Help with Itinerary Rome to Ravello back to Naples

I think I’d go to Ravello first
Train from Rome to Salerno then ferry and bus to Ravello

Bus or ferry or driver to Sorrento
Capri from Sorrento easier than from Ravello

Also easier to get to Naples from Sorrento so would want to be in Sorrento Saturday

Do you want to overnight on an island or visit as a day trip? Decide that before proceeding. You could do 2-3 on Capri or Ischia and 2-3 in Ravello, last night in Naples.
Ferries from Amalfi, Positano, and Salerno to the islands should be running in September, but I am unfamiliar with Ischia routes.

Thanks, do you think that the Amalfi coast will be too crowded to enjoy it as a drive and instead should be seen from the boat. Also what is your opinion on visiting into a small island ischia or Procida do you favor one over the other and should the trips to the islands be based out of hotels in Sorrento rather than trying to stay in the islands. We will not have a car, so are reliant on public transportation.

I have not been to the islands but I always favor overnights over day trips--which can intensify crowding. A place is just different in morning and evening. It just depends on what you want to do. September is still quite busy, so I would focus on using ferries, but a professional driver will know how to schedule a scenic drive.

Maybe try something like this...

Day 1. Roma Termini-Napoli Centrale 1H17m.
Alibus to the port, 15m runs every 1/2 hour.
Ferry Naples-Ischia. 1 hour. Info...

https://www.ischiareview.com

Day 2. Ischia.

Day 3. Ferry Ischia-Capri. 10:35 1 hour.

Day 4. Ferry Capri-Amalfi. 11:40 50min.
Bus Amalfi-Ravello 30 min. Explore Ravello.

Day 5. Explore Amalfi Coast. Get an early start
Bus Ravello-Amalfi. 30m. Ferry Amalfi-Positano
20m. Explore Positano, lunch here. Bus Positano-Praiano 25m. Bus Praiano-Amalfi 25m dinner Amalfi.
Amalfi-Ravello last bus @ 23:00

Day 6. Check out of lodging, Bus Ravello-Amalfi, Ferry Amalfi- Salerno 35m check luggage @ train station, new facility, 1,50€ per hr.
Bus Salerno-Vietri sul Mare 15m. Return to Salerno then train, Salerno-Naples.

Edit:
Bus & ferry schedules Amalfi Coast.
https://www.positano.com

https://www.travelmar.it/downloads/orari_travelmar.pdf

I loved Ravello, but it is quite isolated. We hate changing hotels every night and feel it uses up valuable vacation time. How do you feel about that?

I’d suggest sleeping 3 nights in Sorrento and maybe two on Capri. Sorrento is great for day trips for people who hate to sit still. Ravello is not. Hire a driver for 8 hours on the AC one day, including Ravello for 2 -1/2 hours. Note that Capri is highly pedestrianized and a taxi might not go all the way to your hotel.

I do have to agree with Tim, Ravello is isolated so instead of staying there as per my itinerary above, use Amalfi as your lodging for 2 nights.
Amalfi IS The transportation hub OF the Amalfi Coast.

Thanks for all, the thoughts. Let me fill you in on our entire trip .
We are starting in Milan the end of August and going to Lake Como for a few days before joining a Biking tour for 7 days. The biking group will end north of Rome and spend their last night in Rome. When others fly home , my husband and I will move on for 6 days to Naples and Amalfi Coast area. Right now , having a few days of relaxation and hiking sounds nice...thus arriving in Rafello and spending 2 nights sounded appealing. I wonder if lodging on the islands will be quite expensive.
I don’t like moving every night...I find it quite tiring.

Something that confuses me is I don’t know if ferrying back and forth from Sorrento to the two islands makes sense or not. Is the island Procida worth considering for a visit?

We do enjoy hiking and sitting to have coffee. We like to,see a lot , but I realize we need some down time . My last trip to Italy many years ago with young children I had us seeing lots and not chilling much.

I am open to more suggestions. Eventually the right plan will be found.

I absolutely love Procdia. Frankly I'd go here rather than Capri. It's much mor layed back, has some hikes, and views that are great. This gal has covered it in detail and her photos are stunning.

https://www.neverendingvoyage.com/procida-travel-guide/

Lodging both here and Ischia will be half the price or less than the Amalfi Coast. Hiking and biking are available on both islands. These two combined may be what you're looking for.
While Ravello is the gen of the Amalfi Coast, it is time consuming to reach. And, just a small village.

We used booking .com last fall for our lodging.

My thoughts have changed a bit. I have never been to Naples and now think that maybe we should spend 2 nights in Naples arriving there Friday and seeing some sites on Saturday and then flying from the airport early on Sunday. This presents the new dilemma of how to organize our time. We may visit the Borghese Gallery in Rome on Monday before leaving that day to head south. If we do the gallery on Monday we would have Monday evening through Friday noon to plan out an itinerary .

I would still like to see the Amalfi coast including Ravello. My first plan had hopes of seeing one or more of the islands Ischia, Porcida or Capri. Gerri's earlier thoughts indicated that Capri would be much more expensive and touristy and Ischia and Procida are more laid back.
I would appreciate suggestions on how might we arrange our time once we leave Rome. We will not have a car, so wonder once arriving on whatever island is suggested if we will find taxis or how might we expect to get from the ferry to a hotel.
I think being able to stay at least 2 nights in a spot would be good. Moving every night is exhausting. We have Monday- Thursday nights to arrange and then Friday and Saturday nights in Naples.

Just my impressions, mind you...

• Ravello is lovely and peaceful with a beautiful piazza begging you to hang out in the evening. Two great villas to visit, possible hike through the woods to a little village. PM me if you want details on the hike, Took half a day plus lunch in the more remote village.

• You could not pay me enough to stay on Capri. Happy we went once on a day trip and high-tailed it out of the tourist-clogged, over-priced commercial area for a walk out to the ruins of Tiberius’ Villa. Basta!

• Procida is a world apart. We spent 3 nights for a long weekend when we lived in Rome. Great food and wine, affordable, but if you like to be doing and seeing great sites, there are none. It is a place to relax, stroll, eat, go to the beach in season.

• Naples is Rome on steroids with much art and the complete opposite of Ravello or Procida.

Even in September, I would expect the AC to be heavily booked. Ravello is relatively small, so it's even harder to book. (Make sure there is no music festival your week.) You are going to have to take your fifth choice of hotel wherever you choose to sleep. You need to start making some choices.

How did you pick Ravello in the first place? That might help us understand your back-and-forth on every idea. Your OP said Capri, and now you are talking about other islands. You don't "see" the Amalfi Coast from a boat, you "view" it. That's fine, but you said your preference is sitting at a cafe table and watching local life.

I suggest that you read some old posts here about traveling around the AC, so you can choose local transportation that suits your interests and budget:

https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&date_range=1y&filter=Travel+Forum&query=Amalfi+Coast+Sorrento&utf8=%E2%9C%93

I have been reading the past posts that Tim suggested. You asked how I came up,with the idea of Ravello. Ravello had been suggested to me by a friend as beautiful and laid back. We love smaller towns and hiking. We are not shoppers. We do not have a car, so I don’t know if getting to one of Ravello hotels is a problem( if they are not already booked:( .
Because we are coming off a bike trip, I thought Ravello would be a good place to relax .
In reading other posts , I think I would be willing to skip visiting Capri and just take a boat ride past it’s done a kid a tourist trap.
I am still confused as to how to order our time , where best to stay and if hiring a driver or seeing the Amalfi Coast by ferry is better..
After reading someone’s post I wonder if we should arrive early afternoon/late morning on Saturday to Naples and just spend one night there...opinions welcomed ...we could then walk around the town , get dinner and be ready to fly out in the.morning.
We are not wanting to pay top dollar for hotels and would prefer smaller hotels.
I think staying on Ischia or Procida might be a good choice. I realize there is less to do there. Should I balance this out with a few night stay in The town of Amalfi?
My thoughts are scattered and I really appreciate your help.

I am narrowing things down, but trip planning is becoming an exercise in fortitude . More knowledge, brings more questions.
Your thoughts on this:
Leave Rome early afternoon or late morning to catch train to Salerno, ferry to Amalfi, bus to Ravello.
**( or a friend living there suggested taking train to Naples, arrange a driver to meet us in Naples and drive us to Ravello) ... would that be a better option?
Spend Monday ,Tuesday and Wednesday in Ravello.
*** is staying in Minori an option worth considering versus staying in Ravello
Here is where more questions arise :
Do we stay in Ravello Thursday and take a Day trip to Paestum or I suppose we could catch a late train back to Naples and stay there.
Friday do we return to Naples and day trip to Ischia or Procida.
OR
Do we skip Paestum and catch ferry from Sorrento to one of islands and stay there.
Sat. Night We are definitely staying in Naples.
As I write this I am leaning towards Ravello 3 nights.
Thursday day trip to Paestum and late train from Salerno to Naples....is that possible ?
If did that then we would day trip on Friday to Procida or Ischia ..for a day trip is one better?
Saturday explore Naples and Sunday catch flight.

We spent 2 nights in Ravello last March. It was lovely, but very small. We like to travel slowly, but did not feel we needed more time there. Even in March, there were lots of tourists (many bus in on tours). Hiring a driver from Naples to Ravello would be very expensive. Agree, going to Ravello from Sorrento would be more reasonable. We also stayed in Minori, which was small, but enjoyable. There’s a wonderful patisserie/restaurant there. We found Naples to be very interesting, but it will be very hot in September. If you stay there, be sure you have AC.

If you want to go to Paestum, you should go from Salerno. We got as far south as Ravello but it isn’t very easy to get to Paestum from there. So we did not go.

I would spend one night in Salerno if you want to go to Paestum.

I would then ferry to Amalfi town. We stayed in Amalfi town because as others have said it is the transportation hub of the Amalfi coast.

I would day trip to Ravello. It really is not convenient if you want to go anywhere else. It is lovely there but very small and not on the water. We hiked down from Ravello to Amalfi through vineyards and the like which was nice.

You can day trip to positano by ferry it bus if you want.

I have been to Capri in July and it was mobbed. But we managed to enjoy ourselves just the same. We stored our luggage and then to a ferry to Naples to spend the night before our 7 am flight the next morning. For us, this worked well as we did some sightseeing and ended back in Naples.

My advice is the same as Beth’s regarding staying in Amalfi and day tripping to Ravello. Fro Amalfi you can take buses and ferries all over the Coast. The Greek temples and Roman ruins are definitely worth the trip to Paestum. Very nice museum there as well.