Advice on itinerary: Rome to/from Sorrento round trip

Welcome Paul-

Assuming you are flying in/out of Rome? 8 nights, Correct?
Could you head south on arrival and put all Rome nights at end? Avoid the split stay/hotel change. I think it would be a better use of your time/travel.

Give another night to Sorrento.

Your Day 3 looks brutal.

Sorrento 3 nights
Day trip Pompeii/Naples
Day trip Capri

Rome 5 nights

Or split 4/4.

Any chance you can fly out of Naples?

ChristineH: Thanks! Yes, 8 nights, flying in/out of Rome. That's an interesting idea! I'll have to juggle our itinerary to see how that might work.

With eight nights in IT sleep in Naples and Rome with four nights in each place. You can take a train from Rome’s Fiumicino airport (FCO) to Naples (2h 15m) that requires a transfer at Rome’s Termini station.

If I were going to Salerno, I would visit Paestum. But as noted, day 3 is intimidating. Is it really necessary to go beyond Amalfi from Sorrento? There can be business closures and fewer ferries in March. I personally would not repeat the AC. But if I had a nice hotel and the weather was good, I might sleep two nights on Capri.

Edit: I would also suggest that your Subject use of the term "Round Trip" means that you are mis-prioritizing the circular trip via Salerno. There are a handful of posters here who liked Salerno, but you don't mention it for sights, and I don't consider it an essential part of any visit to the AC.

You need to learn about the differences between the Circumvesuviana and the regular Italian long-distance rail company, although it would seem that you already know. There is no downside to hitting Naples twice, but I personally find checking and redeeming luggage on a touring day to be a pain. (Pompeii luggage storage gets good reviews here, however.)

I question back to back days of Pompeii and Capri. You could easily walk four miles at Pompeii and six miles on Capri, if you do a lot at both places. Do you know that Capri is highly pedestrianized?

If you are set on visiting Capri, I suggest an overnight stay. We did it as a day trip; and in retrospect, we wished we had stayed over. By the time you get to the island and then from the marina to the town, a couple of hours may be gone. The last ferry back to Sorrento leaves relatively early. You would need to allow plenty of time to herd your group back down to the marina. If you do decide, in the end, to include Capri, I recommend some time in Anacapri and a visit to the church of S. Michele.
Or, you can skip Capri altogether. You really don’t have much time allotted for the Amalfi Coast. Touring Amalfi and Ravello would make for a lovely day. The views of the coast from Ravello are some of the most stunning I have ever seen. The cathedrals in both towns are small, but pretty and interesting. There are two villas in Ravello that can be visited. One has a beautiful garden with views I mentioned.

If you are set on visiting Capri, I suggest an overnight stay.

Me too! I did it as a day trip and believe after the tourists left I would have enjoyed it more.

If I were going to Salerno, I would visit Paestum.

Me too! Other than Salerno being a good transportation hub why go.

You will have all your luggage with you as you tour on Days 1 and 3. There is luggage storage at Pompeii, but the only way to manage along the AC is with a private driver who will be responsible for your luggage when you aren't in the car with him - in other words, buses are not an option. I haven't been to Capri, maybe it's worth it. Have a Plan B because if the weather is really bad, ferries may be cancelled. There's not much to see/do in Sorrento. You could visit Herculaneum and the National Archaeology Museum in Naples.

For me, the joy of the AC is the beautiful vistas. The towns themselves are not particularly charming or interesting. If your trip is in late March, many of the tourists shops may already be open since Easter is pretty early next year. Salerno has a well-preserved historic center - an option if the weather isn't conducive to enjoying the views of the AC. I do recommend Sal de Riso in Minori for excellent gelato and to-die-for pastries. Vietri sul Mare is well-known for its ceramic artisans.

There's not much to see/do in Sorrento.

Agree, I spent three nights in Sorrento and the only thing I liked was the early evening passeggiata where families go outdoors and stroll along the main drag and socialize.

Everyone - Thanks for all the replies! I should clarify some things... I have been to Italy (Rome, Pompeii, Capri, Amalfi Coast) previously, but the other 5 family members on this trip have not, so we're not really "repeating" anything for them. My prior experience with Capri & the AC is that daytrips are sufficient and we don't really have any desire to stay overnight in either location. I used Sorrento as a base for these daytrips previously and we're going to do the same this time. On my prior trip, I had 3 nights in Sorrento, but this time we are only allotting 2 since everyone wants to see more in Rome, so I'm really looking for advice on how we can best use the time we've planned and to get a reality check on what we can & can't fit into this amount of time. There's a small chance we could stay an extra night in Sorrento, but likely not. There's just too much to seen in Rome! :-)

MaryPat - We're far more interested in spending time in Rome, so 4/4 nights in Rome/Naples isn't really for us. We want to touch on something outside of Rome and everyone wants to see Pompeii, hence the trip south for a few nights. Regarding trains, I heard about the new direct train from FCO to Naples that started running July 2022, but when I look on Trenitalia's site, no direct routes come up in the search for my dates in March. Any thoughts on why? Are they actually not running yet or are they just booked up? (https://www.frommers.com/blogs/passportable/blog_posts/new-high-speed-rail-service-connecting-rome-s-airport-with-florence-and-naples)

Tim & MaryPat - We're not actually "going" to Salerno, so Paestum isn't really an option. If we end up doing the Amalfi Coast drive on our last (travel) day back to Rome, Salerno would just be a convenient way to catch the train. Our Amalfi Coast drive would likely be with a private driver, and eventually we need to catch a high speed train back to Rome, so we could either have the driver take us from Amalfi directly back to Naples or just continue along the coast and drop us at the train station in Salerno. Maybe the former is just more convenient if we'd have to change trains in Naples anyway. I don't think any business closures or ferries not running will be an issue here. Yup, I do have a good handle on the high speed vs regional train situation (in general anyway... I'm studying up on the differences since last time). Back to back days of Pompeii, Capri, and Amalfi Coast are no issue. We're in our 40s and in good shape, so all the walking is not an issue. I've done it before and didn't have a problem.

Rosalyn & MaryPat - As stated above, we're not really interested in staying overnight in Capri. I debated a daytrip vs an overnight this time also, but previously I took the funicular up to Capri town, walked through the (window!) shopping district around to the overlook on the other side of the island, took a bus to Anacapri, rode the chairlift to the top of Mt Solaro, spent some time at the top, & back down, then walked down the entire Phonecian stairway (900+ stairs OMG!) back down to the harbor, and still had an hour to kill before the last ferry, so I don't foresee us really missing anything this time either. I'm really just trying to figure out if doing the Amalfi Coast drive on the way back to Naples (to catch the train to Rome) is possible or if we absolutely must stay another night and do it as and out & back daytrip.

Chani - Good point on the luggage. Essentially our options boil down to two on our last day: 1) just take a train from Sorrento to Naples & on to Rome directly or 2) private driver Sorrento to Amalfi Coast to (Salerno or Naples) then a train back to Rome. I think if the weather is bad and we can't do Capri on our one full day, we'd just substitute the Amalfi Coast drive which would allow us to buzz straight back to Rome via trains the last day and maybe do more in Rome, so I think planning on Capri up front with AC as a "Plan B" seems ok.

Paul
It’s too early to see train schedules for next March
It will be loaded thru June at beginning of December I believe

You can use a similar day/time in the next month or so and see what will be available
The schedules don’t change much

I see a direct FCO to Napoli Centrale at 9:38

ChristineH - I literally just figured that out! :-) I was confused because Trenitalia's search just doesn't come up with anything in the results list, but Italo showed blanks for all the days in March past the 1st. Makes sense now! Thanks!

Paul, thank you for taking the trouble to come back and respond to the help you received.

I'm certainly aware that I'm often one who "answers questions that were not asked", and I also often ask people to give their full itinerary, which you voluntarily did in your first post, thank you! But I now realize that you only really wanted, and only really asked, ONE question, which was about the return day and route.

I don't think that anyone (myself included) meant to give you a lecture on how you need to have a magical, religious experience of two nights on Capri ... it just sort of followed from the discussion. So I will make few comments on your OP itself, which I don't think have come up:

1)It is very, very far from Sorrento to Salerno. Traffic will be more manageable in off-season March, but if you agree that Amalfi is as far as you "need" to go, I think it's better to return to Sorrento - where you can take the Circumvesuviana to save money, or a car service if the group demands comfort, or a ferry to Naples if it's a nice day (.... and the off-season ferry schedule delivers what you need.)

It is fair to say that the train from Salerno to Naples is more comfortable than the Circumvesuviana. But if you can get a Frecciarossa service, for five or six people, you may have tickets that are non-changeable, non-cancellable, non-refundable. I have no personal experience, but you also have to cope with reduced ferry options in March, and some seasonal retail closures.

2)Your group is too big to fit in a sedan. All car services are money-making businesses. Urban services like Uber have led people to believe that a 3-hour, empty (non-revenue) return from Salerno to Sorrento "does not cost you anything." That belief is wrong! That's another reason you should turn around in Amalfi.

We had five nice nights in Sorrento, but we had to give up the idea of seeing Paestum (we both like UNESCO WHS's!). It's just too far. I only meant that as a metaphor for "it's really far to Salerno."

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/amalfi-coast-day-trip

I can't edit that post anymore, but I should have added that a "driver" is not a "brilliant licensed guide who has published several blogs and books". I don't mean that unkindly, but just a matter of realism. I don't think I offered this earlier:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/amalfi-coast-for-7-nights-itinerary-help

Paul, the best views of the Amalfi Coast are between Tordigliano Belvedere and Massi Cetara that takes over an over an hour when driving along the Amalfi Coast Road (SS163). Salerno is another 30-minute drive from Massi Cetara which is closer than turning around and driving back to Sorrento (1h 15m).