Driving from Puglia to Amalfi coast, car return/ fly home

Hi Allie, you can fly non-stop between Naples and Newark. Both Sorrento and Salerno have car rental agencies. The one in Sorrento is Hertz and if there are more you’ll have to check.
If you stay in Positano you can drive the Amalfi Coast Road to Salerno (1h 45m). If you go to Sorrento, it will take 45-minutes. You can then take a ferry from Sorrento to Naples (45-minutes) and a taxi to the airport.
If you return it in Salerno, you can hop on a direct train to the Naples Centrale station (1h 30m) and take a taxi to the airport.

The easiest way from Puglia to the Amalfi Coast is via Salerno. Which is where I'd drop the car.

Fastest route is on the E847 direction Potenza.
Which will terminate near the Salerno exit. Drop the car at the rail station by the Concordia ferry terminal.

Ferry to Amalfi Coast prefered town. (Amalfi has the best transportation options.

Ferry & bus info + more info.
https://www.livesalerno.com

To reach the airport, ferry-Salerno,(35m) train- Napoli centrale (38m). Alibus or taxi to the airport.

Alibus http://www.anm.it/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1314

Fixed rate taxi. https://www.napoliunplugged.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Tariffe_taxi_2017.pdf

Very easy.

It looks like the fastest and easiest way to get from Puglia to the Amalfi coast is by renting a car and driving 3.5 hours instead of multiple trains and 7 plus hours of travel.

I don't know which reseller's site you used to check the train schedules, but Bari-Salerno takes a little less than 5 hours and one change at Benevento.

The fastest option from Bari to Napoli Centrale departs at 13:11 and takes 3h34minutes (one change at Caserta). I did not check Italotreno's new routes in Puglia

• Driving in Naples and driving to Naples airport are two different things.
• More or less, Matera is halfway between Puglia and Campania. Since you are driving in that area...
• If you are worried about driving in downtown Naples I wonder where you are staying in Bari.
• Anyway do not leave anything in the car, even if it's not visible from the outside
• ask the rental agency what actually happens if their car gets stolen. Puglia is right in front of the best place in Europe where to buy "second hand cars"

Regarding option C, Rome is not far away so can fly home from Rome.

Thanks everyone, for your advice.
It sounds like there are plenty of options to get to the Naples airport without a rental car. So hopefully we can arrange to return it in a nearby town.

We were thinking about staying one night at a hotel in Bari, then renting a car the next day to drive to our accommodation ( VRBO house ) in Alberobello.

Just because I don't like driving as soon as our plane lands, but as it's only about an hour's drive, maybe we should ?
The rental house has a parking space aandseems sort of in the country with a little land around it. So I think * that * will be safe.
We will be sure to only bring small backpacks with water and our money belt for day trips around Puglia.
When we rent a car in Bari, I will be sure to ask, before we rent the car, their policy on theft.
So ..since Bari is very unsafe ?? Is that what you are saying ?
Maybe we should land, and drive immidiately to Alberobello where our rental house is and not stay in Bari at all ? Not even one night ?

Are the hotels there not secure either ?
Thanks First time in Puglia.

So ..since Bari is very unsafe ?? Is that what you are saying ?

No, and I don't understand how you could get that from my message. Bari's traffic isn't that better than Naples', that's all.

Car thefts and break-ins are the best type of crimes one can be victim of: they can happen only when the car owner is somewhere else.

Are the hotels there not secure either ?

Hotels? What's with the hotels now?

We (elderly couple, 80ish at the time) stayed a couple of nights at a hotel in Bari, as part of a Puglia trip. I never had the slightest worry about safety. We didn’t pick up a car until ready to leave Bari. If you are concerned, how about a hotel with parking, or a parking garage?
As I recall, we needed to have two different bases. The distances were too great to make a single base workable for the places we wanted to see. You need to check driving times on viamichelin.com, then add 25%. Distance in miles can be deceptive.
*You would be crazy to drive in Naples; and if you weren’t nuts already, you would be by the time you finished.

No one should drive after an overnight flight with no sleep, but I admit, an hour is within my comfort zone. That said, my first two driving trips in Italy were in Puglia, and because our arrival was so late, we stayed a night in Bari both times to recover, then picked up the car (Hertz) near the train station, outside the ztl. Driving in Puglia is easy for the most part.
Bari has a fantastic old town, no worries! The recommendation to be careful with belongings in the car is actually for anywhere in Italy, not just in a city like Bari. I can't say I have not taken the risk in many random places in Puglia, but it's just prudent to know.
If you are not interested in Bari, there are plenty of nice towns also close to the airport. I stayed in Giovinazzo (~10 minutes from airport) before an early flight and it was delightful.
I'd plan on dropping the car in Salerno, you won't want the car for the Amalfi coast. The traffic and parking situation make it unpleasant in my view, though some do it and live to tell the tale.
Be sure to check your dates against the ferry schedule!
But I would stay at least a night in Naples if you have time--a drive to the airport early in the morning from the AC is not something I would enjoy, and Naples has plenty to occupy you.

Great, thank you so much for your advice. It's comforting to hear about someone doing exactly what I was planning.
It sounds like an overnight in Bari will be fine, rent the car the next day.
Return car in Salerno.
Stay a night in Naples the night before we fly home.
Thanks so much everyone !
I will be sure to check ferry schedules and have other modes of transportation in mind as well along the Amalfi coast.