amalfi coast 11 days or 3 days ??

You could easily stay there on your own, thereby choosing the number of days you wish to be there.
Three days would be the minimum in my view, and 11 days would be a luxury, so it’s really up to you!

Sorrento is almost at the tip of a peninsula, making for long day trips! I would much prefer a shorter time there, with time in Naples too.

I see this 15 day tour, is this the one you mean?
https://www.seniordiscoverytours.ca/trips/amalfi-coast#itinerary

As long as you understand that the area is really busy with tourists, and you are OK with a hotel buffet dinner every night, it's really up to you.

Hi John,

Welcome to the Forum. I have been to the Amalfi Coast (including Sorrento which technically is not on the Amalfi Coast) twice, once for 5 days and this September for 9 days. I have traveled independently and not with a tour, so can't really comment on the tour companies.

If you only want a brief introduction to the Amalfi coast, then staying 3 days would be the minimum. The 11 days allows you to see more of the coast and if this is the same tour that LIZinPA put the link in her post, you will be able to spend time in most of the Amalfi villages, plus see Pompeii, Capri, and Sorrento. You also have free time that you can go into Naples if you like. There is plenty to do even in Sorrento.

4 nights or maybe even 5 nights in the area would be ideal, but I don’t know if I’d care to spend 11 days there.

It is up to you, but it is actually something you can organize on your own and save money. No need to have a tour company. You can use ferries and buses or taxicabs to visit places from Sorrento, and you can also take the train to Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples.

thanks everyone for the quick replies..

My wife and I are in our early 70's and feel more comfortable going with a tour as opposed to being on our own. I guess it depends what we decide we want to see and for how long.. A self guided vacation does give us everything we want but we dont really want to over there on our own

thanks again for your help

Hi, since you’re on the Rick Steves website, I’d encourage you to look at this tour. It gives you 6 nights in the Amalfi Coast/Naples region. The RS tours are very well run, the guides are excellent, and your time is maximized.

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/south-italy-2026

I haven’t taken this specific tour, but I’ve spent a lot of time in southern Italy and stayed at Salerno & the town of Amalfi in that region.

Our first time in Italy was with the RS 17-day Best of Italy tour, and even after staying in 50 cities of Italy independently, I still concur that the RS tour was the absolute best intro to Italy.

What is the month of your travel!?

You might wish to ask yourself how much you would enjoy 11 days in a "shore" location that's very popular near your home, but without a car. Note that Sorrento is not a beach town, it's on a cliff. Some towns, especially Positano can have hundreds of stair steps and hills.

EDIT: I am not at all opposed to using a tour company, and am not bad-mouthing your idea. But (you DIDN'T say if you are likely to base in Sorrento ... ) some bus tour companies use the hotels that are up on the side of the mountain, with a lovely view. But on Independent days, you have to wait for the hotel shuttle schedule to get to downtown Sorrento for shopping, the train, or the bus to the Amalfi Coast.

If you absolutely must take a tour I second the suggestion above to take the Rick Steves’ Best of South Italy tour. The tour is only 12 nights on the ground in total, but 6 of those nights are in the Naples/Sorrento/Amalfi Coast area, and I would consider 6 nights adequate to see that area.

In addition it would give you a chance to see a bit of Puglia (Apulia) and Matera, besides Rome. The tour spends only 2 nights in Rome, at the start of the tour, which is definitely too short if you haven’t been before, but you can always prolong your stay before the tour. Also it is always a good idea to arrive a day or two before the tour statrs to account for possible flight delays or cancellations.

The tour ends in Naples, so you can stay longer in the area after the tour if you like it. To come home you would take a flight from Naples or take a train to Rome and fly out of Rome maybe a day or two later.

Roberto's suggestion of Rick Steves tour is wonderful.

If you have traveled independently in Europe, I would suggest that you can enjoy the area on your own. I was in Salerno 3 weeks ago for 5 nights. I returned to the lovely B&B Salerno Centro hosted by Francesco and his parents. He apologized profusely for not being able to pick me up at the train station which is his usually practice (he had other guests leaving and arriving at the same time) but since I'd been there before I didn't mind. He offers driving services and guided tours. He has infinite patience in helping with planning and making suggestions starting when you contact him and up until the moment you leave - switching and changing around if weather or other unforeseens come up last-minute. His English is excellent, and his sense of humor is even better.

For me, Salerno is the ideal place to stay and visit the Amalfi Coast by road or ferry, see Pompeii, Naples, and the lovely Greek temples at Paestum - and much more.

Love that area and have been three times.
Sorrento is a pleasant seaside town with great access to top sites.
But if you already have 6 days of guided tours, 5 more days hanging out in Sorrento may feel anticlimactic.
Depending on your budget, timing and preferences, there are many options in between those two extremes--including private tours, to consider!

Many forum vets, including myself and Chani, are fond of Salerno as a base. I think the consensus on here--not that it's correct--is that 5-6 days in the area is about right, maybe split between Sorrento and Salerno. BUT...the time of year means so much. January/February? The A.C is pretty much shut down, except for Sorrento on the other side of the peninsula. June through September? Pretty much overrun by tourists with public transportation at times gridlocked. We've traveled there twice in March, which seems about right for us. And we've stayed in both Sorrento and Salerno--both are great towns to stay in their own right. From Sorrento it's easy to visit Capri, Naples and Pompeii. From Salerno it's only 40 minutes south to the ruins at Paestum.

We can help you do it yourself, but only if you enjoy that planning kind of thing. Different strokes...

We spent 2 weeks in Sorrento in 2023 and thought that was a perfect amount of time. Our itinerary was pretty Pompeii intensive and we enjoyed that portion of the trip far more than the Amalfi Coast days. We spent about 12 hours over 2 days in Pompeii plus Oplontis, a day at Herculaneum and a day in Naples at the archeological museum.

I find that bus tours that visit the AC only give you a couple of hours at Pompeii which in my opinion is way too little. That tour that you're considering seems very Amalfi Coast oriented. I'm surprised it is offering a full day in Positano; if that's an 8 hour tour, I'd consider that 7.5 hours too much for Positano. I was overwhelmingly underwhelmed by Positano compared to the other towns along the Coast. In fact, we enjoyed Capri far more than any place we visited on the AC. But to answer your question, if you're willing to be adventurous and set our on your own during your Sorrento days, then an 11 day tour may be well worth it.

Hi there and welcome to the Forum! I would just add to the other poster that the time of year makes a huge difference - I couldn't be dragged through Pompeii from June - September during the hottest season, but we spent 3 days off and on visiting the ruins in winter,we loved them so much! There's a lot of walking involved even on this type of tour, so reviewing what you can tolerate is important as well.

The 12 nights tour looks like they include a lot of other excursions, not just the AC, so that makes it more interesting if you would prefer not to plan the trip on your own. I actually would prefer that to just 3 nights, frankly. *"Itinerary Highlights: Sorrento orientation, Galatea Farm pizza-making, ceramics in Maiori and Vietri Sul Mare, walking tours of Ravello and Amalfi, a Positano boat trip, Pompeii ruins, a Capri ferry and Blue Grotto visit, and the Naples Royal Palace." Is this your tour? *https://www.seniordiscoverytours.ca/trips/amalfi-coast. I also looked at the complaints section - up to 45 people on the tour, fyi. Good luck with your planning!

hi.
First I want to say a huge thank you for everyone who has replied. What a great community and resource to talk to people who have "been there..Done that"

So...After reading all the replies i think we have decided on doing this ourselves. I have always planned all our vacations. Planes, trains, automobiles etc... so i am ok planning it. We will stay in Sorrento or Salerno for 5-6 days. We HATE the heat and hot weather so we are planning on October 2027. We usually only travel in April or october months

We will fly into Rome and i have been looking up how to get from Rome to Sorrento easily after a long overnight flight with our luggage. Other than a very expensive private car it looks like train from rome to naples and then ferry or a bus from naples to sorrento/salerno. It looks like the train from Rome to Naples has lots of space for luggage but the rain from naples is a commuter train and may be difficult to store luggage. We are thinking of staying the night in Rome and then making our way from Rome to sorrento/salerno the next day..

any thoughts on getting from rome to sorrento/salerno with our luggage??

thanks again for all the VERY helpful information

regards
John

any thoughts on getting from rome to sorrento/salerno with our luggage??

You can't really lump Sorrento and Salerno together. They are quite different, and at opposite ends of the peninsula.

Salerno has frequent Trenitalia trains from Naples and Rome. It is not advertised as heavily as Sorrento and probably is less dense with tourists and a bit less expensive.

Sorrento has a bus from Naples airport and Naples, the Circumvesuviana train - which while gritty and down to earth, the local commuter train is predictable and works - and ferries from Naples. Lots of beauty and nearby beauty and plenty of tourists and tourist facilities.

They both have positives, and to a degree negatives. Apples and Oranges. Which do you prefer?

11 days NOT, LOTS to see in Pompeii, Naples, Sorrento, Capri and the Amalfi Coast, but recommend 4-5 days. Do the 3 day tour then just stay and do stuff on your own, then move on to Rome and spend a week there.

Hi John, that's a great turnaround from a bus tour! Why not fly into Naples & out of Rome, (if you plan some time in Rome as well). Many on the Forum love Salerno as a better base for visiting the AC, (best by ferry), than Sorrento. I use Google & just type in "Rick Steves Forum XXX" to get threads on a topic, here's what I found about staying in Salerno. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/salerno-as-a-base-for-amalfi-visit.

What are your interests? If it's ancient history, definitely visit Pompeii at least if not also Herculaneum, & the Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN). Here's our Dec. Trip Report. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/great-trip-to-pompeii-naples-over-new-years-december-26-january-2nd-2026. Enjoy your planning!

I know you are looking now at doing on your own. However I did want to say that my mother has been on a couple of senior discovery tours and they have a lot of advantages including all travel and medical/ cancellation insurance. She has enjoyed both tours, but has not done this particular one.

You can certainly do it cheaper on your own, but I do think that tour looks quite nice.

If you are going to do on your own, getting from Rome to Sorrento on the same day is way too arduous. You mention luggage. Do you pack lightly? If not that means a lot of lugging bags on trains ( at least 3 trains from Rome airport to Sorrento). Personally I agree to try to fly into Naples, or else take a couple of days to start in Rome before you head to the Amalfi.

Many people take a car service (120 Euros ?????) from Naples to Sorrento. The Trenitalia Frecciarossa service goes all the way from Rome to Salerno, if you choose that location. As another noted, the two sleeping places are not at all identical, and you need to have an idea of what your local plans are to choose. Also consider whether you get seasick on ferries.

You have a LOT of reading to do here. At least 30-50 more posts. This topic comes up every week.

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

Here's my Trip Report of my 2 week trip of you're interested.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-2-weeks-of-day-trips-from-sorrento