Sorrento as base

The time of year that you will be going may affect that decision. More info please.

Month of the Year? This area books up solidly six months in advance. But I asked because the jammed conditions affect visit logistics from May to September.

Not to be pedantic, but Sorrento is technically on the Gulf of Naples, not the AC. But your impulse and plans are good. In particular, you cannot wake up in Positano and fly out of FCO the same day. It's even risky from Sorrento.

You have to decide whether the Positano experience (whatever that means) is important to you. It was important for us to see Positano, and to visit the famous La Sireneuse hotel. But when we passed all the (... same ... ) international boutiques that I did not want to enter, the crowded pebble beaches, the shadowy shopping passages, the jammed restaurants, the dozens of stairs everywhere (hundreds, in fact), we decided that we had missed nothing by sleeping all five nights in Sorrento. Indeed, Sorrento has the best transportation options, by far.

The postage-stamp sized pool, the lack of a water view, and the fact that everyone around the pool had clearly had "work done", soured me on La Sireneuse, as well! Wealth isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I have NOT taken a ferry in Positano, but I am pretty sure they have to use much smaller boats than in Sorrento, Amalfi, or Salerno. That would make for lower daily capacity and a rockier ride. By the way, at the end of May, there was (in Sorrento) always a line of people for the SITA bus to Positano that was longer than would fit on the next half-hourly bus to Positano. And the road trip is usually very slow. We hired a car and driver (charged to our hotel) for 8 hours on the AC, one of our days in Sorrento. Worked great, if 250 Euros or so. The driver was not a certified guide, but just fine, and a nice old guy. When he asked us if we wanted to go to ... the pottery store .... I knew enough to say, "Wow, do they have a big row of toilets for the tourists? We'll stop there for that, but no shopping, thanks!"

It’s a personal preference thing—take the long day trips and unpack once, or get a different flavor at night and move once. I’d do two bases, just for the tally. I dislike long day trips and find the small villages of the Amalfi coast different enough from Sorrento, but it need not be Positano.
Do consider your departure time and if you need to be in Naples or elsewhere the last night.

We liked Sorrento a lot- stayed 4 nights
Then moved to Amalfi/ Ravello for 3
Then Salerno for 2

The bus will be jam packed I wouldn’t want to ride that more than once, if at all
Take the ferry

Where is your departure flight from?
If Naples you might do the AC town first, then Sorrento so you won’t need to spend night before departure in Naples

If Rome, then you need to be IN Rome night before
Do AC town last then take ferry to Salerno to catch train to Rome

Yes...I should have mentioned that we will be traveling in October. Thanks!

We are going on an organized tour, based for 7 nights in Sorrento, which visits everything you mentioned and much more. It's organized by a French company. So, yes, this company thinks Sorrento is a good base.

Having previously experienced the pace of a two-week tour in Sicily, I think your idea of 7 nights in one place, Sorrento, is excellent. It gives you down time to recover from the pace of a tour, as well as time to leisurely explore on your own. We were exhausted after ours, and that with no jet lag since France was our home base.

We'll be coming up from Sicily as well in October, by train towards the end of the month, stopping to base for 3 nights in Salerno while we do some genealogical stuff, then we'll be heading up to Rome to finish our trip.

But we've been to the Amalfi Coast twice, both times in March when the A.C itself was pretty much deserted--which was wonderful by the way. But neither time did we base there--we stayed once in Salerno, once in Sorrento. I think both are great bases, for different reasons.

Sorrento is just flat-out convenient, easy walking without too many hills, and the best food on the peninsula. We took the SITA bus over to Positano, walked around, had lunch at one of the few places open, then took the bus back. Really enjoyed that. Also, we took the Circumvesuviana commuter train from Sorrento station to Naples Centrale, then took a cab to the Archeological Museum, which was fabulous--had all the relics from Pompei as well as the Farnese marbles.

Salerno's an awesome small city (110,000), with a great Old Town, excellent varied dining. We stayed at a B&B before, but this time I think we'll be at the Hotel Plaza, right across from the train & bus station, and steps to the ferry to Amalfi, Positano or Capri. Our favorite experience in Salerno--and we're looking forward to it again--is the daily late afternoon passeggiata, the stroll the local families take to simply say hello to everyone, and it seemed to set up plans for dinner later that evening.

Quite a nice existence, seems to me...

Stay in Sorrento. It is absolutely gorgeous - our favorite place in Italy - and it is so easy to reach other locations, like Naples, Capri, Pompeii and other archaeological sites, as well as the Amalfi Coast. Definitely hire a driver for your AC trip. You want to be able to se everything rather than spend your time dodging buses.

Thank you all for your replies!! I appreciate your input/insights.

October will be a great month to be there, as long as it's not the very end of the month, maybe.

With a week, I think you could split your stay into 2 locations: Sorrento and, say, Amalfi or Salerno. Sorrento will be more convenient to Naples, Pompeii, and Capri. Amalfi or Salerno will be more convenient for towns around the Amalfi Coast. I'm not a big fan of stays in Positano so it wouldn't be my choice, personally, but you could day-trip it by ferry from Sorrento, Amalfi, etc.

A benefit of Salerno is fast-train services to/from Naples. There's train service to Sorrento as well but via the slower, less comfortable (but cheap) Circumvesuviana commuter. I wouldn't do Capri from Salerno only because the ferry takes a loooong time from there; it's much quicker from Sorrento.

I don't think the Circumvesuviano goes to Naples [oops--I meant to say "Salerno"]. To travel from Salerno to Sorrento, I think you have to take a regular train to either Naples or (closer) Torre Annunziata and switch to the Circumvesuviana there. Or you can get to a Circumvesuviana station (Rome2Rio says in Pompei) by bus and pick up the Circumvesuviana there.

I don't think the Circumvesuviano goes to Naples. To travel from
Salerno to Sorrento, I think you have to take a regular train to
either Naples or (closer) Torre Annunziata and switch to the
Circumvesuviana there. Or you can get to a Circumvesuviana station
(Rome2Rio says in Pompei) by bus and pick up the Circumvesuviana
there.

I didn't mean Circumvesuviana between Salerno and Sorrento; only that while there IS train service between Naples and Sorrento, its the slower commuter train and not FAST train service, as is available between Salerno and Naples. Maybe I worded that awkwardly. :O)

Our favorite experience in Salerno--and we're looking forward to it
again--is the daily late afternoon passeggiata, the stroll the local
families take to simply say hello to everyone, and it seemed to set up
plans for dinner later that evening.
Quite a nice existence, seems to
me...

Exactly why we loved Salerno. Delightful town.

I spent four nights in Sorrento in September and would choose to stay there again over any of the smaller villages (i.e. Positano), which I found to be just tourist-jammed, Instagram-selfie stops for the majority of people. Sorrento is more of a real town, yet very beautiful. We took ferries to Capri, Positano and Amalfi. Keep in mind that the ferries won't run if there's any possibility of turbulent seas. In our case, there was an early morning rainstorm, and although it was clear and sunny by 7 am, the ferries were cancelled for the whole day. As a result, the bus station was insanely packed. After waiting in line 3 hours hoping to get on a bus, we gave up. To make up for it, we had to visit both Positano and Amalfi in one day on a combo ferry ticket (which I don't recommend-- it wasn't enough time in either village). Anyway, if you are taking public transportation, you have to pass through Napoli to get to Sorrento, so just do your sightseeing then rather than doubling back for a day trip. If there's any incident along that winding highway between Naples and Sorrento, you could be sitting in traffic for hours and hours. One evening, from the Hilton in Sorrento, we could actually see a horrifically long backup of red taillights on that road, snaking along the coast all around the gulf toward Naples. And on our way into Sorrento, we sat in traffic for a long time--it took at least an extra hour to get off the main road and into Sorrento, making what should have been a 1-hr trip more like 2 hours. All in all, I found it to be too much trouble trying to get to all these places (my stepmother decided the itinerary--she's a very surface-level traveler). I would've enjoyed simply staying more time in Sorrento! I still want to see Pompeii so I will have to go back...

I would look at it as three regions : Naple/Prochida/Ischia ... Sorranto, Capri, Pompey .... and Salarno/Positano/Amalfi

Sorrento is the best overall place to stay in southern Italy. Good restaurants, nice scenery, nice shopping, and best of all good prices etc. The city center is pretty much flat, but every time we go there, we do a huge amount of walking up and down some serious hills down to the water front and around.

But Sorrento is not much of a base - except for Pompey or Capri island.

The ferry to Positano is an hour or so, and maybe 18 eu each way, and there are not necessarily that many boats a day. I took the bus one time and waited 30 minutes in a line, and when the bus came it was so crowded that we could not get on unless we stood the whole way - an experience which wrenched my back going around those hairpin turns - only to get let out about 50 stories above the coast, and so many hundreds of steps down - luckily we did not try to make that huge climb with luggage back up.

The main rail connections are to Naples or Salerno. The only way to Sorrento by train is 1:15 slow train full of students with 25 stops. It's not pleasant to do it more than once.

Usually we go Naples > Sorrento > Positano > Salerno ... then Puglia/Campania

You need at least 4 days (which is 5 nights) for Sorrento, Capri, Amalfi Coast, and Pompeii. You have 2 nights to play with I would look into Salerno, I've heard great things but never been or just stay put in Sorrento and day trip.
Do not sleep in Naples unless your flight departs there, I found it just plain awful no charm.