Operators and platforms: who really sells the day trips from Naples

Who sells what: how to use this index

Tour operators in Naples fall into a handful of trades: the one who sells the ticket, the one who provides the guide, the one who provides the coach or the boat, and the one who is only a shop window. The same morning in Pompeii reaches you through an international platform, an agency in Pompeii and a private chauffeur who have made a deal among themselves.

Forty-four reviews, grouped by trade. Each line tells you what the company is; the review tells you what it publishes, what it does not publish, how you book and how to check it before paying. The yardstick stays the guided Pompeii tour from €45.50 with priority entry: if a local quote costs twice as much, the review helps you work out what you are paying for.

If what matters to you is the price and not the name on the invoice, start from every day trip and from tickets and passes.

How we assess an operator

No made-up star ratings. Every review answers five questions in the same order, and whatever cannot be verified stays written down as unverified.

1. What it really is: licensed guide, agency, private chauffeur, boat hire with skipper, cooperative, official site, transport company or platform. These are different things with different obligations.
2. What it publishes: website, price list, booking channel, cancellation policy, licences and insurance. We take the figures from its own site or from the catalogue of the platform it sells on.
3. The practical detail: meeting point, how the day unfolds, type of vehicle or boat, group size, what is included.
4. How to check before paying: company name, written confirmation, price per person or per vehicle, landing taxes, rules for rough sea.
5. The comparison: what the same day costs when booked on GetYourGuide, using the comparison group of the relevant page.

Partner platforms: the three we compare

These are the platforms we take prices from and where you can book through our links. In the Naples catalogue we monitor, GetYourGuide is the deepest with 89 products from €5 to €285; Tiqets has 47 from €5 to €135, almost all museum and site tickets; Headout only 8, from €15 to €208, useful for a couple of comparisons on Caserta and the Palazzo Reale.

• GetYourGuide — partner OTA, the widest catalogue on Naples: the review explains vouchers, cancellation and who operates the tours.
• Tiqets — partner OTA focused on museum and site tickets: useful when it has the product missing elsewhere.
• Headout — partner OTA with a small Naples catalogue: the review says which products make it worth a look.

And the platforms that are not our partners

We include them because you will meet them anyway when searching “Naples tours”, and because knowing who the seller is changes who you ask for help.

• Viator — marketplace of the Tripadvisor group: what changes compared with booking from the operator.
• Civitatis — marketplace in Italian and Spanish: how to read the listing before you book.
• Musement — marketplace for tickets and tours: how to work out who runs the visit.

On the same product the differences are not only about price: duration, included entry and group size change too. The comparison below lines up the guided Pompeii tours.

Pompeii and Vesuvius

The most crowded group: agencies in Pompeii, guides with a personal brand, shuttles to the crater. For context and timings start from Pompeii day trip and Vesuvius day trip.

• Tours of Pompeii with Lello — personal brand on Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast: what the day really includes.
• Enjoy Pompeii — tours and guides at the Pompeii excavations: what it publishes and what to ask for in writing.
• Private Tours of Pompeii — private visits inside the excavations: how group and duration are agreed.
• Pompeii Grand Tour — Pompeii tours: how to tell it apart from similar names in the same area.
• Around Vesuvio — Vesuvius specialist: how it fits with the timed Gran Cono ticket.
• VESUVIOPOMPEITOUR — Pompeii plus Vesuvius combo: what to ask about the actual time at each site.

Capri, the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento

Here the trade is the sea or the SS163, and the price changes depending on whether it is per person or per boat. The full picture is in Capri day trip, Amalfi Coast day trip and Sorrento day trip.

• Capri Island Tour — island tours: how it fits around the ferry timetable.
• Exclusive Cruises — boats to Capri and the Amalfi Coast: what to check about the vessel and the skipper.
• Sea Horse Amalfi Coast — boats from Sorrento: how the day works and what happens with rough sea.
• Amalfi Coast Day Tours — Amalfi Coast trips: minivan, stops and timings to clear up beforehand.
• Sorrento Boat Excursions — boat excursions from Sorrento: what is included and what is not.
• MISAL Sorrento Boat Charter — boat hire in Sorrento: price per boat, fuel, skipper.

Boats in the Gulf of Naples

Motor vessels, gozzo boats and private charters leaving from the city piers. Formats, piers and rules at sea are in boat tours in the gulf.

• Naples Boat Experience — boats in the gulf: type of vessel and number of people on board.
• NapleSeaTour — boat trips from Naples: how to book and what to ask at the pier.
• Seaside Napoli — boat rides along the coast: what the fare covers.
• VIVA CHARTER — private charter: price per boat, times and insurance.
• Trentaremi — local operator between coast and gulf: what it sells and on which channels.

Private drivers and chauffeur services

A licensed chauffeur (NCC) is a transport service, not a guide: the two things are bought together but stay separate. How fares and the ZTL work is in private driver and chauffeur tours.

• Naples Private Driver — Naples chauffeur service: what the fare covers and who guides inside the sites.
• Naples Drivers & Guides — chauffeurs with guides: how driver and guide are separated on the quote.
• Amalfi Coast Private Driver — chauffeur service for the Amalfi Coast: real times on the SS163 and waiting time included.
• See Amalfi Coast — agency with private tours and chauffeurs: who the party issuing the confirmation is.

Guides and agencies in the city

The people who take you on foot through the historic centre, with formats ranging from the pay-what-you-want tour to a visit with a licensed guide. A comparison of formats is in walking tours in Naples.

• NaplesBay Tour — info point and tour sales: what it sells itself and what it resells.
• Napoli Official Tour — city tours: the name implies no official role whatsoever.
• Visite Guidate Napoli — visits in Italian: how to check the guide’s licence.
• Guide Turistiche Napoli — city guides: how to book and what to ask about the group.
• La Casa di Tourist — local agency: which services it bundles and with which suppliers.

Food, street food and pizza

Five brands selling the same city in different ways: a walk with tastings, a sit-down dinner, a pizza class. Formats and prices in food and pizza tours.

• Eating Europe Naples — food tours from an international group: what it publishes on its site.
• Secret Food Tours Naples — franchised format: what changes from one city to the next.
• Culinary Backstreets Naples — small groups and an editorial slant: what to expect at the table.
• Do Eat Better Naples — Italian food tours: how booking and cancellation work.
• Food Tours of Naples — local brand: how to pick it out among namesakes.

Sites run by the people who open them

Three visits are not an agency’s products: they are run by whoever has custody of the tunnel or the catacomb. You book on their channel, and sometimes the partner ticket is only useful because the official slot is full. The comparison of the underground sites is in Naples underground.

• Napoli Sotterranea — the Piazza San Gaetano route: how the official ticket office works.
• Galleria Borbonica — the association that runs the Bourbon tunnel: fixed time slots and routes.
• Catacombe di San Gennaro — the La Paranza cooperative: compulsory booking and reduced fares.

Transport and tourist buses

They are not tour operators, but they shape your day more than any tour. Tables, lines and timetables in getting around Naples.

• Alibus / ANM — airport-to-city link: fare, terminus and what is not valid on board.
• Circumvesuviana / EAV — the line to Pompeii, Herculaneum and Sorrento: fares, validation, Campania Express service currently suspended until further notice.
• Ferries and hydrofoils — SNAV, Caremar, NLG, Alilauro and Gescab compared route by route.
• City Sightseeing Naples — two hop-on hop-off lines: when it beats the metro and funiculars and when it does not.

Official channels: where to book without middlemen

Official adult prices, checked on the sites listed at the bottom of the page. Where the column says “official channel only” there is no alternative: buying elsewhere means buying a different service.

The questions that make the difference on the phone

Ask for the company’s full name and VAT number, and have the time and meeting point put in writing: the exact meeting point is on the voucher, but an operator who will not put it in writing is already an answer. If the tour goes inside an archaeological site, ask who acts as guide in there.

At sea add two questions: is the price per person or per boat, and what happens with rough sea. On the islands check whether the landing tax is included: on Capri it is €5 in high season, on Procida €3.50.

Where to start

If you are short of time, book the product with guide and transport on the partner platform and keep the official channel for plain tickets: it is the rule that works on nine day trips out of ten from Naples. If instead you have a local quote in hand, open the operator’s review and check the five points above before paying a deposit.

If a review is inaccurate, if an operator has changed its booking channel or if a price above does not add up, write to us at hello@trips.naples.it: we correct it and cite the source.

For the most requested day out, the comparison starts here.