Travel by train

have you tried asking the relatives in Potenza what they recommend? They probably know the regional transportation better than almost anyone you'll find here.

edit: as Larry points out in the following post, the best options on some legs may be via bus (also called "pullman" in Italy on routes between cities). And buses are nowhere near as easy to figure out as trains; many are regional lines, and their websites tend to be entirely in italian. A local would be more familiar with them.

From Rome-FCO, you are about 2.5 hours away from Naples on Trenitalia. This part of the journey to Sorrento will cost 50.90Euro each. Then, at the Naples-Garibaldi train station, you go downstairs and buy tickets on the private Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento. It's a local train that will take about an hour to get to Sorrento. The fare is about 3Euro each. This second train is not part of the Trenitalia system.

Now for the fun part. You either backtrack to Naples to pick up the Trenitalia system to Potenza (not Potenze) or, I will suggest the following: Take the SITA bus or the ferry from Sorrento to Salerno. If you take the SITA bus, you'll have to change buses in Amalfi. Either the bus or ferry is a most scenic choice. Besides, Salerno is much closer to Potenza so you are not losing any time. At Salerno, pick up the Trenitalia train to Potenza. CLICK HERE to see a typical train schedule from Salerno to Potenza. Click next to see more trains. For the return to Rome, CLICK HERE to see the typical schedule.

Thank you all for such a speedy response. Sounds pretty complicated. Guess I'm just use to jumping in a car and going. In so far as speaking to the relatives--no go. They speak no English and I no Italian. This should be a challange. Judy