Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast private tour

We had a wonderful tour of Positano, Sorrento and Pompeii last June. Bruno was our driver and he was lovely! He was on time, professional and very knowledgeable. He provided commentary and kept us entertained the whole day. I would definitely recommend this tour and Bruno especially. It was by far our favorite tour during our trip to Italy.

Oh what a wonderful experience we had. Manuel our guide met us at the Naples pier and we began our ride in a beautiful luxury van. Manuel told us the plan for the day and did a fantastic job driving for a young 25 year old engaging young man. He told us all about the areas and answered all our questions. We had a beautiful drive along the Amalfi coast to Positano making a few stops along the way for beautiful pictures and some local shopping- purchase Limoncello for sure!! We had time in Positano, then ventured to Sorrento where Manuel suggested a restaraunt for lunch, and then on to Pompeii. Joe Bananas/Italy tour sharing is a wonderful company to deal with- Maria from the company even called as we headed back to the ship and checked on how we enjoyed the tour. We used this company in Naples and Florence and I can't say enough about how wonderful it was and how safe I felt with their driving skills. We will use this company again if we are lucky enough to come back to Italy. You won't be disappointed.

We had scheduled a private boat tour of the Amalfi coast, from Sorrento and south around the peninsula, then to Positano and Amalfi with Joe Bananas Limos. We met our driver at the hotel,and he told us that the water was really rough and it wouldn’t be a great experience. He handed me the phone so I could speak with the owner of the company, who offered to either refund us, or offered an experience, or maybe another tour. He mentioned Pompeii and I jumped on it! I had actually been trying to book a Pompeii tour with them for later on the week but they didn’t have a driver/car. So now we had both at our disposal. We made arrangements to try to rebook the boat tour for later in the week and off we went to Pompeii! Our driver, Raphael, was great. A little hard to understand but he grew up in the area and had lots of stories. He also is a HUGE movie buff so kept explaining things and comparing them to scenes in movies (that luckily we had seen.) Pretty funny! We got to Pompeii, and Joe Bananas had found an awesome guide for us. Giovanni spoke great English and didn’t go on & on. He showed us stuff, explained things, answered all our questions and most importantly squirreled us past all the huge groups of tours! After Pompeii, Raphael drove us to the Mt. Vesuvius winery for a tour, tasting and lunch. The wine was good but not amazing, and the lunch was very good. I was surprised it wasn’t included in the price of the tour, but since it was so last-minute we were happy they could even accommodate us. Two days later, Joe Bananas and the weather came thru for us! We woke to sunny skies and fairly calm seas. Calm enough for us and Salvatore, our boat driver. Raphael picked us up, and got us to the boat, which was a 36 foot boat, and very comfortable. Off we went, on a tour of the coast and waters. As we hugged the coast, Salvatore explained what we were looking at such as the big famous hotels, the ruins of the castle of the first queen of Naples, the other small towns that aren’t as famous as their neighbors. We didn’t realize that we were such a ways from the Amalfi Coast. We rode for quite a while on the Sorrento Coast, before we turned and started the Amalfi Coast. There were many little fortresses built all along the coast, which were to watch out and attack pirate ships. There are many cool grottos in the cliffs, a few we got really close to so we could see in. This is what we would have missed if we had gone out in choppier waters the other day. Salvatore pointed out a few privately owned islands, and a convent way on top of a mountain. And we finally came to Positano! We walked around for a few hours, shopped and had a lemon sorbet. Back onto the boat, and we rode past Praiano, which looked lovely. Next stop was the town of Amalfi, where we walked around and had some lunch. When we were ready, we texted Salvatore who picked us right up. We started to head back but stopped to take a dip. We stopped by one of the grottos, so we could swim in. Pretty cool. The water was warm and so clear! We didn’t swim for long but it was great to get into the water. Back to Sorrento after a fabulous day thanks to Joe Bananas!