Amalfi Coast "Stops" - Day trips?

When I visited the area, I took the train all the way through from Rome to Sorrento (change in Naples onto the Circumvesuviana) then visited Pompeii the following day. It felt convenient doing it that way so we could get settled into Sorrento and leave the luggage behind the next day. You could certainly stop on your way in route to Sorrento if you wanted since there is a free baggage check near the turnstiles at the Pompeii site entrance, I just found it to be more relaxed and comfortable not thinking about my bags. Of any stop along the trip, if you're going to have luggage with you, Pompeii will be the most manageable place to drop luggage, see the site, and continue on the Circumvesuviana train line to Sorrento. I would not want to handle my luggage in the towns along the Amalfi Coast. Especially in a place like Positano that's very vertical, luggage is going to be a pain. I would get to Salerno by bus, or private driver, first, drop my bags, and then do day trips to Positano or Amalfi. I hope this helps.

Why are you staying in Salerno to retrace the Amalfi Coast? Paestum, yes. But otherwise that's like staying in Long Island to visit New York City. This trip can be done by public transportation very economically, but you don't have a clear picture of how slow and tedious it can be. Be sure your Ferry schedule is dated November.

This may work better logistically, staying 3 nights in Sorrento and only Friday in Salerno.
Tues - Pompeii en route to Sorrento (3 nts)
Wed - Capri excursion
Thurs - Amalfi, Positano excursion
Fri - Bus to Salerno (drop luggage), excursion to Paestum by train, return to Salerno (1 nt)

Your luggage issues & the logistics of the area will be a challenge to do what you want as stated.

Judging by the other posters & my experiences in the area (we based in Salerno for 5 nights this last March), it might be better to do it this way:

Tuesday: travel to Sorrento (stay 2 nights) from Rome via train.
Wednesday: daytrip to Pompei
Thursday: either train Sorrento/Naples/Salerno or bus Sorrento/Positano/Amalfi/Salerno (stay 2 nights)
Friday: daytrip to Paestum or Amalfi (or alternate day for Pompei)
Saturday: train Salerno to Rome

Can we assume you're flying back home out of Rome?

A few remarks:

Late November is not exactly an optimum time to visit the Amalfi Coast. Check the average November temps & rainfall amounts for Sorrento: 63 hi-45 lo, and 15 days it had some precipitation. That being said, we were on the A.C. in early March--we caught a very nice day (high temp 55-60) and visited Amalfi, which was an hour by bus from Salerno (Positano would have been another hour). Hardly any tourists--which was good--but not everything was open. Still enjoyed the hell out of it, so don't let weather deter you on that count alone. I would imagine Sorrento's beautiful anytime.

Pompei is not a ton of fun in the rain--those ancient stone blocks get very slippery. The good news is that you can visit Pompei from Sorrento, or from Salerno, less than an hour by train from the latter. Again, we caught a decent day in March and basically had the ruins to ourselves--magic, I tell you. So definitely do Pompei, but maybe be flexible depending on weather. BTW, Paestum is also less than hour from Salerno by train.

The bus Sorrento to Salerno is about 4 hours, with many stops along the way, and there is a bus change at Amalfi, which really is no problem--it's at the bus lot right on the sea. And you do get to see the scenery along the way, which at that time of year might be all you need considering what's open and what's not. I can't bring up the Sorrento/Salerno train times right now--I know it's doable, but it might not be that much faster than the bus.

Finally, Salerno is a small Italian city of 130,000, with real Italians, and time of year or weather really doesn't matter. Great restaurants, shops, a beautiful 11th century cathedral. Best to stay near all these attractions in the charming Old Town area. We thoroughly enjoyed coming back from daytripping and having a leisurely dinner at one of Salerno's great seafood joints. It would not be a bad choice to stay there at all.

Enjoy your planning!

You guys are awesome, thanks for all of the advice.

Yes, we’re definitely cognizant of the weather factor but very good point to be flexible on those days. Jay, your suggested itinerary hit was great (of course a fellow Chicagoan would supply fab info for me!) IF the weather is good, we may stop at Pompeii on the way to Sorrento (since as Casey confirmed, this is the most manageable place to store luggage) but if not, sounds like it is pretty easy to day trip it back from Sorrento or Salerno if necessary.

I visited Ireland in October a while back and it rained a bit almost every day. But it was an AMAZING trip and we worked around the weather just fine. And NO crowds, which were awesome. It will be a bit different with kids (8 & 10 y/o) but they are pretty chill kids, ever curious or happy to pick up a book on a rainy day as well.

Someone asked about “retracing” from Salerno. I think we’d ONLY go back to Amalfi from Salerno, since we’d have to change buses to go anywhere else, from my understanding? But thanks for the confirmation that we do NOT want to try to make stops in any these other AC towns w/ luggage.

I’m really not counting traveling by ferry at all, as from my knowledge, most will be shut down or on “skeleton” schedules? I think we’ll go by bus primarily on the AC.

But Thanksgiving in Salerno…I know it won’t mean anything to the locals that night, but after a rough year leading up to my 50th birthday, I will be VERY thankful for ANYTHING we see, do, eat, drink, and experience!! To be in Italy with my family – thanksgiving abounds!

I vote for stopping at Pompei en route to Sorrento rather than backtracking. It was a breeze. I don't remember the luggage storage being free, but if not...it wasn't much. For what it's worth, we hired a private guide for Pompei and he met us on the train platform and helped guide us with luggage. His name is Antonio (Tony) Somma. I had used him several years prior so I knew what he looked like. He is also recommended by RS.

We had expressed an interest in going up to Vesuvius and Tony would have added that on for us, but the clouds were too low that day.

If you don't already have hotel plans for Sorrento, I can recommend Hotel Antiche Mura.
http://www.hotelantichemura.com/en/
It's an easy walk from the train station. (we travel with only a carry-on...a la Rick Steves). As long as you're not packed down like a mule, you should be fine with medium sized luggage, too. Hotel Antiche Mura provides a great breakfast spread, too! We rec'd a 10% discount for paying in cash and showing RS tour book. We communicated this directly with the hotel via email.

Also for what it's worth, the four of us hired a private driver for an all day tour of the Amalfi coast including, Positano, Amalfi and Ravello. We used Aldo's limos and had a wonderful experience with Tonino.

When we were in Pompei in March, we didn't hire a guide but probably should have. We did the next best thing--we had downloaded the RS Pompei podcast onto our iPhones, and played the podcast in real time as we were walking around. It was like we were in the show!

But almost nothing is marked in the ruins--it's so much better when you know what you're seeing.