Best way to travel between Rome and Positano/Ravello

Mary, I forgot to mention that there is also a bus that goes from Rome to Sorrento. It departs once a day at 2:00pm and the journey takes 3.5hrs. The fare is 16Euro. I couldn't see the departure point on their website but I believe that it is the bus station at the Rome Tiburtina train station.

I'll let somebody else confirm that the bus departs from Rome Tiburtina. If correct, you still take the Leonardo Express to Rome Termini from the airport. Then, you go downstairs to the Rome metro line and take Metro Line B to Rabibbia. Rome Tiburtina is the 4th stop in that direction. You then go out of the station and across the street.

Here's the link to the bus line. http://www.bus.it/curreri/inglese/E_index.html

I would say that the best way is by private car. But that would be quite expensive. You didn't identify your travel dates or travel budget for this journey.

The most popular way is to take the Leonardo Express from the airport to the Rome Termini train station. Then, take the high-speed train to Naples. Next, go downstairs at the Naples train station and take the Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento. The Circumvesuviana train is usually a crowded local train to Sorrento. It is not run by Trenitalia. Finally, at the Sorrento train station, you take the blue SITA bus to Positano and Ravello. With time to make train and bus changes, it will take you about 4.0hrs-4.5hrs from Rome FCO to Positano.

A more scenic option would be to catch the hydrofoil in either Naples or Sorrento and take the run to Positano. Very scenic and a bit faster. Note, however, that the hydrofoil doesn't run all year round.

Thank you Larry. We will be in Rome for 3 days first and leave from there for the Amalfi coast on October 16. We are trying to not have a car this trip.

Larry's right - going by private car service is expensive but great. We did this about 5 years ago. The English-speaking driver picked us up at FCO and drove us - in a Mercedes minivan - to our hotel front door in Positano. Cost us about 300 euros as I remember, split between the 4 of us. No doubt it's more expensive now. The drive was 4-5 hours and the driver was friendly and talkative and told us lots of interesting stuff about the countryside we were passing through.

It was a lot of fun, if you want to spend the dough.

If we do not want to drive but are not concerned about travel costs, within reason, what do you recommend further?

Thank you all. It may be worth investigating private car. Recommendation for which ones to investigate?

If you go into the "reader feedback" section under Rick's Rome 2010 guidebook, several people are positive on "driverinrome."

www.driverinrome.com

I honestly can't remember if they're the ones we used a few years ago.

Thank you Tom ~ it's a start. Now to make a choice.

Chao,
Mary

Thanks Larry, We are somewhat adventuresome so this might be an option for us.