Puglia and Amalfi Coast Itinerary help needed

It’s pretty easy to get around Puglia by both train and bus. A car will however, cut your travel time by about 75%. This year vehicle rentals have skyrocketed, so the other options may work better.

I think your lodging cities make the most of what you can see and you have a reasonable amount of time to do so.

For an introduction to the area, this couple have done a great job with their descriptions.

https://www.neverendingvoyage.com/8-towns-not-to-miss-in-puglia/

i spent 10 days in puglia in june. i based myself in bari for 6 days and visited barletta, trani, biseglie, molfetta andira, ruvo di puglia, bitonto, bitetto palo del colle, altamura and gravina. all were rewarding in their own way, my main interest being art and architecture. after a detour to malta, i stayed in lecce for 4 day. it is lovely, especially the old center. from lecce i made day trips to ostuni brindisi, otranto, galatina and gallipoli. i then went to matera for 2 days on my way to central italy. i avoided alberbello.

photography is my hobby and visually puglia is stunning. my favorites were gravina, ostuni, lecce, and matera (in basilicata). otranto and galatina are also worth visiting for the churches. all the places i mention are accessible by train and can be done as day trips for bari and lecce.

if you need more specific information let me know. enjoy and stay safe.

It's definitely easier to get to Paestum from Naples than from Sorrento. Take the train to Salerno, then train or bus to Paestum. I drove (based in Salerno, which I loved). The books say the bus is better because it stops closer to the sights. The museum is worth seeing, so plan to go when it's open. I found that Sorrento was more convenient for Pompeii and Capri, but Salerno was better for the AC. If you haven't visited, I encourage you to look into it as a base instead of Sorrento.

Hi, Thank you very much for your replies!

@ Gerri, appreciate the link. Great information there!
@ alomaker, Thanks for your comments and your offer!
@ Chani, Thank you! I have those four nights at the end to play with. They could be five if I take one night from Sorrento.
Do you think staying 3 nights at Salerno and the last two in Naples could work better?
The only downside I see to this is adding another stop, another change of hotels, etc.

Thank you, all your opinions, advice and comments are greatly appreciated!

What do you plan to do in Sorrento. I didn't think there was much to see/do in town. The only day I stayed in town was because it was their saint's day and I'd never seen one before. It's convenient as a base so only stay there as long as you need for the places you want to day-trip to see. It's just as easy to get to the excavated towns from Naples as from Sorrento, and there are ferries to Capri as well. Or maybe visit Ischia instead. (caveat - I haven't been to either). Anyway that would eliminate the extra hotel change. Salerno has an interesting historic center with sights worth visiting (Naples has more so I'd add 1, maybe 2, nights there). BTW Salerno is cheaper than Sorrento, and Salerno has more choices of good restaurants and bars.

Thanks for your comment, Chani. We have people from the B&B in Sorrento ( Villa Monica B&B) we love that became friends with time. We stayed very much in touch through the difficult pandemic times so we would Love to stop by while we are in the area.
We wouldn’t need to stay a lot of nights in Sorrento, two or three would be ok, because we have already enjoyed visiting Capri, Pompei, etc.
We will have 17 nights , we would love to use them the best we can considering that our prioritoes in order of importance are :
* two or three nights in Sorrento
* Around 9 nights in Puglia
* Paestum
* Naples or Rome

We are not sure about the best order of cities to follow and we would also like to avoid one night stops.
Appreciate all your comments and suggestions.
Thank you!

I think you have a good plan, but I would at least check the flights out of Bari and Brindisi (Lufthansa flies out of those as well as Naples, and if you are connecting anyway, so it never hurts to search all options).
Bari and Lecce are probably the best for public transport, and I really like Monopoli, but since it is so close to Bari, you might look at one of the Itria Valley towns as an alternate. It really just depends on what day trips you want to do--I never see a problem per se with changing bases among close-together places if you just want the change of pace in evening.
Paestum is easy from Naples.
At this point, I would keep looking at the transport links to fine-tune, and research which day trips you want to do. For Lecce, I'd do one trip to Otranto, one to Gallipoli, one full day in Lecce, and consider a private driver for a day in the Salento.
The Bari/Monopoli day trips are easier to suss out, but I would also invest in a private driver one day to drive you around the Itria Valley. From Bari, I would visit Matera.

From Monopoli you can visit by bus Locorotondo, Martina Franca and Cisternino and Alberobello. Check with the TI or your lodging for bus timetables.