Viator in Naples: tours and tickets review

Who Viator is

Viator started in Australia in 1995 and became part of Tripadvisor in 2014, when the acquisition closed in August. It is now headquartered in San Francisco. It is a marketplace: it does not run the tours itself but lists tours, tickets and day trips from thousands of local operators and takes payment on their behalf.

The Tripadvisor link has a practical effect: experiences you book from Tripadvisor go through Viator, and product ratings add up reviews from both sites.

Viator tours in Naples: what you find and who supplies them

The Naples page lists more than 1,000 experiences, the largest catalogue of the platforms we review. A note on the page warns that revenue may affect the sort order: the tours at the top are not necessarily the best, they are also the ones that earn the platform most.

• Naples Underground: the most visible product is called “Naples Underground Official Skip-the-line Ticket”. It lasts 1 hour 30, scores 4.2 out of 5 from 633 reviews and has free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead. The supplier, however, is DINNEROUND, a reseller, not the association that runs the route.
• Street food: “Authentic Naples Street Food Tour With Local Expert Guide”, 2 hours 30, 4.8 out of 5 from 2,786 reviews, free cancellation.
• MANN and Pompeii: many products, from plain tickets to guided visits. Always compare with the ticket office: MANN costs €20, Pompeii €25 (or €20 for the ancient city only).

Watch out for the info pages

Besides tours, Viator publishes descriptive pages about attractions. Do not treat them as official. The one on the Sansevero Chapel claims the chapel offers no guided tours and pushes audio guides, while the museum’s online shop sells an Italian-language guided visit as an add-on to the €15 ticket (the €12 list price plus booking costs). For hours, prices and entry rules, always check the site you plan to visit.

Cancellations and refunds on Viator

Viator uses three rules, shown on every product page:

• Standard, the most common: full refund if you cancel up to 24 hours ahead.
• Strict: refund only if you cancel at least 7 days ahead.
• All sales final: no refund and no changes.

The US watchdog Truth in Advertising has criticised the way Viator markets “free cancellation”, because the conditions often sit in the fine print. The advice is simple: before paying, find the cancellation line for that specific tour and read it in full. Viator does not clearly state any fees, so check the total, in euros, on the last checkout step.

What reviewers say

On Trustpilot Viator scores 4.5 out of 5 from 332,240 reviews, 11% of them one-star. On the App Store the app rates 4.92 in the US (287,772 ratings) and 4.82 in Italy (1,493). Travellers praise the guides and how easy booking is. Recurring complaints are about tours cancelled without notice, refused refunds, operators that do not match the description (for instance the tour language) and hotel pickup problems.

Pros and cons

• Pros: the widest catalogue in Naples, lots of reviews thanks to Tripadvisor, 24-hour cancellation on most tours.
• Cons: results ordering influenced by revenue, suppliers not prominent (the “Official” Underground ticket comes from a reseller), three cancellation rules to tell apart, info pages that are not always accurate.

Our verdict on Viator in Naples

Viator in Naples is useful when you want more choice, such as niche tours or departure times the other platforms do not offer. For the main sights, though, always check the supplier and compare with GetYourGuide and Tiqets, where the same tour often has more reviews. For the islands and the coast, see our guide to Capri, Amalfi and Ischia.

We are an independent guide: if you book through the Tiqets or GetYourGuide links on this page we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. We have no arrangement with Viator.