Very Short Trip to Italy

If you can find good flights to Naples instead of Rome and want to visit the Amalfi Coast anyway, I'm not sure why you wouldn't fly to Naples.

It would be easy to spend most of your seven days in Rome itself, actually, and some might. (I wouldn't.) I only had half a day in Naples and regretted it, because I liked it better than expected, but I like cities, not everyone does. Sorrento (where I spent a few nights, many others do as well) makes a good base for say exploring Pompeii, which might interest you. I didn't make it to Capri or the Amalfi Coast so can't comment on that.

For the Amalfi Coast, Salerno is a great base. It's connected to Naples and Rome by fast trains and to the AC towns by bus. Since it's not tourist season, there won't be ferries running, but you could rent a car in Salerno and drive around the coast, Pompeii/Herculaneum, and south to Paestum as well. Here's what I wrote about driving there in February. Even without a car, if you want to explore the AC, I think Salerno would be better than Sorrento, since the most scenic roads are between Salerno and Positano. From Sorrento to Positano, the road is mostly inland.

Check the train schedules and prices, then compare Naples and Rome options. If you are staying in Sorrento, it's easier to fly into Naples, then take private transfer, bus or local train. If you choose Salerno, you'll need to get to the train station from either airport, so it may not make a big difference.

What Chani said. Salerno to Pompeii takes an hour or less by bus. About the same to get to Paestum.

7 days is "very short"? Really??

Do the 7 days not include skiing in the Alps? A long weekend for us in London or Amsterdam is "very short".

Warmer would be even further south as Sicily. I was there in june. Think sea views , great food, antiquities.
Or at least sorrento, a fabulous location with views and beauty.

Wow!
I thank you all for your excellent comments & suggestions!

Andrew H. - Thanks to you we are now busily sorting out our best flight options. There are more direct flights from Lyon to Rome or Paris to Rome than to Naples. Those flights stop in Madrid or Barcelona without enough time to do anything but wait for our connecting flight to Naples. Nonetheless, a flight to Naples is our goal.

Chani - Not sure yet if we are likely to rent a car. It sounds like a fun idea but...Eeek! We have been warned against driving in Italy. And after reading your breath-stopping travel blog about driving...We will likely take Zoe’s recommendation to leave the driving to an expert bus driver. I’ll let you know if we change our collective minds on this point.

Continental - our 7 day trip to Naples will be shared with a few days in Rome. I still think it’s short because I prefer to slowly savor the sights, sounds, & smells (tastes too) while traveling, like a fine wine.

And finally...
JS - thank you fo your mouth watering descriptions of Sicily. It is on our list, but we will plan more for next time.

Cheers,
Tonya

Ok, I am just jumping in here....

Yay Salerno is getting more attention!

Yes, Salerno would be a great base for the Amalfi Coast, and the buses would be a great way to get around, if you wanted to splurge one day for the drive, maybe hire a driver to do the coast for you?

When I was in Salerno, we had a lot of problems finding direct flights ANYWHERE from Naples that wasn't an airline hub, so we always ended up either connecting, or taking the train to Rome....last time I went to Italy, I wanted to start my trip in Salerno, but didn't want a connecting flight (and didn't want to have to bus it to Napoli Centrale from the airport) so we just flew to Rome and took a train to Salerno. It really wasn't a hassle, and we only had to change trains in Termini. As long as you fly into FCO (and not Ciampino) then your train journey should be very straightforward.

Continental - our 7 day trip to Naples will be shared with a few days
in Rome. I still think it’s short because I prefer to slowly savor the
sights, sounds, & smells (tastes too) while traveling, like a fine
wine.

That's more than 7 days! What a luxury! Preference to "savor" for at least 10 days doesn't mean that a week to Europe is "short"! It's close to the max for us but we make time for "savoring" as we STAY where we travel as opposed to moving hotels every 1-2 nights which seems quite popular in this forum. For us, that's "savoring" on a budget! Enjoy your trip!!