Quickest Way to Travel Rome <-> Positano

Rule #1 about the Amalfi Coast; transportation is not easy, cheap, or reliable.

Rule #2, see Rule 1 and be in Rome the night before your flight.

There are no fast and reliable methods. Some are faster than others, but none are fast. Train to and from Rome and Naples is likely the fastest and most reliable. Car service from Naples to Positano might be the fastest, and likely the best bet if cost isn't a factor. But a big fat NO to leaving Positano the morning of your flight home.

Thank you @Allan. I have previously tried to convince my husband to travel to Rome the night before but he has not agreed yet.

Looking more into this, I think our best bet (if I can't convince my husband), is to get a car transfer from our hotel in Positano to the Naples train station super early in the morning. From there, take the train from Naples to the Rome train station (online it says about 1 hour and 15 minute train ride), then take the 32 minute train ride from the Rome train station directly to the airport. There appear to be many fast trains going from Naples to Rome in the morning, and it looks like there are 3 trains every hour going from Rome to the airport. Aside from possible train delays, would this solution possibly work? The earliest trains put us at the airport around 8am (for a 12pm flight), and actually I think there are one or two trains that would get us there even earlier than 8am.

Thanks!

Just want to add @Allan that a potential car transfer from our hotel in Positano to the Naples train station, we would set up through our hotel. Would this be reliable?

Unless your flight out of Rome is in late afternoon, I would , in the strongest of terms, recommend that you return to Rome for your last night. Even if you hire a very expensive private car and driver for the Positano to FCO drive, you are looking at a drive of over 3 hours. And that is IF you can avoid rush hours, traffic tie ups, or accidents en route. And you need to be at the airport 3 hours before your flight if your destination is outside Schengen. So a long day before you even get on the plane.

Looking at train options, it looks like a train at 5:07 from Naples with a change at Roma Termini would get you to the airport in time. Which would mean leaving your hotel at least an hour before that at 4 am. Assuming you have advance purchased tickets. I'll leave it up to you as to what time you would need to get up, or if you'd even bother going to bed. Or you could enjoy your last day in Positano, perhaps have an early dinner, and then go to Rome (or Fiumicino) that evening and have a relaxed morning before your flight.

Thank you @CJean. I told my husband those exact two options..get to Naples and take the 5:00am train or just go back to Rome the night before. As much as I don't want to cut my time in Positano short, it does sound like the second option will give us less stress.

Thanks @miuccia. Would another option just be to take train from Rome to Naples and then have a driver pick us up there and take us to our hotel in Positano?

Thank you so much @miuccia!

I actually love that idea of leaving Positano the night before, going into Naples and having a quick dinner, then hoping on the train back to Rome to spend the night. My husband was interested in going to Naples but we removed that from the itinerary. I think he just mainly wants pizza from Naples so that actually would be perfect.

Today the high speed railway and the old standard speed railway between Rome and Florence (near Orvieto) were both shut down for many hours due to a brush fire in a field adjacent to the railway. No trains were allowed to go through in either direction.

This serves as a reminder to all that occasionally stuff happens to trains (as well as cars), and therefore there are risks associated with train travel.

Trying to make a transatlantic flight out of Rome at noon, leaving the same morning from Positano is too risky for comfort, besides requiring getting up at Zero Dark Thirty, which is something I would hate. If you like to stay in Positano as long as possible, leave in the evening. The last Frecciarossa out of Naples leaves at 8:30pm.

Thank you, yes I saw that train at 8:30pm as well which would give us a pretty long day in Positano at least. I'm hoping my partner agrees. Thanks!

Years ago when we went to Positano, we took the train to Naples and then a private car/driver met us at the train station. We did the same in reverse. It was very straightforward and well worth it. On a subsequent trip to Italy, we spent a few days in Naples and loved it so it is certainly a worthwhile stop on the trip back. We have had last minute train strikes disrupt our plans and also had a Thalys train, Paris to Amsterdam sit for 3 hours in the ‘middle of nowhere’ so the advice is often consistent to be in your departing city the night before (for transatlantic flights).

If you can afford to miss your flight out of Rome there are lots of options

If not stay IN Rome night before flight

Another option
Day before take the ferry to Salerno then direct fast train to Rome

Thank you all! @Claire that sounds exactly like what our plan would be so I'm comforted to know that you've done it before.

@miuccia thank you for the pizza recommendations. Unfortunately the Mimi restaurant will not be open on the day we travel back to Rome but I'll check out the other options!

Just want to add @Allan that a potential car transfer from our hotel
in Positano to the Naples train station, we would set up through our
hotel. Would this be reliable?

One never knows until the driver shows up. The critical advice is that no matter the method, be in Rome the night before.

Your hotel might be good source or might not unless they work with a service and aren’t just having their brother in law drive you

We used this service for transfers in the area
https://www.topexcursionsorrento.com/

Get quotes from both, compare cost

Looking at train options, it looks like a train at 5:07 from Naples with a change at Roma Termini would get you to the airport in time. Which would mean leaving your hotel at least an hour before that at 4 am.

Which means getting up around 3 AM.
(google shows the drive from Positano to Naples train station is 60-70 minutes, so leaving after 345 AM is extremely risky.)

And everything has to work to near perfection to be successful.

Anyone who think this is a good idea should not be allowed to handle sharp objects or operate kind of machinery larger or more complex than a tricycle.

My $0.02

Elizabeth at Bluestar Positano can help with logistics

hey hey cdal06
this is just a crazy crazy question with only one "best" answer to me and most of the other posters here. be at a hotel near termini train station, take a cab early morning or stay at hotel near FCO. i would tell my partner it's this way or he's on his own highway with deep deep pockets to buy a new ticket for the flight home.
several years ago, friend and i staying in piazza navona apt was caught in a student protest with thousands & thousands circled all around. we booked shuttle to civitavecchia cruise port for transatlantic cruise. no cars could get into any of the area, pulled our luggage down cobblestone streets past "cops" with the guns close by their bodies for no incidents, trying to find a main avenue with a taxi. got so so lucky to find one. not really allowed to go to port but we paid him 140E cash and off we went, thank god
so many people missed sailing, spent one night in rome and next night in barcelona and met us there to get on ship. they were not happy at all, had to pay the 2 nights hotel out of their own pocket.
you never know what will happen with private transfer, train ride on the roads or tracks to leave at 3am to get to airport 3 hours before you noon flight. one morning our driver never showed up, we were worse than turkeys with heads.
you do you and your partner, it's your vacation. just know what may happen or what may not. i would not take any risks or be so stressed, pulling my hair out or growing more gray hair than i wish. good luck
aloha

Not going to join the chorus but you know the risk assessment, your know your risk tolerance. so you decide. Good luck. But high risk takers are some of our more successful people.