Bus2alps is not a company I would recommend to any peers that will be studying abroad in the future. I took their trip from Florence to the Amalfi Coast and the only redeeming part of the trip was how amazing the Amalfi Coast was on it's own. I had heard rumors about the lack of preparedness regarding tour guides ("kids taking care of kids" and a story about a student breaking their arm and not getting help for a couple of days), but they were all nice enough. Unfortunately they had a obvious lack of training and professionalism. Upon taking the hike up Capri, there was no warning about how strenuous it might be for people with asthma. A girl in our group had to stop 5 times and take puffs of very expensive medication and all she got was a insincere "sorry!" from our guide, who then walked away instead of offering to buy her a water or provide her with some help. Our guide also brought us to an extremely expensive restaurant without any warning, after we had told her that we wanted a seat at the first one she had brought us to. I spent about 40 euro on a meal with no wine and that tasted like charred dirt.
Bus2alps is also very expensive. I spent a little less than $400 (after conversion from euros) to be on the trip at all, but had to pay for any extra activities and the other
group got a full breakfast meal while my group's hostel did not (though we all paid the same price). Overall, after extreme budgeting on the trip, I probably spent around $600.
Smart Trips, however, seemed similarly priced (if not cheaper) and got to hike Mt. Vesuvius, in addition to other included activities, and all the students who participated loved Smart Trips. After finding that my peers and myself disliked Bus2Alps as a whole and that our classmates loved Smart Trips, I recommend anyone who reads this books with Smart Trips instead of Bus2alps - don't waste your money here! read more