Vesuvius & Herculaneum Small Group Tour from Naples

The reviews were not great but it was grand for us. Big bus and transfer to air conditioned minibuses. Well organised by staff at busy sites. Good communication. Only slight issue was with audio guide of Herculean not matching sites.

It’s not really a tour; it’s a drop off and you’re on your own. We were told a bus would take us back to the meeting point and a random man in a beat up van picked us up instead. No prior communication.

The description is misleading at best and fraudulent at worst. This is not a small group tour nor is a guide provided. It is large group bus transportation to Vesuvius and Herculaneum - without functioning air conditioning. They drop you off and you tour them yourself. Meet back at the appointed time and move to the next location. With that said, Vesuvius and Herculaneum are very interesting and worth visiting. I would not book this tour again.

This was not what I expected or am used to from a tour group. It was very disorganized and it’s more like a shuttle service than a tour. First, the address for the meeting spot is the Ramada. Why they don’t put it, I don’t know. Everyone seemed to eventually find the address was the Ramada, but everyone was very confused and frustrated. They use stickers to ID which tour your on. They mix multiple tours on the same bus. They did not explain the stickers, they just had letters in them. Eventually we figured it out, but was confused cause ours had P for Pompeii, but we didn’t pay nor want to go to Pompeii that day. Guess what.. in lots of confusion, they took us out of our way 25 min in the wrong direction to Pompeii “to pick more people up”. The drivers don’t speak English, and get frustrated cause they can’t answer our questions. One employee told me the driver just drives when I asked why he took us to Pompeii.. “our sticker says P.. he assumed we were with the group going to Pompeii.. The tickets worked to the sites, and they are worth going to.. but this is a ticket and a chaotic ride service.. there are better options

The hike from the drop off point is strenuous if you are not in shape. Those who get motion sickness may have challenges on the drive up the mountain.

We were collected on time, dropped off at Vesuvius ( to complete the climb and descent) and transported to Herculaneum in a timely fashion. Both destinations are amazing. That is where the positives end. To begin with, it would have been helpful if the meeting point was described as 'outside the Ramada hotel' - this is a much easier focal point to find than a numerical co-ordinate. Moving on from that, the people who 'called out our names' ( 'Around Vesuvius' staff??) in order for us to enter the minibus did NOT ONCE smile, talk to us directly, welcome us or at any time seem pleased to see us! They did not introduce themselves ( so I can't give any names) or explain what the itinerary would be ( granted, we had booked the trip but it's nice to be reassured about what is happening!). In fact, apart from telling us what time to be back at the meeting point, they had literally no interaction with us at all!!! Having had enjoyable trips with other providers over the last three days, the difference was stark. We were dropped off at Herculaneum around about lunchtime - we assumed there would be a cafe/ restaurant there to get a snack but no. Of course, we had NOT been advised about that or any alternative suggestions for eating, and a member of the Herculaneum staff pointed us to some restaurants in the town area. Also, the ruins were self guided, which was fine BUT nowhere did it suggest that you should/could bring earphones. All it would take is a short sentence in the itinerary details to save the €8 each for headsets. Having returned to the allocated meeting point at the correct time, we expected to be taken back to Naples as our trip had concluded. However, with no explanation or apology we were told we were being taken to Pompeii ( the completely opposite direction to Naples, a point neither explained or acknowledged) as a couple needed to be dropped off there - in Pompeii, we would have to change minibuses and then be taken the longer journey back to Naples. Having stood around for the best part of half an hour in 30 + degree heat, outside some random excursion 'shop' ( the representatives from Around Vesuvius had disappeared - no explanation or ANYTHING), with no offer of water and insufficient seating, we were finally herded onto another minibus and returned to Naples. This was the last excursion of our holiday and it was such a shame that the complete lack of communication skills from the tour staff left a sour taste. Customer Service was a bare minimum and whilst the sites were fantastic, I would definitely not recommend using this company.

The tour itself was great! The team was on time and very nice. Big thing for me was the lack of availability for water. We left Naples for Vesuvius on a bus that was offering water for 1 Euro. When we finished at Vesuvius, we were put on a different vehicle with no option for water. There were a couple of spots at Herculaneum to find water but not on any of the company vehicles. I would have also liked more time at Vesuvius than Herculaneum but the tour gave what it promised. Overall...good tour...good people. Prepare yourself with water and snacks before you leave Naples.

We used them to go from Napoli to Vesuvius and then to Herculaneum. From there they were supposed to take us back to Napoli. They did not. They put us on their bus to Pompeii because it was more convenient for THEM to bus us to Napoli from Pompeii rather than directly from Herculaneum to Napoli as our itinerary clearly stated. 40 extra minutes on a hot bus, is extremely poor customer service. Had they told us they were not taking us to Napoli, we would have grabbed a 20 minute taxi ride back.

Transport was a bit chaotic as we were taken to Pompei before being returned to Naples. This was worrying as we had to be back at our ship. The return was in a small vehicle without adequate air conditioning and the windows did not be open!

Meeting point, name called like school trip. Guides friendly. Disgraceful return trip went via Pompeii rather than direct to Napoli, driver at Herculaneum not good, almost rude. Complained at Pompeii where they expected us to wait 20 mins. Eventually crammed into a minibus bus, bad aircon, windows wouldn’t open, seats loose in back and safety belts didn’t work, disgraceful