Our plan was to stay in a nice house or apartment in the Praiano/Amalfi area for 7 days & make day trips from there. We will have car. We would like to go to Naples, Pompei/Vesuvius, Capri, the other coastal towns & Paestum. Maybe not all the above but hopefully most. Plus a day or two just to hang around our area. I've checked older threads & could not really find a good answer. The main question then is: Will we spend too much time driving back & forth to these places? I know the winding roads consume a lot of time. Is there a back way over the peninsula instead of always going along the coast? The house & area are great. I just don't want to be beat from driving too much. We did this last year in Tuscany & it worked out great. Of course the roads were mostly straight. I'm just concerned the winding roads will be too time consuming. I'm not concerned about the "scary" factor. I have done a lot of mountain & coastal driving. Has anybody ever done this before? And were your experiences good or bad? Thank you.
Are day trips from Praiano/Amalfi unrealistic? Too much driving?
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There are several small, winding roads over the mountains, either from Praiano or Amalfi. But they aren't going to save you that much time over the coast road. Praino and Amalfi are about 30 minutes to an hour away from each other, depending on traffic. If your house is closer to Praino, you need to get to Positano to take the ferry. If it is closer to Amalfi, then you can catch the ferry there. I'd use the ferry or bus to visit the towns on the coast as parking is difficult to find and expensive. You can ferry to Naples as well. For Pompeii, either drive, or get to Sorrento and take the Circumvesuviana. Driving to Paestum is probably best.
Totally do-able. But..factor in extra time. The road "over" is no better...we find it more difficult to drive! Amalfi is closer to the main road in Salerno...Praiano is closer to the Sorrento direction...so...if you are taking trains, i would stay closer to Sorrento...busses, probably Salerno...Amalfi IS more "central" though as far as busses and ferries. The drive is suppossedly "worse" though towards Salerno - we don't find it much different
Plan your day-trips during the week rather than weekends and leave early and you should be fine 
Getting to Capri, the other coastal towns & Paestum from Amalfi/Praiano should be pretty easy. Naples, Pompeii & Vesuvius will be more of a stretch and will involve a lot of driving. Maybe you could do them in a couple of days at the beginning of your stay when you (theoretically) have more energy.
Naples, Pompeii & Vesuvius can all easily be done with public transport and will involve NO driving if that's an issue.
Hi DB,
>We would like to go to Naples, Pompei/Vesuvius, Capri, the other coastal towns & Paestum.<
All doable by public transportation from either P or A.
From Amalfi, I think that you will find it faster to bus to Salerno and train to Naples (and thence to Pompei) than to take the SITA bus up to Sorrento and train to Pompei.
For Paestum, I suggest the ferry (from Positano or Amalfi)to Salerno and then the train.
For Capri, the quickest way is by ferry from Positano. You can't drive to Capri, anyway.
Is there a major reason for having a car?
I drove, or more accurately, was the passenger in a rented car, on the AC many years ago, off season, and do not remember it as particularly trying. This was in late April.
I am also debating as to whether or not to rent a car for a trip to the area next spring. My inclination is to either rent a car or rely on private drivers for excursions...perhaps taking private drivers for a couple of days will price out the same as having the rental car..
I do not relish the thought of waiting around for a SITA bus and piling on with scads of people.. Be aware, too, that the buses stop running fairly early at night; with a car you will have much more flexibility in choosing where to dine. From what I have learned on this subject so far, you should have no trouble with the car aside from the usual parking problems since you are an experienced driver on coastal and mountain roads. When you investigate the houses, be sure to inquire about parking.. Hope that helps at least a little!