Best Way to Travel Amalfi Coast with "Seasoned" Adults?

You say that you are staying in Sorrento which is near the Amalfi Coast but not on it. Ravello is on the Amalfi Coast, high up with beautiful views, and it is flat which is a huge plus. There are beautiful gardens to see. Positano has lots of stairs. Maybe you need to hire a private driver in Sorrento to take you from town to town.
Capri- once you get off the ferry, take the funicular or a taxi up to the main town. Get away from the crowds by concentrating on the pedestrian paths between Giardini Agosto and Punta Tragara, beautiful views.
Back at the marina, you can take a boat ride around the island.
Has your mother asked her MD for a diuretic pill for her swollen ankles and feet?
Sorrento is on a cliff and mostly flat.

The main areas of these towns near port are all relatively flat, no stairs really. However, exploring deeper (Positano particularly) is all steps. Maybe they’ll be happy chilling out near the port enjoying the view while you do some exploring. Guess I’m saying there’s no place that’s super “steps required.” All those towns are pretty low-key “sight” wise, you’re just there to enjoy the view. The views from Villa Cimbrone in Ravello are some of the best and don’t require steps, just a bus up there. Same with Capri, use the funicular and bus to reach AnaCapri and Monte Solaro. It’s easy.

Also, if you’re sightseeing in the region is strictly the Amalfi Coast I would recommend staying on the coast itself. Sorrento make a fine base, but it’s most useful if you’re seeing sights on the Bay of Naples. Day tripping to the coast each of these days could get wearying, and getting to a place like Ravello starts to get long and complicated.

Otherwise my general advice is to use the ferries over busses, and to get an early start. You CAN beat the crowds and enjoy the region (even Capri) by getting the jump on the rest of the slow-poke day trippers coming from the bigger cities. Additionally, I felt like a few extra bucks on convenience (like a ferry) went a long way to maximizing my enjoyment here.

Personally I would consider skipping Positano. It is stairs and more stairs.

Amalfi is much more even and Ravello even more so.

We just returned from our first visit to Sorrento & Amalfi, etc. (Not first trip to Italy)
We stayed in Sorrento for 4 nights then moved to Amalfi & Ravello for 3 more.
We liked Sorrento- lots of great restaurants, fun shopping, friendly atmosphere. Find a hotel with a view but not one that is up in the hills! If you would like a recommendation- pm me.
Sorrento is flat but getting down to ferry involves steps, the bus or there is a lift.

We used Mondo Guides (RS recommended) for a boat trip to Capri- they pick you up and drop you off at your hotel so no worries about up/down to port. The best part of the day to us was the boat trip around the island. Capri itself is very pretty- but it was very crowded, high end shops, nice views, etc. The walk to the gardens is a bit of up and down- no steps that I can recall.
https://www.sharedtours.com

We also used Mondo for Pompeii tour but you didn’t mention that and I would not recommend for your parents- walking on those big polished stones was really really hard on feet/knees/hips.

We used Top Excursion Sorrento for a driver from Naples train to Sorrento then again from Sorrento to Amalfi- a splurge but money well spent in my opinion. The buses will be crowded and hot, you may not get a seat!
https://www.topexcursionsorrento.com

We chose Amalfi over Positano for lodging because it is flatter and it is the transportation hub. Our hotel was just a few steps from ferry/bus area with views of the sea. The town is mostly flat- the further you go in it starts to be an uphill climb. The cathedral/cloister/crypt was worth the visit and worth climbing all those steps!

We took bus to Positano and to be honest were not impressed. Not into high end shopping, and crowds! there are really no “sights” other than the town itself and you can get great views of it from the ferry instead. We got off bus walked down a million steps thru the town, had lunch on beach and took ferry back to Amalfi.

From Amalfi you can take bus up to Ravello which is absolutely beautiful- the best views! and the very small town is flat. The walk to Villa Cimbrone was a bit of up and down and some steps but not horrible. Took maybe 15 min?

If your budget allows I would consider a driver for the day- that will take you to towns of your choosing- skip Positano, see Amalfi, have lunch in Ravello. It will be money well spent.
Top Excursion offers day tours like this and I am sure there are many more.
Mondo Guides also offers for a really decent price.

For the swollen feet problem- do have her check with her doc to see if a diuretic is warranted, wear compression socks. (Although those can get really hot- I wear knee hi support nylons and they do help)

Plan your most strenuous days for early in the trip.

Another question- where you are flying in/out of? You will need to figure out your transportation to Sorrento- there are many options. You will need to be in your departure city whether that is Rome or Naples the night before your flight home.

For me the best of the Amalfi Coast is its natural beauty. I visited in February when the ferries weren't running and the road was not at all heavily traveled. I thought the towns were rather humdrum compared to others throughout Italy, but the views were terrific. The only place that stands out for me is Minori because I had to-die-for pastries at Sal de Riso. I stayed in Salerno which is the eastern end of the AC. It's flat to the sea with a long promenade and a large sandy beach. It's probably too late for you to change your plans and stay there though.

If you take ferries, the main part of the towns are there and don’t require lots of steps. Positano has many steps but only to get deeper in. It shouldn’t be missed, as it is a gem of the amalfi coast.

I think that Sorrento is not as attractive as the other towns named, but it is much more suitable for the parents you described in your OP. It even has a (2 Euro) elevator down to the marina where the ferries leave from. (We spent five nights in Sorrento purely for the good transit we needed for day trips. We paid 240 Euros for a driver and a Mercedes sedan to see the Amalfi Coast (from Sorrento) for 8 hours. That got what we needed, and we had the option of zero vertical stairs. We're not disabled, I'm just saying. Actually our "zero" request was "No, we're not going to [your brother-in-law's] Pottery Shop. But do they have bathrooms there? Okay, we'll stop just for that, no shopping") Although we only visited Amalfi briefly, I did not think it was as attractive or as strollable as is Sorrento. It does look more like our imagined ideal of an Italian village (which barely exists in reality today.)

Do your parents want to go out for a level stroll after dinner? Do they want to walk back to the room after dinner? Or will they be exhausted at the end of every day? It sounds like you are able to make some realistic assumptions about the answers to these questions. It's easy to look at these towns on Google Maps, but it's very hard to judge what walking around them is like from posted tourism photos!

You need to understand that visiting Positano and Capri involve substantial hills and substantial walking to see much of the place. Taxis cannot go to much of Capri, because it is pedestrianized. Ravello is lovely and flat once you get there, but Villa Cimbrone (for example) is a substantial horizontal walk from the pretty main square by the church. Just how far can the parents walk on level ground? The Capri ferry slips (on Capri ... ) can be a substantial horizontal distance from the funicular or the taxi stands. I urge you to set aside money for taxis. Can the four of you fit in a modern sedan with a bench rear seat?

My opinion is that previous posts understate the hills, steps, and vertical distances in Positano. Nothing but the pebbled beach and a bunch of restaurants is at ferry pier level in Positano. Just getting to the famous (?) bar patio at La Sireneuse [not a must-see, in fact] included ankle-twisting curved asphalt roadways going up hill, and at least 40 vertical steps. Well, maybe the hotel has an elevator inside and we didn't use it.

I would second the good advice Tim has imparted. For your folks' needs, Sorrento definitely is the place to stay. I am assuming you'll be in town, in the vicinity of Piazza Tasso. If there, you're golden to shop, eat & stroll to your heart's content, on level ground. If you're staying down by the marina, however, there are more steps but yes, a bus or an elevator is available to get up to town.

But like my friend Chani relates, the Amalfi Coast is not really about the towns themselves (pretty humdrum) or even the food, which I've rated as some of the best-crafted & most delicious in Italy, especially for seafood lovers. It's the scenery, which is like nothing else in Italy. The drop-dead gorgeousness of the Coast is worth seeing again, and again. It's what you remember.

You won't see that from Sorrento-town, but that's OK. Maybe hiring a driver for one day is fine, for a self-directed fly-by with stops at some of the villages from Positano all the way up to Vietri sul Mare. But if your parents are up to it, I'd take the SITA bus one day from Sorrento station and get off at Amalfi-town, where you'd have to change buses anyway. Have lunch, tour St. Andrew Cathedral, then take the bus back--very simple.

Couple other things--is Pompei off the table because of mobility? From Sorrento station, it's a hop, skip & jump via the Circumvesuviana commuter train (about 40 minutes) and the Pompei Scavi entrance is not far from the station. It is magnificent, just saying. Also, investigate the ferry schedule for a totally different perspective of the A.C.

I think you're in good shape with your planning so far. Enjoy!

We just finished the RS Southern Italy tour which covers some of this area. Also, we are in your parent’s demographic and I injured my knee 3 weeks before we left, so that’s the backstory. There is lots of good advice from Tim.

Sorrento is pretty flat, with the elevator to the ferries and an easy walk to the train station, if you stay centrally. I would check the schedules for ferries from Sorrento to Amalfi town and Positano. The SITA bus gets very crowded and winds a lot; several people from our tour got sick. It would not be a good way to access Positano since it runs along the main road above town and you would have to transfer to the little bus into town (and still have a walk to the beach). It does arrive at the flat part of Amalfi town. We took a taxi to Ravello and walked out to Villa Cimbrone ( there are shallow steps) and it was a walk out to the gardens. Once we got there, we forgot about the walk because it was so lovely.

We stayed in both Positano and Sorrento. We took the ferry from Amalfi town back to Positano and felt that was a much better option than the bus. Positano does have a lot of steps, so maybe gauge exhaustion levels.

Thank you so much for all of the great feedback!! I truly appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences. This is all very helpful!!

Has your mother seen her doctor about her swollen ankles? That is not normal but not uncommon among that age group. She may need Rx compression stockings. We are 76 and 73 and find that Rx compression stockings are a great aid when traveling and walking. We would not move without them. And OTC stockings at Walgreens does not cut it. They need to be properly size with correct compression. Also you would be surprised at how helpful a walking stick/pole (hiking pole) can be. If she would use it properly, she might find it a good aid. We do.

Unfortunately the beauty of the Amaifl coast is created by the mountains and mountains have a really bad habit of being mostly up or down. And from our perspective it is more up than down. In our bicycling days we were told you spent 70% of your time going up hill and only 30% going down. The Amaifl coast is a lot like that.