Positano to Florence - Train Plans

Your first problem is that there is no train station in Positano. You will need to take a bus to Salerno, or bus to Sorrento to take the Circumvesiviana train to Napoli Centrale. I'm guessing Salerno will be the best bet, although I haven't been there so I cant really advise you on that.

The buses can be a bit tricky to time due to problems with the narrow road and heavy traffic (the bus I took between Positano and Sorrento got into an accident due to no fault of the bus driver and it took 20 minutes to sort out, and this was low season). I highly suggest waiting to buy the train tickets until you are at the station.

Edit: I did a little research on Trenitalia.com for you. From Napoli Centrale to Firenze SM Novella there are trains leaving ever hour on the dot, getting to Florence 2 hours 51 minutes later. The trains from Salerno go to Napoli Centrale and you have to change to the other train. Those trains leave at 9:52 (you get to Florence at 13:51), 10:33 (arrive 14:51), and 12:04 (15:51).

md,

In addition to the options that Angela outlined, a few more you could consider (depending on your budget).....

• Use a pre-arranged car service/Taxi from Positano to the rail station in Sorrento, and then take the Circumvesuviana to Napoli Centrale. There are some listed in the guidebook, including the Monetti Taxi service. The Circumvesuviana is a commuter train so quite "basic" but it will get you there. Be sure to watch your luggage carefully as that train has a bit of a "reputation". The Circumvesuviana will arrive at Napoli Garibaldi, which is downstairs from Centrale. Walk upstairs to connect with your high speed train to Florence.
• If you'd rather not deal with the Circumvesuviana, use the car service right to Napoli Centrale. That would be the easiest and most comfortable option, but of course probably the most expensive.

As mentioned above, the travel time is 2H:51M, with hourly departures. A few points to note.....

• Your destination station will be Firenze Santa Maria Novella (sometimes abbreviated "SMN").
• Tickets for the fast trains require compulsory reservations which are specific to train, date and departure time. That means if you pre-purchase your ticket and you miss that train for any reason (ie: traffic from Positano was heavy), the ticket is worthless and you'll have to buy another at full price (although that will depend on which class of ticket you purchased).
• You could also travel via the competing Italo Treno high speed service, as they use the same stations at Trenitalia. Travel time with Italo is 2H:32M, and they have departures about every two hours.

There's a train from Salerno to Firenze a little less often than once an hour, 3+ hours travel time depending on type of train. No need to change trains anywhere. You need to get from Positano to Salerno, probably by bus, although a taxi is not out of the question. Try Rome2Rio.com to compare modes of transportation, Trenitalia.com to purchase tickets.

As mentioned above, there are no trains on the Amalfi coast.
You can take two routes from Positano:
1. Westward: via Meta di Sorrento > Napoli > Florence (basically west) or
2. Eastward: via Salerno > Napoli (with or without train change in Napoli) > Florence

Assuming you rely totally on public transportation, the earliest you can make it to Florence is 12:51 and whether you take route 1 or 2, the earliest you can make it is 12:51, because....the last leg to Florence, it will be on the same train, whether you catch it in Salerno, or in Naples.

The difference is...to make that train via Salerno, you need to depart from Positano at 6:00 am.
To catch that train in Naples you can depart from Positano at 7:10am, therefor you can sleep one hour more.

Salerno looks close on a map, but it's not. The road is tortuous and you need two buses. The first takes you from Positano to Amalfi where you change buses and take another bus from Amalfi to Salerno.

If you go the Sorrento way, you would take the bus to Sorrento (or to Meta) where you catch the Circumvesuviana commuter train to Naples, where you finally get on the high speed train to Florence (which is coming from Salerno).

There are also later options of course, that would allow you to sleep a little longer.

For example if you take the bus from Positano to Sorrento at 8:45, you can be in Florence at 14:51. But if you try to take the same train via Salerno, you would need to depart Positano toward Amalfi at 7:10.

As you can see, going the Sorrento way is faster than the Salerno way.

However, as Ken suggested, it would be a good use of your money if you took a private car with driver from Positano to Naples. Ken also suggested to take that car to Sorrento instead of all the way to Naples, but the savings aren't worth the trouble. If you hire a driver, you might as well ask him to take you all the way to the Naples station. The difference is between ~50 euro (to Sorrento) or ~90 euro (to Naples), but the second option saves you one hour.

In any case I'll give you all the resources you need to decide:

1. Bus schedule from Positano to Sorrento, or Positano to Amalfi and Salerno:
   http://www.theamalficoast.net/orari_sita_bus_timetables.html

2. Circumvesuviana train schedule from Sorrento to Napoli (Naples)
   http://www.eavsrl.it/web/sites/default/files/ftp_orari_ferroviario/Cy.pdf

3. Trenitalia train schedule for high speed trains to Florence from either Salerno or Naples:
   http://www.trenitalia.com/

For the private car transfer from Positano to Naples there are tons of companies. Just google "private transfer positano" and you'll get lots of hits. In Italian you can google "noleggio con conducente positano" and you'll get even more hits. The price however is still around 90 euro no matter who you use. By car Positano to Naples (station) is about 1h20min if you leave a bit later in the morning after rush hour traffic in Naples is a bit less. Remember that as long as you make the 12 noon train departing from Naples, you get to Florence at 14:51, just in time for check in time at your Florence hotel.

Thanks everyone - we're learning our way around.

I think we'll spring for the car service to Naples from the hotel in Positano. The time savings will be worth the money.

if you were willing to check in around 4pm, the first ferry from Positano to Salerno leaves at 10am, you would be able to catch a 12:04pm train from Salerno and get there around 3:51pm.....you could at least sleep in!