Train or Rental Car

I would suggest always attempting to keep the rental car use to a minimum. The train to Naples makes sense.

Why do you think you need a rental car in Sorrento? The Amalfi Coast in any month is a poor candidate for driving, and in July, at the height of the tourist season, a poor candidate indeed. You will be fighting with hoards of buses that can barely squeeze by when there aren't a bunch of tourist cars crowding the coast road. If you must have a vehicle take you somewhere, get a private driver who is used to dealing with the particularities of the coast road, the impossible parking, etc. You can take a ferry from Naples to Sorrento, a bus, a private driver, or the Circumvesuviana.

BTW to drive from Venice will take much longer than the train and be quite stressful. Plus, a vehicle for so many people will be quite expensive.

Train to Sorrento via Napoli. Then if you decide to rent a car, there are agencies in Sorrento.
The coast drive at this time of year is VERY busy.

I have to agree that you probably will spend a lot of time stuck in traffic in July along the Amalfi Coast/Sorrento. Train from Venezia to Napoli is about six hours, driving will be more than that.

hk,

I agree with the others that the best and most efficient method would be to travel by train from Venice to Naples / Sorrento and then consider car rental from there. The high speed trains travel at up to 300 km/h and no car can match that. With six people plus luggage, you'll have to rent a larger vehicle and it likely won't be a pleasant experience at that time of year. A larger vehicle probably won't exactly be "fuel efficient", so you'll have to deal with high fuel costs also. Note that each driver will require the compulsory International Driver's Permit for driving in Italy, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. As you've driven in Italy before, I'm sure you're also aware of the dreaded ZTL (limited traffic) areas which seem to be in most Italian towns and cities now.

Whether to rent a car in Sorrento will depend to a large extent on exactly where you plan on touring in that area. If your sightseeing will be to areas not well served by public transit, then a car would be prudent. However, if you can reach those sights by well planned public transit links, that would likely be the least stressful option. At that time of the year, the coast road especially will likely be a nightmare!

I tend to do a lot of driving as I like to see the countryside on my schedule, but for your trip, with so many people, I would take the train. You will need a large vehicle. I drove the Amalfi Coast in Feb. and even then the traffic was terrible and it was not an enjoyable or relaxing trip... I will never do that drive again!

We drove from Venice to Sorrento via Orvieto last summer and the drive down was nice but we dumped the car as soon as we hit Sorrento. Avoid, at all costs, driving the Amalfi coast. Spend your time enjoying the view instead of worrying about traffic and about the potential for damaging your rental car. The train ride from Naples to Sorrento is an easy one.

As I mentioned months ago in another post, if Terry Kathryn says not to drive, that's definitive. Unlike some other posters (including me), she strongly prefers driving for most places. If SHE says no car, don't do it - or you'll be sorry.

Even before I saw her post, I had the same thought as Ken. Six people plus luggage doesn't mean renting "a car," it means renting two cars - with the attendant increase in cost.

Six adults need either a van or (even better) 2 economy cars.
The rental cost of a van in Italy is about the same as renting 3 economy size cars (just to let you know).
The trip from Venice to Naples by car is well over 7 hours (plus pit stops). Add another 1 hour drive to Sorrento, or more, depending on traffic.
The same trip from Venice to Naples by train is 5 hours and 10 minutes.
Then, from Naples to Sorrento it's another 70 min by commuter train.
A car in Sorrento is not really necessary. Pompeii can be reached easily by the same commuter train you take from Naples. Capri is an island and non resident cars aren't permitted in summer. You certainly don't want to have a car in Naples. So the only place where a car can be used is the Amalfi coast. The problem is that you are going in July, and that means bad traffic and even worse parking situation. You might be better off visiting the coast with the Sita bus that goes back and forth between Sorrento and Amalfi. The bus is affected by traffic of course, but at least you don't have to worry about parking, which is scarce and expensive along the Amalfi coast. In any case if you absolutely want to drive a car somewhere while in Sorrento, there are rental agencies with the major international companies there. Just rent for the day(s) you need it.