Rome and Amalfi Coast in July

First, get a map and put some pins in it to get a feel for distances. Bologna is not an easy day trip from Rome. With a fast train you looking at five hours of travel time plus a little train waiting time -- maybe six hours total. Better from Milan or Venice. For your plans, Sorrento probably would be your best choice. Salerno is at the other end of Amalfi Coast with limited transportation options. And Positano is in the middle. Sorrento gives much better access to Naples, Capri, etc.

hey hey luxpax
are you doing roundtrip Rome or multicity (into one city out from another)
aloha

Luxpax - Since you will be in Amalfi for most of your time. you can base yourself in 2 locations to maximize your day trips along the coast. I would recommend Vietri sul Mare one one end of the coast and Sorrento the other. You could do a day trip to Bologna from Rome to visit the car museums. By fast speed train , it's 2 hrs and 24 min. It's feasible.

Just throwing my vote in with Frank: for accessibility to Naples, Capri and Positano (and Pompeii) day trips, Sorrento is the best location. Naples would be fine by fast train from Salerno but it's a 90-minute or more one-way haul via ferry to Capri from there versus 20-30 minutes from Sorrento. That gives you at least 2 more hours on the island, and the boats run more frequently from Sorrento.

But have you given us your complete itinerary (Rome>Amalfi Coast/Sorrento>Bologna)? With enough time for the coast, you could certainly choose two locations. For instance, spend 3 nights in Sorrento for Naples and Capri (are you skipping Pompeii?) and 2-3 nights in Salerno for Positano, Amalfi, Ravello, etc. OR spend 2 nights in Sorrento for Capri (if interested, Pompeii could be done en route from Rome) and 3 nights in Salerno, adding Naples to that one.

Frank, thanks for your input. I think we still might try the day trip and leave very early. He's pretty excited about the experience lol

Princess, we are doing roundtrip from EWR. We initially wanted to do multicity but we got a stellar deal on our tickets so we went ahead with them.

RJean, thank you! We will look into those locations asap.

Kathy, no I have not. We are still trying to build our itinerary. All we really know at the moment is that we want to be in Rome for a couple days, we want to visit Bologna, we will be spending a day in Casanova (Caserta province near Naples) in his family's hometown, and that we would like to spend most of our time on the Amalfi Coast. My partner isn't particularly interested in Pompeii but I am so that's still up in the air. Doing Pompeii en route from Rome sounds like a great idea. I really like the idea of staying in multiple locations. Thank you so much!

It will be hot and I think you might like a day at the beach. Sorrento has no beach. Do a day trip to Positano and wear your bathing suits. Tour around a little, then head to the beach. Have lunch at one of the restaurants o relooking the beach.

Start by writing it down day-by-day. If the car experience is a must for you, stay over in Bologna so it won't be so exhausting for one day. Note sure how it would be possible otherwise.
July 11th arrive Rome, train to Bologna
12 Ferrari day
13 train to Naples/Salerno--you could split time between either Capri or the coast and Naples or Salerno
14
15
16
17
18
19 to Rome this day or the next
20 Rome
21 Rome
22 Rome
depart 23rd

Lupax - Don't forget to visit the town of Ravello in the Amalfi coast up in the hills so you can tour the magnificent gardens of Villa Cimbrone and Villa Rufolo overlooking the Mediterranean.

https://www.positano.com/en/s/ravello-4

You could also just book a hotel with a pool. Ours in Sorrento had one (Hotel Antiche Mura; pool shown on their main page) in the garden + a pool bar. We made good use of that cool, green space and the bar after a long, warm visit to Pompeii. Met some lively fellow travelers there too! There are other hotels with pools as well, and those can be quicker and easier to deal with than non-local beaches requiring transit to get to/from.

https://hotelantichemura.com
https://hotelantichemura.com/en/services

Regarding swimming locations (usually) requiring a short ride to get to, though, I've read that this is a fun one!

https://www.tolivelapasseggiata.com/baths-of-queen-giovanna-sorrento/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187782-d4346545-Reviews-Bagni_della_Regina_Giovanna-Sorrento_Province_of_Naples_Campania.html

"easily accessible" mean SORRENTO. It's not the most scenic or pastoral, but it does the job for daytrips. This area books up well over six months in advance, so you need to get a list of six hotels at least, because you are likely to have to take the sixth on your list.

"we're fine with that" Be aware that every late May morning we passed the Sorrento Circumvesuviana station, the dirt-cheap SITA bus stop for Positano and Amalfi had a line that contained more people than would fit on the next, half-hourly bus. Our host Rick has suggested that IF you are doing Amalfi and Positano on one day (not telling you what to do, it's part of this story of Rick's is all .... ), you should do Positano first, because then you will be getting on the bus to go home IN AMALFI, which is the originating point of the bus route. Forget about getting a seat, but at least you won't be at a bus stop in Positano when your bus fails to stop because it is completely full, including the aisles of the bus!

There are other ways to see the Amalfi Coast from Sorrento, but they are not as cheap.

Do not fail to make your departure plans with realism. You cannot wake up in Sorrento and take a noon plane flight home from Rome. It's way, way too risky.