Naples: Pompeii & Herculaneum Day Trip – Small Group Tour

This tour is really two tours in one with a needlessly long intermission. The first tour was lead by Anna (I think that is her name). She took us on a nice tour of Pompeii. Pompeii is a large place with a significant amount excavated so there is a ton to see. Unfortunately that lead to a tour that felt like we were skimming our way through the ruins with barely enough time to see anything specific. Also, the place was crowded, very sunny and hot which definitely made it feel more like an endurance contest. Pompeii is pretty much a must see, but as it turned out, I was disappointed. I would rate this portion at 3★ The tour provided what amounted to an intermission between the two sets of ruins. We ate lunch as a group, this was fine. We then had about 90 minutes to shop. Unfortunately, there are few shops in the area and we didn’t have enough time in either set of ruins. This was a waste of valuable touring time and brings the overall rating down. This bit was awful, 1★. The second tour, Herculaneum, was lead by Thomas. He was amazing. Full of information and energy with a nice dose of humility. It was refreshing to hear a guide say they don’t know but then offer his own guess at an answer. Thomas rocks! The ruins of Herculaneum are so much easier to take in than Pompeii. What has been excavated is better preserved and more interesting, though part of that might have been from our excellent guide. Did I mention Thomas rocks? This bit easily rates 5★ and pulls the whole tour up to 4★ in my book.

We absolutely loved our visit to Pompeii and Herculaneum. Nina was our guide and it was so obvious how passionate she is about passing on the knowledge of eruption in 79AD and respecting the sites we visited. Nina was friendly, well organised, funny and engaging and we learned so much from her. She was very aware of the heat and gave us shelter from the sun as much as possible on the tour. We did Pompeii first which really helped us see the similarities and differences between the two sites. The tour really makes you appreciate the history and immense power of Vesuvius which stands proudly over Naples and surrounding areas. We loved our visit to Naples and thoroughly enjoyed this tour. Thank you Nina for an amazing day!

The trip to Pompeii and Herculaneum was beautiful! Extraordinary places, rich in history and charm, narrated with great expertise by two truly fabulous guides: Mario and Diana. A special thanks to Diana, who accompanied us throughout the tour with professionalism, availability, and passion, making the experience even more interesting and enjoyable. Highly recommended!

We had a fantastic experience visiting Pompeii and Herculaneum today. The pickup and transfers were seamless. Our main guide, Rafi, was wonderful—incredibly knowledgeable, engaging, and fun throughout the day, while Castro ensured smooth and safe transportation. Our archaeological guides, Charlotte and Thomas, were also exceptional and highly informative. I highly recommend this tour, especially since the small group size of just 10 people made the entire experience feel much more personal.

2 hours in Pompeii and 2 hours in Herculaneum, the guide Luca in Spanish, wonderful, fully dedicated. The driver was phenomenal, Castro played good music, and Raffaella was attentive, with direct contact, friendly and kind.

Very bad experience; the night before, I received a message about a change in departure and the end of the tour; I had purchased it with pickup 50 meters from my hotel, which caused me two taxis at $20 each. Upon arriving in Pompeii, we waited an hour in the sun for the guide; when the tour started, I asked the guide, and she told me she had been there half an hour before the start, that the operator delayed the start by an hour while consolidating another group that was waiting; they lied to us; there was another Latin couple on the same tour, I asked them how much they had paid on another platform, and it was $100 less, more than 20%. Upon arriving in Herculaneum, we waited in the sun for 30 minutes, the guide told us they were waiting for other tourists, it turned out to be a group of Italians, the tour lasted the same but with explanations in two languages, we had to wait at each place for the double explanation, did they show us half? Bad experience with Viator.

Two wonderful historical places to visit, each with its differences.

Excellent experience - friendly Salvatore made us feel at home and made sure we were where we needed to be and provided much needed bottled water at the right moments (it was quite a hot day). Luca got us to and from the sites. Tomaso (Herculaneum) and Roberto (Pompeii) were excellent guides! They brought the Roman ruins to life for us. Highly recommended tour from start to finish!

Great trip! Guide at Pompeii, Diana, was warm, friendly and informative. Guide at Herculaneum, Lello, was very enthusiastic. Driver, Antonio, is friendly and helpful. The small group (5 people only) added to the personal touch. Pick up and drop off were easy. Overall very enjoyable trip.

The guides were marketed as English-speaking Archeologists. Both spoke English, but neither were Archeologists. The one for the Herculaneum tour seemed annoyed when I asked questions. She rushed us through the last 30-40 minutes.