Rome to Capri Day Trip

Unfortunately, this is not recommended due to distance and number of transfers. Is there any way you can spend at least one night closer to Capri to avoid the day trip option?

Unless you can afford to hire a Helicopter, there's no easy way to day trip from Rome to Capri. As Agnes mentioned, the travel time each way means that you wouldn't have much time to actually spend on Capri. If you can afford to spend a night or two in Naples, Sorrento or Positano (among others), that would be the best solution.

To add a bit more, you can now get to Naples very quickly by high speed train, less than 3 hours, but Naples to Capri is by less frequent, spotty ferries.

So you can make a long day of it, leave on a 5:00 AM train, be in Naples by 8:00 AM, then block it out from there. My thought is that by the time you get a ferry then figure your timing back, you might get a couple hours on Capri, not counting travel time on the island.

If I really wanted to be in that area, I would do the early train, do Pompeii or Herculaneum, back to Naples, have some pizza, hit the Archaeological Museum, then back to Rome on a late train. (Maybe a second pizza)

The best you could do would be a fast train to Naples, transfer by cab or bus to the boat docks and then take a ferry from there. Then reverse the process.

The fastest trains can get you to Napoli Centrale in a little over an hour, direct. For boat schedules from Molo Beverello or Calata Porta di Massa in Naples, see this site:

To Capri:
https://www.capribooking.com/en/ferry-schedule?path_id=11

From Capri:
https://www.capribooking.com/en/ferry-schedule?path_id=5

I'd agree with Agnes and Ken that it's far enough from Rome that I wouldn't do it as a day trip, and the island is really most pleasant during the hours the day trippers are not there (we've stayed) but if bound and determined, that's probably the fastest way.

Out of the question - too far !!!

That is awesome input. So where would you suggest staying if we decided to stay a day nearby?

There are tour companies that will take you from Rome to The Amalfi Coast. As others have said, it is a long day, but if that is what you want to do then do it. The cost is steep compared to how cheap you can do it on your own, but it may be worth it for you to save on trying to figure it out. One company is Walks of Italy, but if you google "day trip Rome to Amalfi" there are others. There are also some tour companies that will pick you up from Naples if you can get there yourself by fast train from Rome. We have done 12 hour day tours and have done on our own 12 hour day trips and have never regretted it.

"So where would you suggest staying if we decided to stay a day nearby?"

My suggestion would be Sorrento. It's a beautiful city and not as "intense" as Naples. Depending on how much time you have, you could also see some of the sites in that area such as Pompeii, Herculaneum, etc. It also has rail service from Naples, either via the "colourful" Circumvesuviana or the Campania Express (I'd recommend the latter).

You might want to consider staying on Capri overnight. The evening and morning hours are yours to enjoy, before the mobs of day trippers arrive. I still remember within great pleasure watching the sun go down and seeing the lights slowly come up around the Bay of Naples. It is not an experience to be missed.