Need advice on Train from Rome airport to Sorrento

It is not confusing, and you can find all the answers you need if you do a search on this website FCO to Sorrento.

That is because the train from Rome is the main rail network (Trentalia or Italotren) and the train from Naples to Sorrento is a commuter train called the Circumvesuviana. There is also a more "tourist" friendly train called the Campania Express. Either is fine (just watch for pickpockets on the Circumvesuviana), though some do the private drive onward from Naples.

As Valedelphia said, look at the websites for Trenitalia or Italotren for train times and prices for trains from FCO to Naples (Napoli Centrale). The train to Sorrento is the Circumvesuviana, a commuter line, so not on the main train network. You can't buy advance tickets for the Circumvesuviana online. Buy at the station. This website will provide more info : https://www.sorrentoinsider.com/en/naples-to-sorrento-train-schedule#:~:text=Circumvesuviana%20Train%20Info,newspaper%20stands%20in%20the%20station.

For detailed info on trains in Europe, check out the Man in Seat 61 website.

If you transfer from the Rome>Naples train to the Circumvesuviana train at the Naples train station, that involves a walk from one part of the station to another, so there’s a time period needed to make that walk. You’ll be moving your luggage with you, as well.

You may wish to see this nearby discussion, too:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/getting-from-naples-to-sorrento-6266b3af-06d1-4d4c-9be1-0f9998d1f764

It's a complex issue, not because of three trains, but because the super-fast trains (Frecciarossa) from Termini (downtown Rome) to Naples are only a bargain with non-changeable, non-cancellable, advance-purchase tickets tickets, just like your air travel. That's a problem if your plane is late, or the Airport train is messed up.

Have you used Google Maps to show you the trip you are proposing by private driver? It's a long one. It's not as easy to fly to Naples, but some people solve their problem that way.

Time of year, number of travelers, amount of luggage, rock-bottom budget needs, all factor into your decision-making.

We're doing this route in April and prices for the private transfer route are sky high. I did find a shared transfer for considerably cheaper but the terms and conditions are not favourable if my flight is delayed with no refunds or credit offered. The train route is as described, train from FCO to Rome, Rome to Naples, and then the commuter train to Sorrento, total time of 3-4 hours hopefully. I'm not buying any tickets in advance and will just have to suck it up after flying all night with little sleep.

• Train from FCO to Roma Termini: 32 minutes. High speed train from Termini to Napoli Centrale: 72 minutes. Train from Naples to Sorrento: 75 minutes. Add the 30 minutes for the 2 changes and it's a 3 hours and 30 minutes trip.
• Direct bus from FCO to Napoli Centrale: 3 hours and 37 minutes. Plus 75 minutes on the Circumvesuviana or a private driver.

Both options seem either exhausting or expensive to me. The simplest solution would be to fly into Naples.
If that's not an option, I'd try to arrive at FCO in time to take the direct FCO-Napoli train that departs before 10 AM. Then I'd stay in Naples one night.

Google Maps (which is not precise) shows a minimum road time FCO-Sorrento of 3 hours. But that does not allow for delays connected with FCO, Rome, or Naples. And that's in southern Italy, an area that has been starved of infrastructure money for many decades. I don't think the auto trips sound so luxurious to me.

I don't understand (age 71) how Ubers home from the bar every night, generalize to a 173 mile trip on a very popular route, used by both luxury travelers and budget travelers, in a foreign country. The private driver price is not "out of line." And internet ride sharing tools are not a magic bullet. For example, I prefer yellow taxis in NYC because they cannot turn down my trip like a Uber duuuude who gets a better trip in the meantime.