Train from Naples to Salerno

According to the Deutsche Bahn website there are frequent regional trains from Naples to Salerno, taking no more than 43 minutes. There are also some intercity trains that save you perhaps 7 minutes but are likely to be considerably more costly unless you make an early, flexibility-killing non-refundable/non-changeable purchase.

You can check fares on trenitalia.com. Remember that Naples is "Napoli", and the station you want is Napoli Centrale.

Direct trains take 35-38 minutes. Then you can take a bus or ferry from Salerno to Amalfi.

Hi Raewyn -
Yes, there are trains between Napoli Centrale and Salerno, and direct trains take just a little over 30 minutes or so. Have you tried plugging your info into the Trenitalia website?

http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

Italo trains service that route as well:
http://www.italotreno.it/en

I wouldn't pre-purchase tickets for arrival day in case of a delayed flight: use the websites for seeing what's available and just purchase tickets at Centrale when you arrive.

Editing to add:

We will have 2 larger bags and 1 carrying bag. Is that going to be an
issue on trains and buses?

Depends on how large is large and how well you're able to handle them all by yourself virtually everywhere in Europe. Not all train stations may have lifts or lifts than are working, and you will need to be able to get them in and out of the trains yourself. They may need to be stored at the front or rear of the carriages if they don't fit above or in a space behind your seats (no, you can't take up seats to put them in). They won't be an issue in buses which have storage underneath but could be in those which don't provide that space.

Aside from trains, getting them to and from accommodations, if walking, and up/down possibly long, steep, narrow flights of stairs to your rooms should also be a consideration if your hotels do not have lifts (not unusual). If this is going to be a problem, reduce the load and plan to do laundry more often. :O)

I traveled to Salerno from Naples and then on to Amalfi 8 years ago. Yes, there is a train, and then we took a bus. Silly me sat on the wrong side of the bus and couldn't see any of the beautiful coast line, but I was able to keep an eye on my bags in the under-carriage storage at each stop (and there are a few stops). If you want to see the coast, sit on the left. If you want to see your bags, sit on the right. (Don't worry about the travel time -- it's a beautiful trip!)

I went with my mom who is 5 ft tall, and I was wearing a walking boot (broken foot). We somehow carried two large suitcases, a duffle bag, a backpack, and 2 messenger bags on a whirlwind 10-day, 7 city trip through Italy. (Almost) No problems on the trains or buses! (I recall rushing to get on the overnight train in Venice and getting stuck in the train door to the airport in Rome as the only difficulties.)

Hope that helps!

earlier this month we caught the fast train from salerno to naples, took about 40min. ( we booked our tickets months in advance-
we got business class cheap) we first caught the ferry from amalfi to salerno. both are a good way to get between amalfi ( town) and naples. there is a walk of about 400m from the ferry to the salerno station, all flat going, generally via the street footpaths etc.
carrying two large bags shouldn't be a issue on the ferry, also the trains do have some luggage storage but the question is how many stairs does your accommodation in amalfi have? eg: try and pack light.
BTW all of the sita buses we saw ( while on the amalfi coast, for over a week) were PACKED, so try and avoid them.
hope this helps.

The train from Naples to Salerno goes inland, but is the fastest and cheapest way to get there. The trenitalia.com is the easiest way to check the train times. Salerno is a very nice city with lots of hotels and sites and you can always access the Amalfi Coast from there.