Amalfi Coast Itinerary Questions

Changing hotels 3 nights in a row would not be appealing at all.
Just base in Sorrento

You’re only giving Capri 5-6 hours? Stay overnight.

Yes, changing hotels would be a big waste of time. These are the trains from Sorrento to Pompeii and Naples:

https://www.sorrentoinsider.com/en/naples-to-sorrento-train-schedule

https://www.sorrentoinsider.com/en/campania-express-train-schedule [less uncomfortable], mid-March to mid-Oct]

There is a baggage drop [deposito bagagli] at the Pompeii Scavi station. Back on the train, you get off at Napoli Garibaldi, then go upstairs to Centrale for your train to Rome.

Thank you for the quick feedback. Homebasing in Sorrento sounds much easier in ways, although my concern is that we won't get to experience any sunrises or sunsets on the Amalfi Coast. I'd like to experience Positano in the morning light and evening light. If we home base in Sorrento, it seems like we'd have to be on a ferry or bus by like 6:30 p.m. to make sure we don't get stranded in Capri, Positano, or Amalfi.

I agree with staying in Sorrento all three nights. This is what we did:
-day 1 in Capri (do a tour with a boat ride to maximize your time), you can stay as late as you'd like
-Day 2 ferry to Amalfi, explore, and then bus to Positano. Bus back to Sorrento in evening.
-Day 3, local train to Pompeii. We also took a bus up to Mt Vesuvius which was interesting.

Not sure of the time you're going, in April we didn't have any traffic issues.

What month are you going? Ferries are more frequent during the warmer months. Have you considered sleeping on Capri or in Amalfi? Where are you arriving from?

This will be late May / early June. We'll be taking the train in from Naples to Sorrento and spending the first night in Sorrento.

May/June 2023? This area books up over six months in advance. You will have to make compromises on rooming, whether plus or budget. You are right that the ferries don't run after dark. You might ask yourself, "How many ferries do I need to take?" Most of them will have small tinted windows that don't open, and no seating on the open air deck. How reverent a view are you going to get from the water? We had a ferry with over 300 pedestrians and a bunch of trucks to Capri, and the windows were all sealed.

You aren't allowing for how big and how pedestrianized Capri is. You need to get there early and spend a full day to see most of it. It's a nice visit. I would buy a return ticket when you buy the outbound ticket; you don't want to be refused boarding. We skipped the Blue Grotto in favor of many other sights.

Note that Positano can't handle as big boats as Amalfi and Sorrento can. I'd go to Capri from Sorrento. Trips can be cancelled for high wave action, too.

Remember it takes two trains to get to Rome. The fast trains from Naples have discount advance purchase, but it is non-changeable, non-cancellable, one timed departure only. Good luggage storage available at the Pompeii entrance.

I would just suggest that you have a backup plan for the time on Capri. When we were on Amalfi coast the water was too rough and the boats quit running, you couldn't get there and those that were there couldn't get back.

I hope it works out well for you!

I think you’ll get a lot of opinions because you’re trying to do a lot with a little, but for my part I have to say that all three options are workable. It’s a barnstorming type of plan for sure, but they are decent plans. Option 2 is best of the three. I have seen Capri en route to Positano as you describe and felt it was satisfying and worthwhile. I did not feel like I was missing out by not staying on Capri overnight at all. The next two nights I would spend in Positano or Amalfi (or Atrani!) Amalfi has superior transport connections and as people on the move, might be the better choice for you. Seeing Pompeii en route to Rome is a long long day, but also doable.

That said, staying all three nights in Sorrento is probably the right move. If your priorities are Capri and Pompeii, then the AC is actually the outlier and is a candidate for a day trip. I don’t love day tripping here, but it makes sense.

You mentioned sunrises/sunsets. Geographically, the peninsula runs east/west. At that time of year, the best sunsets I got were in Sorrento, where the port faces west. In Amalfi at least, the sun sets behind the hills. I also woke up for the sunrise and that too was obscured by hills up the coast. So, kind of a crap shoot there, but I found Sorrento’s sunset views facing Napoli and Vesuvius to be pretty spectacular.

Thank you everyone for the helpful feedback! This is my first trip to Italy, and I am learning a lot from this wonderful community! I am learning from experience how far in advance hotels and AirBnbs book up. Your insight on where to base in AC is all very helpful. While I can understand the suggestions to base in Sorrento and would love to have a home base for 3 nights, my friend and I want to maximize our time on the AC instead of doing day trips from Sorrento, so we decided we're okay bouncing from one place to another each night. The rest of our time in Italy will involve longer stays in larger cities, so we'll be able to have a home base in each for several nights to help balance it out.

We've decided to go with option 2 above so that we can explore Positano on foot during a night and a morning and also can explore Amalfi by foot one night as well. That's a helpful tip about having a back-up plan for Capri in case the water is too rough to travel there. If that happens, we'll likely spend the time exploring Positano instead. If we decide to linger in Amalfi the morning we depart, we may decide to skip Pompeii and head straight on to Rome.

Option 2

• First night: Sorrento
• Day 1: Ferry from Sorrento to Capri; stay in Capri 5-6 hours; ferry to Positano; evening in Positano
• Second night: Positano
• Day 2: Morning in Positano; one-way boat tour or ferry to Amalfi; explore Amalfi area including potentially Ravello and/or Atrani
• Third night: Amalfi
• Day 3: Ferry from Amalfi to Salerno; train from Salerno to Pompeii; explore Pompeii; train to Rome

Does anyone have recommendations for one-way, small group boat tours from Positano to Amalfi? Do one-way boat tours exist? Or would we need to book a round trip tour and just stay in Amalfi?

Can you do option 2 and keep the same lodging in Positano? We did 2 nights Amalfi and 2 nights Positano and regretted it.

The ferry is pretty reasonable and runs regularly, I wouldn’t bother trying to arrange a private/direct boat ride from Positano to Amalfi. I would pick one of those towns and stay there two nights, probably Amalfi just for the convenience and options (more busses, more ferries.) You could stay later somewhere else and find a taxi if you wanted to linger. But there’s not huge differences between them, at least not so much that it’s worth uprooting yourself for imo. Honestly, I enjoyed both those towns more for the views from the ferry lol. I might even recommend Ravello over Positano for a visit. Ravello was a highlight.

Option 2 First night: Sorrento Day 1: Ferry from Sorrento to Capri;
stay in Capri 5-6 hours; ferry to Positano; evening in Positano Second
night: Positano Day 2: Morning in Positano; one-way boat tour or ferry
to Amalfi; explore Amalfi area including potentially Ravello and/or
Atrani Third night: Amalfi Day 3: Ferry from Amalfi to Salerno; train
from Salerno to Pompeii; explore Pompeii; train to Rome

I think you'll find you are done exploring Positano after a few short tours. There just isn't much there, it is teeny tiny!
Amallfi has a bit more- the Duomo, Cloister and Museum is a worthwhile visit, cemetery up on the cliff, paper factory.

If you want to get up to Ravello get going early-- the walk out to Villa Cimbrone takes a while and is so worth it. Absolutely gorgeous views.

I am assuming you are traveling light- backpacks? You don't want to be dragging bags along.

I think my concern with staying in Positano is that if weather is crummy the ferry can't dock there. Amalfi has a bigger dock and not affected as Positano is. Bus is your only option (or expensive cab)

I'd stay 2 nights in Amalfi, which is what did :) Is that a possibility?
Capri to Positano- dinner and drinks- then on to Amalfi for night.
Next am up to Ravello- have lunch then back to Amalfi for apertivo in front of the Duomo. Watching the light/colors change on that facade as the sun went down was a highlight of our trip.

Ravello is pretty quiet at night, closes up early.

ETA-It's a shame you can't fit in Paestum from Salerno- any chance of adding a night there? It is an amazing site, super easy to get to from Salerno.