Rome to Positano

There are so many options for this trip that you might do well to use the Search box at top center. You need to read a few past discussions to get the benefit of many points of view. You'll also want to learn about getting to the hotel, and getting out of town for your departure or flight home, and the best way to make local daytrips from a place with limited road options. At least October will be a little less crowded.

We did the train from Rome to Naples and then had Aldo Limos pick us up and take us to our hotel in Positano. Three days later they took us back to the Naples train station. The price for that was 220 Euros. I got to split the cost with someone so I thought it was worth it. It certainly was an easy way to do the transfer.

There is a dock at Positano, I took the ferry there yesterday. There is a €1.50 fee per bag.

If you are trying to avoid the Circumvesuviana and rough seas, you can take the train to Salerno and then a bus to Positano. Luggage goes underneath on the bus.

It is true that the boats can't can't dock if the sea is too rough but can't give you an absolute likelihood of that happening.

As the seas could be rough at that time of year, one of the easiest solutions would be to take the high speed train from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale, and then arrange a private transfer service for the trip to Positano. Have a look at Monetti Taxi which I believe is listed in the guidebook.....

http://www.monettitaxi17.it/English.htm

If you're more "adventurous" you could also take the Circumvesuviana train from Naples to Sorrento, and then Bus or Taxi from there to Positano. The Circumvesuviana has a bit of a reputation as a haven for pickpockets and scammers, but if you're comfortable with that, it's an option.

We did the train from Rome to Salerno, then the ferry to Positano. It is well worth the effort, it is just a gorgeous and fun way to arrive. The Amalfi coast is stunning and fun to see from the water. I highly advise you to do that, and we just purchased our tickets on the pier when we arrived. It was one of the highlights of our trip. You will lovePositano. Go to Francos for a before dinner drink. Very swank, hip and the iconic Positano view.

Our backup plan was the bus. it will take you from Salerno to Positano. Thankfully we could go by water. I just remember finding out where we would catch the bus and the times.

There is a dock for the ferry. What they don't have are taxis at the ferry, but porters to take your suitcases to your hotel, so you don't have to carry them. You do not have to reserve them, but try to be the first off the ferry.

Thank you all for your advice! Just one more question - everyone seems to suggest Train to Naples or Salerno and then either a ferry or private car from there. I'm wondering, is there a high speed train directly to Sorrento from Rome? That way, I assume we can take a taxi from Sorrento to Positano?

I'm wondering, is there a high speed train directly to Sorrento from
Rome?

No, you have to change to a regional train in Naples Centrale/Garibaldi to get to Sorrento. There are two options:

Regular commuter Cirvumvesuviana: bare bones and lots of stops
Campania Express 'tourist' train: a few euros more but fewer stops so you get there more quickly. That one stops running for the season on Oct. 15th so you'd squeak under the cutoff date.

http://www.napoliunplugged.com/campania-express-tourist-train-to-herculaneum-pompeii-and-sorrento

From Sorrento to Positano you have the option of SITA bus, ferry (if weather permits) or private driver/taxi. To take the ferry, you'd have to take some sort of transport (bus or taxi) to the docks.

I wouldn't go to Sorrento and take a ferry. There is not much to see between there and Positano, just scenery, no towns. You will see all the beautiful towns from Salerno to Positano. We took the fast train from Rome. Fadt trains leave from both train stations. We took the smaller one, on Italo, because it got us into Salerno an hour before the ferry left before noon.

http://www.travelmar.it/en/

Here is the company we used. We didn't book ahead of time because we wanted to make sure it would be a go. Just click on schedules and input in your info, and you'll see the times. You would be leaving from Salerno Concordia. Then go to Italo or The other fast train and look for times out of Rome. It only took a couple hours to get to Salerno. Last September was the first time we were in Europe, so all the mass transit and switching made me nervous, but it was much easier than I thought.

Like I said, I also researched the busses from Salerno to Positano and where to catch them and the times. Also, I hate heights and cliffs, do if I was going to have to take the bus, I wanted to be on the mountain side of the road.

If you want to book online and it's a no go, it's not extremely expensive if you didn't get a refund. I just think you'll be fine in October. We went the middle of September and there was plenty of room left.

It is true that if seas are rough the ferries do not run. There is definitely a dock.
The other important consideration of how to arrive is where your hotel is. Our hotel (Eden Roc) was on the main road, so right in front of where the bus stops basically and would be a major hassle to get bags from the ferry up to our hotel.
If your hotel is at the beach/dock, bottom of the hill; it would be the opposite situation and leaving town by bus or taxi is going to be a pain compared to how easy it would be to get on a ferry.

When we were in Positano from October 10th - 14th a couple of years back I recall of the 5 days I saw ferries running on 2 or 3 of them only, but this is completely tide/weather dependent so impossible to forecast and it did off and on rain during a couple of days. Weather was wonderful other than the occasional rain though! The waves were present but not so rough, we actually rented a motor boat from the beach in Positano and took it out all days ourselves on a day when the ferries were not running.
if the ferry is not running toward Amalfi and points further it will not be running to Capri either.
The ferry boat from Sorrento to Capri by comparison seems to go as scheduled in most all normal weather/wave situations.

Getting there from Rome we took a bus to Sorrento, then stayed in Sorrento for a few nights and then took a local SITA Bus from Sorrento to Positano. You could do the same without the stop.
The bus to Sorrento was all locals except for us it seemed and made plenty of unscheduled stops and arrived at least an hour delayed because of them, was more humorous than annoying ; we enjoyed the local culture aspect of the ride.
I am sure trains are faster but at the time seemed more of a hassle to me as we were not in a big rush.
At the time we had luggage and just wanted to avoid the hassle of Termini Station so took a taxi to the bus station is Rome a little further out which I believe is where you have to go to get a bus from Rome to Sorrento.
It was very easily done and the bus had good storage for our luggage both to Sorrento and then on the local SITA bus as well.

On the way back from Positano we took a car service directly to Naples Airport, cost was reasonable, believe it was 110 euro door to door in a nice/luxury car.
A driver all the way from Rome would definitely be pricey though.