Vases & Volcanoes: Naples Traveller Reviews

Ciceroni tours are first rate. Having traveled with Ciceroni to Sicily, we knew they were the right choice for a trip to classical sites around the Bay of Naples. We had fine visits to Paestum, Pompeii, the baths at Baia and the amphitheatre and market place in Pozzuoli, and Herculaneum and the Villa Oplantis. The tour was rounded off with a wonderful trip to the Island of Ischia to see the marvelous garden of Lady Walton and a day in the Archeological Museum and Capodimonte Museum in Napes. Our lecturer Christopher Smith, former Director of the British Academy of Rome, was extremely knowledgeable, witty, and humane. The The Grand Hotel Santa Lucia was perfectly situated on the Via Partenope right on the bay, giving us the opportunity to walk to restaurants with ease and safety and, as it happened, to see the full moon over the bay in the evenings. A wonderful trip.

All arrangements were excellently managed by our tour leader, James Hill. Two wonderful aspects of Ciceroni tours are the morning coffee (and "convenience") break built into each day, and the free time built into the schedule. The combination of careful preparation and flexibility in these tours offers a rich and rewarding experience of art and culture in beautiful spaces without the the "forced march" morning, noon, and night of some other tours.

It was one of the best holidays we have had. The archaeology of Naples is outstanding. Our leader and our lecturer are first rate and our balcony looking over the bay was a joy. The hotel was stylishly elegant and most obliging.

Our first holiday with Ciceroni but not our last!

We enjoyed our visits to Greek and Roman sites , the commentaries and the arrangements for the trips.

Very good service and arrangements

An excellent cultural tour to the ancient Roman sites in the bay of Naples. A very good hotel, excellent logistical planning,and a small congenial group of like minded people. Both James Hill and Christopher Smith were first class as guides. Christopher, having recently moved on from being the director of the British School in Rome, was bang up to date with the excavations, especially in Herculaneum, which the British School administers on behalf of the Packard interests. Our visit was marred by one of us ( both in our late 70s) being bumped off the British Airways flight home. Cicerone have been and are being most helpful in helping to get some compensation. We are appalled by British Airways service. So all travellers beware! Even on a group ticket you can be bumped. So be prepared with a back up plan, especially if one of a couple gets bumped. Make a back up plan for what you would do. Are you fully prepared to travel alone if you have to?

First class. I hope to do more of their tours

As you would expect, Christopher Smith's knowledge is encyclopaedic. Yet he conveys this with passion and persuasion, while weaving it into a broader narrative. I learned so much about Roman life in the Bay of Naples. Each of the key sites was explored in detail and, while I knew something about Pompeii from documentaries, it is only by being there that you can gauge the extent of the site. The Villa Oplontis was a revelation. A first-rate tour!

Christopher Smith and James Hill worked extremely well together, to provide participants with a contextualised understanding of this region in Roman times, each complementing the other perfectly and integrated the local guide seamlessly into the broader narrative. This was another superb tour from the Ciceroni - enhanced by perfect weather - and I'd happily recommend both the tour and the team.