Umbria & Amalfi Coast?

Not familiar with the Adriatic side of Italy, but I would dump the car in Salerno, a 4 hour drive from Alberbello. Then use public transport. I made the mistake of driving to Positano once, not worth it. You can get to Positano by ferry or bus or, even easier, private driver and car, then ferry (or private care) to Naples. Much less hassle than driving the cost.

It’s a lot of real estate to cover and many hotel changes.
Could you concentrate in one area only? Unless you can increase the duration of your vacation?

I agree. Dropping the car in Salerno would be better. Driving to just to Salerno from Naples was horrible (traffic wise). And I imagine it’s much easier to drop off a car in Salerno. And there are several buses between Salerno and Positano daily.

I'd want to have more time than that for the Gargano and central Puglia, which has a lot of interesting little towns, plus Bari. And there are great stops farther south, too. I think you're looking at about 15 hours' driving time for Assisi-Vieste-Alberobello-Positano, which seems to me a lot of time on the road for not much more than 1 day in Vieste and 1-1/2 days in Alberobello. It also means just a day and few hours in Positano.

A sequence of five 2-night stops would leave me exhausted, but if you've traveled in Italy that way in the past and know it works for you, I guess you can consider this your Puglian appetizer. At least you shouldn't have to deal with dreadful heat in May.

I, too, am a little concerned about the travel time. That's why I posted. Thank you for the confirmation!

Any suggestions as to how to condense this leg of our trip into maybe 2-3 stops?
Should we skip the Gargano Peninsula and take a train down to Arbelobello?
Or stay longer on the Gargano Peninsula and travel straight over to Positano? Skipping Arbelobello?

Thank you for the suggestion to drop off the car before Positano!

Final thought.........Should we just take a train from an Umbrian town directly to the Amalfi Coast (Naples?), then transfer to Positano, and make it our home base? Make day trips from Positano should we want to venture out?

Thanks again! :)

Acraven - Can you please share a little more info about towns that you enjoyed on the Gargano Peninsula and/or central Puglia?

All - Any thoughts about traveling from Assisi to the Amalfi Coast, and making that our home base for day trips? Once we leave Assisi, we have another 7 days.

Thank you! :)

The Amalfi Coast, generically, is not a base for daytrips. People like it because it's a chore to get to. There's one two-lane road acess to most of it, and it's packed from May to September. Little parking, crowded busses, expensive black car service. The issue is not entirely the architecture of the roads, it's the traffic. Could stay in Sorrento for mass transit trips, near Salerno for car trips. But neither is remotely "like" Positano.

Have you used Google Maps to estimate some BEST CASE driving times? Your plan is too ambitious and encyclopedic. You need a list of desired sights. You haven't mentioned Paestum or Matera, just for example. When you understand sights like those, you understand why it's too ambitious.

One suggestion for keeping both: skip Vieste/Gargano peninsula, as it is a time-consuming drive, and you will get similar scenery on the Amalfi Coast.
Then omit Sorrento, because if you are staying in Positano and Naples, then you don't need a stop in Sorrento.
Then double check the drive times.

Alternative is to keep the Amalfi coast and explore the area more fully (to include Paestum, maybe hop down to the Cilento coast--you'd have no trouble filling the days!) OR, if you can fly out of Bari or Brindisi, make it a Puglia trip instead.

There is not much reason to stay in both Sorrento and Positano.
That said I did do exactly that but stayed longer in Positano than you are planning plus Sorrento for us was easier to reach from Rome where we were the night before.
In your case, I would pick one of the 2 and stay 4 nights there.

Other thoughts:
Assisi to Vieste is a long drive
You only have 4 nights for the large region on the Eastern coastal area.
Personally I would skip Naples and assign those nights to that earlier portion.

Also the unmentioned what you doing before, no airport I am aware of in Assisi.

Others mentioned about not driving to Positano just thought I would add I don't think there is anywhere in Positano that you could drop off your rental at, so it probably in your case is not even a viable option.

Thank you so very much!

We are arriving in Rome, then driving to Assisi for the Calendimaggio. (Can't wait to see this celebration!)

After 5 nights in Assisi (3 will be watching the Calendimaggio) w/day trips to neighboring towns, we will have 8 nights. We originally planned to take the train from Assisi to Salerno, then the ferry to Praiano. Praiano being our home base for day trips via the ferry, bus and/or private driver. (No car rental.) I was also advised to drive as far south as possible, before turning in the car. Thus the itinerary I posted. Too many choices!

Having 8 nights, I thought we might be able to visit other areas while driving south? Thus the thought of driving down the East Coast. I've already checked both car and train times to all areas. I've also researched visiting interesting/beautiful towns/sites. (Ie; While in Alberbello, taking a day trip to Matera.)

I've been told that driving along the Amalfi Coast at the beginning of May shouldn't be a problem, because it's more of a "shoulder season", than the busy season. I've also been advised to completely forget driving along the Amalfi Coast, and plan on taking the ferries to see local towns.

One can always calculate driving/ train times. And it's fairly easy to find info on towns/sites to visit. I was a somewhat concerned that I was trying to cram too much travel into the 8 nights itinerary, which has been confirmed. My other intent was to learn of personal experiences that others have really enjoyed or advise to avoid.

Valadephia - Thank you for the suggestion to continue traveling south to Paestum, etc. That's in intriguing thought!

Thanks again! :)

you can check commuting times on rome2rio.com and www.viamichelin.com - that will give you a good idea of actual travel times and tell you different options as well.

I would absolutely not trust train or (especially) bus times found on Rome2Rio.com. The existence of trains, yes; the existence of buses as long as you traveling on Sunday, probably yes. Beyond that, it's way too risky. Drill down on Rome2Rio until you find a link to the appropriate bus or rail company and find the schedule on that website.