5
Reviewed by John M. from
Tour of Herculeneum
Started a little nervously as we were asked to be outside the hotel Una at 7.45, 15 minutes before departure. By 8.00 there was only one other gentleman there and he was on a different package with Viator, a different company. Phoning XP Tours to confirm all was good, I could get no answer (they did respond later). In any case the tour bus arrived at 8,12 and all was ok. The rest was excellent. Stephanie the tour guide was much the best of all the guides i have encountered in Italy and Greece - Friendly, Informative, a very good Communicator.and a little offbeat (in a good way). The meal provided as part of the tour was also well above expectations. From the outside the restaurant did not look particularly popular or attractive but was a hive of busy, well organised activity and the food was away above my expectations - the clam and prawn spaghetti was as good as I have tasted anywhere. The icing on the cake was the tour of Herculeneum - smaller but much less crowded than Pompeii and as a bonus we had Stephanie as a guide despite our tour programme having indicated we would just have an audio set.
5
Reviewed by Elisabetta H from United States
Pompei and Herculaneum tour
It was an incredibly hot day and we spent most of it under the sun. Despite this, me and my partner will never forget it. Lia, our tour guide, was amazing. She has entertained us all day, both on the bus and during the walking visits. Everything was meticulously covered, her English was excellent, even managing to translate the Neapolitan's typical sense of humour very effectively. What I believe made the difference during this trip, was Lia's established knowledge of these sites and their history. Lia has been able not just to give us an incredibly accurate and detailed list of facts, but she tickled our imagination by including characters into her stories. Real people from 2000 years ago seemed to be around us, attending to their daily routines: the wine shop owner who slept upstairs, the refreshment stop points scattered around the streets, the women gossiping about their bad husbands in the spa, the rich home owners wanting to retire in the afternoon for a nap at the back of the house, far from the hustle and bustle of the frenetic front room where the slaves would be at work. We were accurately informed about dates, locations, what happened in 79 ad during the eruption, daily life customs, architecture, art and more. I will never forget this day, I always wanted to visit Pompei and I couldn't have had a better guide. Grazie Lia!!
4
Reviewed by Treenie438 from United Kingdom
Enjoyable trip to Pompeii
We booked the trip to Pompeii and Herculaneum. We were picked up in a minibus by our guide Fabia. There were only 8 of us in the end. We were looked after very well. Our guide was very knowledgable about both sites and made it very interesting. Having the earphones made it easy as we could always hear wherever we stood. The restaurant we were taken to at Lunchtime was perfectly fine. I would recommend seeing the sites this way as Pompeii especially is vast and a guide made it so much easier.
