 6 would have been. It was still good value at 45 Euros/pp instead of 35/pp.

Mondo did suggest that we could pay 180€ since nobody else signed up for the Naples tour. The private guide we hired through the hotel was 150€, which appears to be the going rate

So lovely that you can take these amazing trips from Montpellier! :)