Walking the Amalfi Coast Tour
Written: Jul 21 '08 (Updated Jul 27 '08)
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Pros: VALUE! The single supplements are lower than any I have seen
Cons: Customer service via email is bad after you pay deposit
The Bottom Line: I will be a repeat customer next year, planning on trying the Costa Rica trip.
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| sashasmommy's Full Review: Go Ahead Tours |
I took the Walking the Amalfi Coast Tour in June of 2007 and had a wonderful time! As a woman traveling alone, I would not be comfortable in a country where I don't speak the language and this was perfect for me. Our group was only 26 people, which I think is small (our tour director said his next tour in Florence had 42). According to him, the tours with the most physical activity, like the walking tours, generally have less people.
Our tour director (Antonio Autore) was wonderful, had a great sense of humor, and saw to every detail. He even spent the day tracking down lost luggage so that the people who owned it could enjoy their tour while he did all the leg work. Alot of times he would suggest restaurants for meals not included with the tour, and they were always wonderful. (Walnut ravioli at Ristorante Kona on the way back from Vesuvius was my favorite.) He bought us little gifts along the way, a couple times he bought bottles of limoncello and had little tiny cups... another time he bought us some sweets from a local bakery.
The places we went were terrific, though I could have done without the tour of sub-terranian Naples. It just wasn't that exciting. But everything else was great. The pizza dinner was excellent.
The tour of the Archiological Museum was very interesting, though our local guide did not use a whisper system, and so she was yelling to be heard, which I thought was inappropriate in a museum.
Ravello was amazing, the villas were spectacular, lovely gardens and great views of the water. Amalfi was a bit crowded, and you didn't have a lot of time there... just enough time to go through the Duomo. The walk from Amalfi to Atrani was nice, too.
Local village walk day was also terrific. We ended up at a little town called Massa Lubrense, and had lunch on the deck of Angelo's Bar at the tiny marina. Lunch was great (try the spaghetti) and Angelo was really friendly. Interesting note, they don't serve lemonade as sweet as we do here... they put the squeezed lemon juice with the water, and then give you sugar to add as you like. We were like "Just plant that sugar jar right here, please!" We also were able to swim this day, which was awesome.
I took two excursions, Capri and Path of the Gods. Path of the Gods is not to be missed. Bring proper footwear or they won't let you go. One lady had only hiking sandals and she wasn't allowed to go. You need at least tennis shoes. The views are absolutely amazing... our guide was Maurizio De Rosa, a really nice guy... he climbed a tree along the way to pick cherries for us.
Capri, I could have lived without. The ferry ride over got a lot of people sick (it was completely enclosed and REALLY hot). The fumes at the marina of all the buses and boats were so bad (especially when you're already feeling sick), and then it seemed there was cigarette smoke wafting everywhere. We did not get to do the Blue Grotto because of weather, so we went on a chair lift ride which was really nice. The rest of the tour is not that good... we walk by Axel Munthe's house (big deal, apparently he is someone important, but all you do is walk by, you don't go in.) And then you see a flower garden, which after seeing the villas at Ravello is less than exciting. While waiting for the rest of the group to assemble in the main square, I paid 9 euros for a lemonade (cough, cough!) The boat trip back was much better (I had bought dramamine at a pharmacy pointed out by our guide), and it was an open boat so you could feel the wind on your face.
They do pack a lot into one day, which means that you don't spend a lot of time in once place... but it's a give and take. Do you want to see everything there is to see in Amalfi, or do you want to see Amalfi, Ravello and Atrani? You can't have it both ways, so you just have to choose. You can see the itinerary beforehand, so you know what you're getting in to. I was glad that I got to see alot of different places. Also, in some cases, you have a choice to stay longer in a place... like when we went to Positano (after the Path of the Gods hike), we didn't have as much time there as I would have liked. But you can always skip the bus ride back and take a boat back when you're ready.
We stayed in two hotels. The Jolly Hotel in Naples was nice enough, a typical business hotel... but the staff were not friendly at all, except for a wonderful housekeeper that helped me get into my room when the door was stuck. The Michelangelo in Sorrento was really nice, the desk staff was not overly friendly, but they were okay. The wait staff for the meals were really friendly. Both hotels were centrally located. The one in Sorrento was just a short walk from the main square, and also an easy walk to both marinas if you wanted to take a boat somewhere.
The bus was really nice, air conditioned and clean. Not allowed to eat on the bus, but they don't tell you that up front, then when they see someone eating, they finally tell you that. You are allowed to drink, though. I would recommend not sitting in the back of the bus as the people back there had problems hearing the guide over the noise of the air conditioning.
The one thing that was bad was the customer service via email. When I was researching the tour and thinking about booking, they were VERY attentive. The minute I paid my deposit, customer service via email dropped completely. I noticed they had messed up my bill, and they never answered me, even after three emails. Calling them on the phone was always fine, but it was just weird how they were so helpful before on email, and all of sudden they stopped answering.
One other critique that I put on the form was the fact that they rented a van to take us to the marina to catch the boat to Capri. The marina was within EASY walking distance, and it was in fact a walking tour, so I thought this was a waste of money. I can see needing one if the hotel is not as close, as might be the case sometimes if they have a different hotel. But I thought in this case, the tour guide should have had the option to not rent the van and instead use the money to buy us lunch or treats or something.
I found the people on the tour to be very nice... I was a lone traveler and was adopted by several groups of ladies so I had someone to hang out with the whole time. It was mostly women, but two couples, one grandfather/daughter/niece, and one single guy. The youngest was 11, the oldest were in their 80's, but most fell in the 40-50 range.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Friends
Tour type: Group
Tour format: Walking
Tour length: Over a Week
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Epinions.com ID:
sashasmommy
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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