Where to base from on Amalfi Coast

Buses and ferries. Positano, Amalfi. Book your hotel ASAP.

Sorrento isn't on the Amalfi Coast, but it is not far from Capri. Many people recommend basing here for the access to trains, buses and ferries. We based in Salerno which is the southern most town on the Amalfi. We chose it because it is a transportation hub, offering the same transportation choices as Sorrento. It might be more of a challenge to get to Salerno from Capri. The village of Amalfi is also on the coast with ferry and bus access. To get to Amalfi would require a ferry ride from Capri to Sorrento and then a bus or ferry ride to Amalfi.

Since you are coming from Capri, it really makes sense to base in Sorrento and use the buses and ferries to explore the coast. We recommend trying the ferries. Going down the coast on the SITA buses from Sorrento can be a hassle if the buses are extremely crowded, and the view from the water is lovely.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/amalfi-coast-for-5-days-where-to-set-base-from

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/pompeii-salerno-capri-recommendations

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/one-week-on-the-amalfi-coast

Suki, thank you for the quick reply. I am thinking Amalfi for 2/3 nights after 1 night in Sorrento. Booking hotels will start tonight.
Barb, thank you for replying so quickly. I think we will take a ferry from Capri directly to Amalfi and stay there 2/3 days. We are taking a private guide tour from Sorrento but after that I think staying in Amalfi will allow us to revisit Positano, Ravello and spend more time in each if we so choose. Also it would be closer to Salerno if we choose to visit there.
Tim, thank you for the previous posts on this question. They are very helpful and have helped me make a decision, I think. Thank all of you again for your help it is most appreciated.

We enjoyed our stay in Amalfi very much
Easy to day trip to Positano, Ravello

We enjoyed our stay in Sorrento as well- easy to visit Pompeii from there

Where will you need to be next? We ferried to Salerno and stayed 2 nights to visit Paestum, and see Salerno which is a really nice nontouristy town
From Salerno you can very easily get to Naples, Rome, etc
We actually trained to Venice from Salerno

1) You didn't say you wanted the base on the AC, but I assume so
2) If so, I assume it is so you can 'just stay' on the AC
3) If you want to explore off the AC, you need to factor in the travel time. We recently stayed in Salerno, so we could easily be north, at Pompeii, and south, at Paestum.
I really liked the place we stayed at and could look it up, if you're interested in it.

Christine H , after Capri, I think we are going to stay in Sorrento for 2days/2 nights with one day a tour of the AC with a private tour guide. After the stay in Sorrento we are headed to Amalfi for 3/4 days & nights. Basing in Amalfi we thought it would be closer to revisit Positano and Ravello if we choose after visiting them with the guide. We might also visit Paestum, don't know yet.
We will already have visited Pompeii while in Naples before Capri so after the AC we are headed to Mallorca for 4 days then to Barcelona for 3 days and then flying home. Thank you so much for your help in making our decision where to stay on the AC.
Evan, we just got back from Ely,MN our third time there. It was almost the same 22 years later. I appreciate you reminding about factoring the travel time. Taking that into consideration is our reason for staying in Amalfi. Short distance from the AC towns we want to visit and revisit. I do no think staying in Salerno is going to work for us this time maybe just a day trip. I thank you for your suggestions they ere helpful in deciding where to stay. I thought over your comment about being able to go in any direction from Salerno and I thought that Amalfi would work for us in the same way, so thank you again.

We stayed in Positano just two weeks ago and loved it. We took the ferry 1 day to Capri and the ferry 1 day to Amalfi/Ravello. We just loved the village in Positano, shopping tons of restaurants to pick from. We stayed in B&B called Casa Nina which was just up the stairs from Arienzo Beach Club which we went to 2 times while on our trip. It's a lovely beach club with a restaurant and fabulous drinks. We walked to town at night for dinner and walked back which was about a 15 min walk. Do you have your hotels booked already? Taxis are fairly expensive (we thought) so we walked most places. In Ravello we walked around and had a private mozzarella making class which was lovely. Taxi from Amalfi to Ravello was 50 Euro each way, just a note.

We then took a car back to Naples to catch the train and stopped at Ruins of Herculaneum, we didn't have a lot of time otherwise would have done Pompeii. Herculaneum was much smaller and fit into our schedule better.

ownedby3, thanks for the reply. Glad you had a great time in Positano recently. I could feel your excitement about your trip in your writing. I think we are going to stay in Amalfi and visit Positano. Did you take the bus anywhere? If not, why not? Too crowded, too slow, not on schedule? Just wondering. We have thought about using ferries to daytrip. Your ideas? Thank you again.

Just another point of view about Herculaneum: I would guess that owned's good experience was partly due to having a car service for that trip. When you do Herculaneum on your own, it is a 15-minute walk downhill from the Circumvesuvina station, and 15-minutes uphill after the visit. Note also that food is not available inside Herculaneum. It doesn't take that long to see Herculaneum that you would need a meal; My point is that even a casual restaurant in modern Herculaneum is likely to be a 1 1/2 hour, made-to order, slow-food experience. (We had great food in Ercolano. But it took 1 1/2 hours.) So if you chose Herculaneum because it's smaller, you might spent more time on lunch than inside ancient Herculaneum.

As a matter of personal opinion, I'd note that you don't have to see "all" of Pompeii. In fact, even those who spend four hours at Pompeii don't see it all. But you can walk 300' from the Circumvesuviana station and (depending on lines to buy a ticket) be inside Pompeii in two minutes. You will see about the same number of houses ("Villas") and streets in X hours at either Herculaneum or Pompeii. (My point is that "finishing" Herculaneum does not make it a better visit that "not-finishing" Pompeii.) Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to know in advance just which art-historical "famous" villas at either site may be closed-today!

Much of both ancient cities remains buried under the adjacent modern cities. Herculaneum and Pompeii.

I think you've made some wise choices. So much of being part of the A.C. is the time of year you're there, and while it will be a little busy--especially trying to catch a SITA bus--September will probably suit you perfectly, for both Sorrento and Amalfi-town. We've been to the peninsula twice in early March, nice amount of people in Sorrento but totally deserted in Amalfi & Positano.

Do your homework on eating in Sorrento--fantastic quality and reasonably-priced restaurants abound!

Well said Tim. We are going to Pompeii only, had to make a choice and Pompeii won. We will see what we can see and be happy that we saw that much of it. Not worried about what we didn't see.

Jay, thanks for your thoughts on not being wrong wherever we stay. Don't know that there is a bad choice among the towns.
We are going and that's all that counts. I guarantee you that we will have a great time. TThanks

Jay, do you have any recommendations for restaurants in Sorrento or Positano?

Bar LiGalli - Positano (by the Sponda bus stop)

Ristorante Zi'intonio - Sorrento (best lobster fra diavolo)
TavernAllegra - Sorrento (singing waiters/owner, quite a show, food better than it needs to be)