Tours of Pompeii with Lello - Guided Tours of Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, Rome, Naples and Italy

On the final night of our 14d trip, we both resoundingly agreed that this was probably the absolutely best part of our entire trip. The site of Pompeii and Herculaneum is cool (As with most other things you see on your trip through the main cities of Italy). But there is absolutely no way you can get the kind of rich insight into these ancient cities without an amazing, solid, super experienced tour guide. Enter: Elissa. Such a total highlight of our trip, so incredibly talented and passionate with what she does, and we couldn't have found a better person to spend almost 8hrs with on the hottest day of the summer in Naples! Bring lots of water with you, but rest assured there's plenty of opportunity to get water and lunch nearby. Strongly would recommend either doing both Pompeii and Herculaneum, or just Herculaneum. Pompeii is an insight into what roman life was like, but if you want to be really struck by perfectly preserved lives frozen in time by the volcano of mount suma (note: not mount Vesuvius, contrary to popular belief... Thank you Elissa, ahem!), Herculaneum is where you want to go. The price wasn't low, and we spent 250€ total for two people with entrance fees and train costs on top. BUT, it was also the best money we spent for us... Two budget conscious travelers, who are young, enjoy learning about cool stuff, ask lots of questions, and have short attention spans for self guided tours. Elissa kept us interested, was so patient with us as we probably hammered the heck out of her with way too many questions, and just conveyed a general love for history. We loved her. She also told us about Naples, where to go, how to turn an otherwise bad experience in the city into something so positive, and was really really conscientious of our needs... Are you hot? Aye you hungry? Are you tired? How are you doing...? Amazing. The other reality is while this is a five hour tour, we ended up being with her from 8:30am to about 3:30pm. She rode the train back to Naples with us, which was super easy to do even from Naples to get to Pompeii independently in the morning... The company will give you step by step directions to help you... And she spent almost two to three additional hours with us without any feeling of rushing, or hastiness. Even for a scheduled five hour tour. In short, the price is SO worth it, it will guaranteed be a highlight of your trip, respect her for what she does and how hard she works, and go in wanting to learn as much as take beautiful and memorable pictures. We'd do this again In a heartbeat. Cannot offer a higher recommendation of a single activity in all of Italy (and we are experienced travelers who have done lots of tours all around the world... This is...

We booked the “Skip the Line Guided Tour of Pompeii led by an Archaeologist” with Tours of Pompeii with Lello & Co. through Viator.

Unfortunately, at 10:23am the day before our scheduled 3:00 PM tour, I received an email from Viator stating that the local tour operator, Raphael Tours and Events SRL, had to cancel due to the guide being in an accident. While I understand emergencies happen, the limited rescheduling options offered were completely impractical for our travel plans. We were only presented with alternative times of 9:30 or 12:00 that same day or the next, but our train into Pompeii wouldn’t allow us to arrive in time for the earlier slots, and the following day we had another pre-booked tour.

Trying to salvage the situation during our only full day in Rome, I was forced to spend valuable time going back and forth with the tour operator instead of enjoying our day. Out of desperation, we attempted to make the 12:00 PM tour by rushing off our train at Napoli Centrale and navigating an unfamiliar train station, but it proved impossible. We were left stressed, sweaty, and with no tour to show for it.

Adding insult to injury, when I proposed that the company arrange for a driver to help us make the revised tour time, I was quoted €270. They then offered a private tour for €588, including transfer ("Or if you want, I can provide you the private option, available in the afternoon as well with transfer included : 588€ total"). This left a very sour taste, as it revealed they did have a guide available – just not one they were willing to assign to honor our original booking. Essentially, we were being asked to pay significantly more to fix a problem they caused. There was no offer of compromise or accountability for not having a contingency plan in place.

In the end, they refunded us – which unfortunately means I cannot leave a review on Viator, and potential future customers won’t be warned. That lack of transparency is disappointing on Viator’s part as well. This experience was stressful, disruptive, and left us without the enriching tour we were counting on.

I would strongly caution others against booking with Tours of Pompeii with Lello & Co. or through Viator based on how poorly this situation was handled. Emergencies are one thing – but having no reasonable backup, and then trying to upsell a solution, is unprofessional and...

I can't explain how great this tour company is!!! Our tour was amazing! From booking all the way through the tour. We worked with Louise in booking and Rosanna was our tour guide. Both were top notch!!! We had an incredible time. We were on a cruise that stopped in Naples. Louise arranged for a driver to pick us up when we got off the cruise and took us to Pompeii where we met up with Rosanna. Rosanna gave us an incredible private tour of Pompeii. We saw all the highlights in a small group and she was flexible in making sure that we got to see everything that we wanted. We never felt rushed and she kept the tour fun and engaging. While there we saw a tour group from our cruise line who looked miserable. There were at least 20 people in the group all walking around with headsets so they could hear the guide. Our tour was just the 4 of us with Rosanna. It was spectacular. Not to mention the cost of the tour with round trip transfer in a private car was less than if the four of us booked a giant bus tour through the cruise excursion desk.

In addition, I can't speak highly enough about the great customer service that we were provided. On the way back to our boat, I dropped my sunglasses in the car and lost them. I emailed Louise to see if they had them, but I didn't have internet service available long enough to get a reply. I didn't get the message until a couple days later that she had found them and had offered to meet me at the boat to return them. If that wasn't enough, she them mailed them overnight to my hotel in Venice so I could have them for the rest of my trip at no cost!!! I still can't believe how well this company treats it customers. I am so grateful. We plan on returning in a couple of years with our children and will definitely be booking another tour through Louise and Rosanna!

Thank you for an...