VESUVIOPOMPEITOUR is the domain; the brand you find there is “la Macchina del Tempo”, based in Pompeii. It sells a handful of things and on paper sells them well: two hours at the crater with a guide who describes herself as a volcanologist at €170, two and a half hours in the excavations at €160 private or €59 semi-private, tickets never included. The weak point is not the product, it is the data: no company published, and the official entrance prices wrong in the listings.
What it is
A guiding business with online booking built on Wix: four services in the calendar, payment by deposit, contact details in Pompeii with a mobile number and a personal Gmail address. No company name, VAT number or trading address appears, and the site’s “Experiences” page replies that there are no experiences on sale at the moment: the real catalogue exists only in the booking calendar.
The introductory text invites you to read “the glowing reviews on TripAdvisor”, but there is no link, and no page in the name of VESUVIOPOMPEITOUR or la Macchina del Tempo di Pompei can be found on TripAdvisor. Nor do the pages carry a link to GetYourGuide, Viator or any other marketplace. As far as can be verified, then, you can book only through the site’s calendar: you deal directly with the guide, but you have no platform’s standard penalty and refund behind you.
The price list and what it covers
From the booking calendar: Pompeii experience €160, 150 minutes, €50 deposit; Vesuvius experience €170, 120 minutes, volcanologist guide, €50 deposit; Pompeii semi-private €59, 150 minutes, up to eight participants, €20 deposit; trip-planning video call €50.
Entrance fees are excluded on all four. The site offers to help you buy them the day before, but the prices it quotes are not current: it says €18 for Pompeii, whereas the Pompei express ticket costs €20 according to pompeiisites.org; and €13 for Vesuvius with €8 for under-sixes, whereas according to parconazionaledelvesuvio.it the Gran Cono costs €10 plus €1.68 in fees, the under-25 reduction is €8 (€9.55 with fees) and under-sixes go in free. It costs you nothing extra — you buy the tickets yourself — but it is a sign that the listings are not revised often.
The figure that matters most to the sums is missing too: the site does not say whether €160 and €170 are per person or per group. The technical capacity of each session is ten places, with one participant set as the default on the private tours and eight on the semi-private. Ask for the total for your exact party before you pay.
The practical detail: the meeting points
Here the site is precise, and it saves you time. For Pompeii the meeting place is piazza Esedra, one of the three official gates, next to Porta Marina and minutes from the Circumvesuviana station at Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri. For Vesuvius it is the quota 1000 car park, at Ercolano: the guide waits for you up there, and the climb is yours to arrange.
The two ways of getting there are the usual ones. From Ercolano Scavi on the Vesuvio Express shuttle, €12 return online according to its official shop, thirty minutes on the road. From Pompeii on the EAV 808 bus, eleven runs a day and about fifty minutes, €3.80 paying on board or €2.80 if you buy an AC3 ticket beforehand. Both options, with timings, are in Vesuvius in a day; the Circumvesuviana trains are in getting around.
The Pompeii semi-private, with its two and a half hours and its cap of eight people, is the most interesting thing on the list: it costs about what a platform group tour costs and the group is three times smaller.
How to check before you pay
Ask for four things in writing: the total price for your group, the guide’s Regione Campania licence number, what “volcanologist guide” means in terms of qualification, and what happens to the deposit if you cancel more than 24 hours ahead. The booking set-up applies a €10 fee for cancellations in the final 24 hours, but says nothing about how the deposit is treated before that point.
And buy the tickets yourself: the Gran Cono runs on time bands with fifty places every ten minutes, so your band has to line up with the start time of your tour. Without the entrance ticket you stay in the car park.
Is it worth it compared with booking on the platforms?
Prices verified regularly with our partners:
Same product, platforms compared
Prices refreshed from the GetYourGuide, Tiqets and Headout feeds.
| Platform | Price | Rating | Duration | Cancellation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GetYourGuideMount Vesuvius Excursion: Skip-the-Line Ticket and Digital Guide | €16 Lowest price | ★ 4.2 (3,644) | 2 h | Free | Book on GetYourGuide |
| TiqetsMount Vesuvius: Fast Track Entry Ticket | €16 | ★ 3.8 (2,328) | — | — | Book on Tiqets |
Same product, platforms compared
Prices refreshed from the GetYourGuide, Tiqets and Headout feeds.
| Platform | Price | Rating | Duration | Cancellation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GetYourGuideMount Vesuvius Transfer with Entry Tickets | €39 Lowest price | ★ 4.4 (1,764) | 3 h | Free | Book on GetYourGuide |
| GetYourGuideBus Transfer to Vesuvius with Park Entry Fee | €39 | ★ 4.3 (1,838) | 3 h | Free | Book on GetYourGuide |
| TiqetsMount Vesuvius: Skip The Line Ticket + Roundtrip from Naples | €39.90 | ★ 4.1 (736) | — | — | Book on Tiqets |
For the crater the sum is simple: here you pay €170 plus the entrance fee plus your way up to quota 1000; the platform tour with a transfer from Naples and the ticket included costs €39–41 per person. For two or three people a dedicated guide costs a great deal more, and only makes sense if what you value is the geology explained on the rim of the crater. On the Pompeii side, the semi-private at €59 stands up well against guided group tours, remembering that the ticket has to be added: the full reasoning is in Pompeii in a day.
Who should book here
Anyone climbing Vesuvius from Ercolano or Pompeii under their own steam who wants a real guide at the crater rather than a solo walk up; anyone after a group of eight in the excavations; anyone who wants to talk to the guide before setting off and will use the planning video call. If you need one price covering transport and entrance together, look at the products on GetYourGuide or at the cheaper shuttle from Around Vesuvio.
Questions people ask
Who runs vesuviopompeitour.com?
The site presents itself as “la Macchina del Tempo”, with contact details in Pompeii: telephone +39 393 242 0995 and email gennarobalzano87@gmail.com. It publishes no company name and no VAT number on any page, the booking calendar included, and it uses a personal rather than a business email address: get both details in writing before you pay a deposit.
What does it sell, and for how much?
Four items, from the booking calendar: Pompeii experience €160 for 150 minutes, Vesuvius experience €170 for 120 minutes with a volcanologist guide, Pompeii semi-private €59 for 150 minutes with a maximum of eight participants, and a trip-planning video call at €50.
Are the tickets included?
No, on none of the services: the site says entrance fees are excluded and offers to help you buy them the day before. It is worth doing that yourself, because the Gran Cono is sold only online at vesuviopark.vivaticket.it, in time bands of fifty places every ten minutes.
Are the ticket prices quoted on the site correct?
No, they are out of date. The site says €18 for entry to Pompeii, whereas the Pompei express costs €20 according to pompeiisites.org; and it says €13 for Vesuvius with €8 for under-sixes, whereas the Gran Cono costs €10 plus €1.68 in fees, is reduced to €8 (€9.55 with fees) for under-25s and is free under six, according to parconazionaledelvesuvio.it.
Where do you meet the guide?
The calendar names two precise places: piazza Esedra in Pompeii for the tours of the excavations, and the quota 1000 car park at Ercolano for Vesuvius. At Vesuvius, then, you have to get yourself there: on the shuttle from Ercolano Scavi or on the EAV 808 bus from Pompeii.
How do you pay and how do you cancel?
Online with a deposit: €50 on the two private tours, €20 on the semi-private. The booking set-up provides for a €10 fee if you cancel within the preceding 24 hours. Get written confirmation of what happens to the deposit if you cancel earlier than that.
Is the private price per person or per group?
The site does not say: the listing shows only the amount and a maximum capacity of ten places per session, with a default of one participant on the private tours and eight on the semi-private. It is the first question to ask before you pay a deposit.
Official sources
Read next
- Operators and platforms44 reviews of booking platforms and local operators in Naples: what each one sells, where it takes bookings and how to check it before you pay.
- VesuviusVesuvius from Naples: €28.88 on your own or a shuttle with entry from €39. Three routes, hours month by month, online slot only. Check availability.
- PompeiiPompeii from Naples: €26.60 on your own or a tour from €45.50. Train, time bands, named ticket and the hour-by-hour plan. Check availability.
- Around VesuvioAround Vesuvio sells shared minibus tours from Pompeii, Naples and Sorrento. Low prices but tickets extra: the real total and the tour comparison.
- GetYourGuideGetYourGuide reviewed: 89 products in the Naples catalogue from €5 to €285, vouchers, who runs the tours and when the official channel wins.