Private transfer vs. bus from Sorrento to Positano- is car safe and 65 Euro sound about right?

Be sure that covers the timing you want, since it may not include any time to stop. The book estimates €80 for a straight taxi ride and rates closer to €280 for 8-9 hours sightseeing trips with stops along the way. Were you talking to Giovanni Benvenuto who is also in Rick's Italy book? I agree that it can feel weird to get into a car with a "strange man" but would take comfort in the fact that the coast road and anywhere you stop will be full of other people.

Thanks Laura, having a sense that wherever we stop they are other people around is reassuring. I imagined getting there pretty directly, but I'll ask about stopping to take a picture or two in advance. I will have seen most of the area at that point so I think getting there directly will be fine. And it may be the same Giovanni as in Steve's book, that's funny. In all our e-mail exchanges he only signs his first name, so I'll have to ask. ;) Thanks again, Laura, and happy traveling. :)

If you mostly want to get there directly, why not take the much cheaper bus and get there early enough to sit on the right (sea) side next to the window? From the schedule it appears to take +/- an hour from Sorrento to Positano depending on the number of stops in between.

Update:

I was unable to link to any websites when I originally wrote this. Now I can. This is just in case you have not explored this particular one. I did this because I can't imagine that an hour or less transfer ride from Sorrento to Positano without any "guiding" or stopping for fun could possibly be worth 65 Euro. Based on what you said, the most it would cost you by bus would be 4,50 Euro. I can imagine that taking a ferry could be worth whatever it might cost. You can find out more about that below.

General information on the Amalfi Coast: http://www.theamalficoast.net/.

About the buses and ferries: http://www.theamalficoast.net/amalfi/english/bus_ferries.html. Note that there are pictures of the kind of bus and ferry that is used. We rode these buses with our luggage right next to us in the seat, but we do pack light. It was not crowded at all, even though these are the normal buses people use everyday to get around...not just tourists. Do a Google images search for sita bus amalfi to see more pictures and of the route you will be riding on, whatever you decide to do.

The bus schedule: http://www.theamalficoast.net/orarisitabus_timetables.html. About 2/3 down the page you will see the Sorrento to --> half under the Amalfi-Positano-Sorrento section. Please note that the listing for Positano is 4th from the bottom. Also pay attention to the key for the kinds of days the times run, and that the buses run every 15 minutes to every half hour depending on the time of day. At night they spread out to every hour. Also note that the bus arrives at one stop in Positano from Sorrento and leaves from a different stop going back to Sorrento.

The cost: http://www.unicocampania.it/?lang=en&center=inside&colonna=biglietti&action=3&sw_interscambio=0. This goes to a search screen for cost. I don't think it will link to the Sorrento to Positano cost, so here's what I found by using the search box. If you do this, be sure to check the notes that go with the prices. I didn't include all the details.

SORRENTO / POSITANO
Classe E2
Hourly Ticket: € 1.60
This ticket is valid for 80 minutes from the first validation. It must be stamped at the beginning of the journey.

Daily Ticket: € 4.50
Valid until midnight of the day of validation. It must be stamped at the beginning of the journey.
Weekend daily ticket: € 2.60
Valid on Saturday or a holiday, from 00.00 to midnight of the day of validation. It must be stamped at the beginning of the journey.

Finally, the map: http://www.unicocampania.it/files/mappe/costiera.pdf. Note here that unless you take a bus that follows the specific route or make sure the transfer does that, you are not likely to be on the coast much from from Sorrento to Positano. So you might want to consider going to Amalfi during some part of this adventure so you can see more of it. It also makes that ferry trip look like a lot of fun. Ferry one way, bus another.

Think about taking a boat from Sorrento to Positano. . . I've taken the trip twice and it's lovely to see all of the small towns in between the two spots!

No, you are not going to be abducted and robbed in a prearranged (probably, Mercedes) private car transfer in a major tourist destination filled with loads of elderly U.K. visitors who have been coming every year for generations. I've never read a report of a non-alcohol related tourist assault in Sorrento or Positano.

Because the transfer is one way, it would seem that you'll have luggage with you. Or are you coming back by ferry? In any case, you can subtract the cost of a taxi from the hotel to the Positano bus stop, where you will wait in line for the second or third bus, because the first two are full before you get to the door. No one has ever posted adequately on just what happens to luggage on this bus. (We hired a car, as you are considering. We found that the hotel concierge rate, with a third-party travel company, was slightly lower than Rick's pal's "taxi" rate. I have no doubt that Rick's pal is honest, but we do not recommend riding off-the-meter in an unknown Sorrento taxi.)

As another poster noted, you need to understand that a 'transfer" is not the same as a car and driver for an hour or two. If you are seized with a desire to stop for a photo or pottery shopping, you are not entitled to that on a "transfer". Having ridden this route, I believe that a transfer will be entirely satisfactory for you. That said, whenever the Cruise Director allows the bus to vote on stopping at the pottery factory, my wife and I are always outvoted!

I travel alone a lot and can't count the number of times I have hired a ride (taxi for Rome at night for a friend, barista-arranged private car when I missed the last bus connection, etc.). You'll be fine.