Amalfi coast

Options: train to Naples. From Naples Circumvesuviana train or bus or boat. Late spring, summer, early fall I would take a boat. Not as crowded and hot as train. Substantially lower number of pickpockets on boat than on train. I took train and also boat. Did not take bus.

Although it is technically on the Amalfi Coast, it's useful to understand that Sant' Agata might be called "the first" (counting from Sorrento) town on that Coast. It's high on the hill, and is not known for its beaches or night life. That said, it's a pretty little town, with good access to Sorrento's busy, tourist-resort activities. My point is that almost no one considers a visit to Sant' Agata to be a visit to "the Amalfi Coast" as the term is normally understood. We went up there for the view ( ... due golfi) and the paved long walk down to Sorrento.

Buy a Frecciarossa ticket three months in advance for the best (but non-changeable, non-refundable) fast ride from Rome to Naples. Buy a subway-like ticket downstairs for the Circumvesuviana commuter train to Sorrento. (About 50 minutes to an hour.) Right across from the Circumvesuviana station in Sorrento (on your left as you exit the train station) and just across the semicircular driveway, is the bus stop for Sant' Agata. The destination is visible on the front sign of the bus. About 60' from the station's elevator. I think it's about half-hourly departures. You buy your ticket at the newsstand in the Circumvesuviana station. It's just a one-trip SITA bus ticket; that is, you could probably buy the same ticket in any town in the area, maybe even in Naples when you bought your CV train ticket (but I have never done so.)

Although you could use GPS on your phone, I don't know how to tell you to figure out that you're in Sant' Agata. But I managed to figure it out by looking out the window of the bus.