Private Tours of Pompeii sells one product: the private visit, with a guide dedicated to your group and the tickets already bought. The starting price is €86 per person for two hours in the excavations. It is a legitimate formula and the price list is public, but the site is silent on three things people usually check before paying: who issues the invoice, what cancellation charge applies, and which gate the guide will be waiting at.
What it is
It is a brand operating at Pompeii, Herculaneum and in Naples with guides and drivers, not an agency that introduces itself with a company name and a VAT number: neither of those appears anywhere on the site, not even in the Terms of Use, which go no further than naming “Private Tours of Pompeii” as the operator of the website. The stated booking channel is twofold: an enquiry form and, for some activities, the third-party platform FareHarbor.
One detail worth knowing: the WhatsApp and Telegram number published is +39 389 911 3598, the same one Tours of Pompeii with Lello shows in its header, and the two sites share their layout and their legal text. That is not a problem in itself — at Pompeii teams of guides work under several brands — but before you pay a deposit, ask which entity you are contracting with, and ask for the confirmation to come from a company email address.
The price list, all per person
From the site: classic Pompeii with an archaeologist, two hours, €86; Pompeii in a day with skip-the-line, four hours, €154; Pompeii for families with children, two hours, €86; Herculaneum, two hours, €69; Rome–Pompeii with hotel pick-up, six hours, €169; central Naples on foot, two hours, €59; street food in Naples, two and a half hours, €42.
On the classic tour the inclusions are an expert local guide and entrance tickets to Pompeii; the only exclusion listed is tips. Five languages are stated, with a certified official guide. As with every private tour priced per head, the total climbs with the party: for four people, two hours becomes €344, while a group tour with a coach from Naples costs €182.
The same listing carries two different durations — “2 hours” in the table and “2.5-hour” in the description — and the route it sets out (the theatres, the House of the Menander, the main streets, the Forum, the baths) suits two and a half hours better than two. Have the duration fixed in the written confirmation.
The practical detail that is missing
The stated meeting point is “Parco Archeologico di Pompei”. There are three official ticket offices and gates, and they are not a few minutes apart on foot: Porta Marina, which is minutes from the Circumvesuviana station at Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri and leads straight to the Forum; Piazza Esedra, right beside it; Piazza Anfiteatro, on the modern-town side. If you are arriving by train from Naples — times and fares in Pompeii in a day and in getting around — ask for Porta Marina and have the exact location sent to you.
The ticket needs clearing up too: at Pompeii it is issued in your name with a time band, the Pompei express costs €20 according to pompeiisites.org, and entry is free under 18. If you are travelling as a family, the value of the “included” tickets for the children is zero: ask for the children’s rate to be cut accordingly.
How to check before you pay
Four questions, all in writing. Who invoices (company name and VAT number). What the guide’s Regione Campania licence number is. How many hours before you can cancel without a charge, and which conditions apply if the booking goes through FareHarbor. What the group costs in total, not per head.
On the scores, do not rely on the site: the counters disagree with each other and one shows a 0.0 next to “1340+ Reviews”. The count, though, is genuine: on the Tripadvisor page the operator stands at 5.0 from 1,339 reviews, so the site is reporting the number and mislaying the stars. The Google Maps listing is not readable without accepting Google’s cookies: if you want it, open the link in your own browser.
Is it worth it compared with group tours?
Prices verified regularly with our partners:
Same product, platforms compared
Prices refreshed from the GetYourGuide, Tiqets and Headout feeds.
| Platform | Price | Rating | Duration | Cancellation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GetYourGuidePompeii Guided Day Trip with Fast-Track Entry - from Naples | €45.50 Lowest price | ★ 4.5 (5,552) | 3 h | Free | Book on GetYourGuide |
| GetYourGuideFrom Naples: Pompeii Guided Tour, Skip-the-Line & Transport | €48.75 | ★ 4.7 (1,593) | 3 h | Free | Book on GetYourGuide |
| TiqetsPompeii: Guided Tour with an Archaeologist | €49.50 | ★ 4.6 (3,536) | — | — | Book on Tiqets |
| GetYourGuideFrom Naples: Tour of Pompeii with ticket, guide, and transfer included | €52.50 | ★ 4.7 (2,353) | 3 h | Free | Book on GetYourGuide |
For two people, €172 buys two hours of guiding for you alone but no transport; for €91 the same pair gets a guided group tour with a coach from central Naples, a priority ticket and a guide. The private visit is worth the difference if you have children, if you need a language other than English, or if you want to add Herculaneum on the same day: for that comparison, start from Herculaneum in a day.
Who should book here
Anyone who wants a private guide in Italian or Spanish and has already solved the journey to Pompeii; anyone putting Pompeii and Herculaneum together in one day; anyone coming from Rome who prefers a door-to-door service. Anyone looking for corporate transparency and a written cancellation charge will find the per-group price list of Pompei Grand Tour, or a platform product, more solid ground.
Questions people ask
Which company runs Private Tours of Pompeii?
The site does not publish it: no company name, no VAT number and no registered address appear on the home page, in the Terms of Use or in the contact details. It is the single most important thing to ask for before you pay a deposit.
What does the basic tour cost?
The classic two-hour tour with an expert guide starts at €86 per person and covers the guide and the Pompeii entrance tickets; only tips are excluded, according to the listing on privatetoursofpompeii.com.
What other prices does it publish?
From the price list: Pompeii in a day with skip-the-line, four hours, €154; Pompeii for children and families, two hours, €86; Herculaneum, two hours, €69; Rome–Pompeii, six hours, €169; central Naples, two hours, €59; street food in Naples, two and a half hours, €42. Always per person.
How do you book?
Through the “Check availability” form, or on WhatsApp or Telegram at the published number. The Terms of Use specify that some activities are booked through FareHarbor, a third-party platform with conditions of its own: read those, because they are the ones that bind at payment.
What languages is the visit run in?
The listing for the classic tour gives English, Italian, Spanish, French and German, with a “Certified Official Guide”. Ask for confirmation of the language and the guide’s licence number for the date you choose.
Where do you meet?
The listing says only “Parco Archeologico di Pompei, 80045 Pompei NA”. That is not enough: have the gate named, because there are three official entrances — Porta Marina, Piazza Esedra and Piazza Anfiteatro — a long way apart, and only the first two are minutes from the Circumvesuviana.
Are the reviews on the site reliable?
The counters are not, the underlying figure is. The header shows “1340+ Reviews” with a score of 0.0 and a Google box giving 5.0 from “0+” reviews, while the tour listing states 5 out of 5 from 53 reviews. At source the Tripadvisor count adds up: the Private Tours of Pompeii page stands at 5.0 from 1,339 reviews. It is the website losing the stars along the way, not the operator inflating the number.
Official sources
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- Tours of Pompeii with LelloWho is behind Tours of Pompeii with Lello, what the private tours at Pompeii cost, what is really included and when a group tour wins instead.
- HerculaneumHerculaneum in half a day: 20-minute train, €16 ticket, 4 hours door to door. The table for choosing Pompeii or Herculaneum, and the tours worth it.
- GetYourGuideGetYourGuide reviewed: 89 products in the Naples catalogue from €5 to €285, vouchers, who runs the tours and when the official channel wins.