Day Trip Itinerary Help : Amalfi Coast Day Trip

Ask your driver for suggestions?

Or tell your driver what you want to see and let him arrange it. He ought to be familiar with the area

That's probably the best way to do Rome/Amalfi/Rome on a daytrip--train to Naples, pickup there, dropoff there, train back to Roma. Good job. You'll have to get quite an early train out of Roma Termini, however.

Yeah, let the driver decide the order as he should be schooled on the best routes. If it's high season (May-September), all the more reason to let him do it because the traffic could be horrendous.

We've been there twice in mid-March when the A.C. is almost deserted--still beautiful. Three years ago we lunched at Lido Azzurro in Amalfi, right on the water, on their first day open for the season. Spent a chill couple hours having a good meal, made better by the stunning scenery.

Last year, we took the bus from Sorrento to Positano in cloudy, foggy weather and the only thing open was Li Galli Bar, steps from the Sponda bus stop on the upper level of Positano. Sat at a single table between the road and the cliff and they brought out a fantastic antipasto tray followed by the best fried calamari of the trip. Also took the best pictures having lunch there with the fog in and out of those houses on the side of the mountain in the background. Memorable.

Enjoy your planning!

The best route would be to head overland doing Ravello first then heading down to Amalfi and finally Positano.

This is faster than the Coast road and the views heading to Ravello are fabulous.

Be aware of how pedestrianized these towns are, particularly Ravello. Your driver should know (after consulting with you) whether he should use the guest drop-off for Villa Cimbrone, or whether you'll walk yourselves from the town square - for example. The more input you can provide, the better advice you'll get for your money. Not to slam anyone, our driver "assumed" we wanted to stop at the "pottery factory". We set him straight by asking in reply, "Do they have a bank of tourist bathrooms? Great, we'll just do that."

Do you know from experience how long it can take to have a real lunch in Italy? You might want to slight the lunch and gobble takeout sandwiches like we did, to make the most of the driver time. He may have time (as did ours) to make "view stops" in one or two more places than the three towns you listed. We had over an hour in each town, and it was enough. The church museum in Ravello was our favorite institutional stop. Consider the admission fee for the Cimbrone gardens, and whether you have enough time. (Month of the year affects garden status and crowding.)

I'm not saying you should have specific objectives, but this is a case where over-planning might be helpful. Note that a private driver can't avoid unexpected delays for the tunnel and highway back to Naples. You may have to return slightly earlier than you want to. And your rail ticket may be good for only one specific departure.

Which company did you use for a driver for your day trip? I was considering this instead of trying public transport since it seems like the better option but haven’t seen specific recommended companies.