That's a good plan. You're avoiding the local Circumvesuviana commuter train and Praiano to Naples is about an hour and a half depending on traffic. The train to Rome from Termini is quick and efficient.

You'll be driving along the Amalfi coast, on a very narrow, crowded, busy road notched into the hillside high above the sea. Are prepared for this? Or do you plan to keep the car parked in Praiano? Hopefully your hotel has parking.

Worse, you're driving in central Naples,where traffic rules are merely a suggestion mostly to be ignored.

Have you driven in Italy before? Southern Italy? If not, you'll be getting a baptism by fire.

An alternative is to drive the other direction to Salerno, drop the car there and catch the train there to Rome. Don't miss the Greek temples at Paestum nearby.

I agree---drop in Salerno and train to Rome.

Praiano to Salerno is 22 miles along the AC, which is winding and narrow. Praiano direct to Naples is 41 miles bypassing Sorrento and the AC and onto the autostrada. The trip to Salerno will take around an hour or more if it's busy whilst the trip to Naples will take around 2 hours.

You pays your money....

Thank you very much!

Sorry for being persnickety, but Matera is not in Puglia. But it IS a fantastic, fantastic place to visit!!

For the record, I drove from Paestum to Amalfi and did not find the road scary at all. Parking can be a problem, though.

Have you considered dropping off the car before you get to Praiano? That would be my choice. I would drop the car off in Salerno and take the SITA bus to Praiano. It will require a change of buses in Amalfi because the buses run Salerno to Amalfi and Amalfi to Sorrento. The buses park next to one another so they are all right there in the Piazza Flavio Gioia on the waterfront.

If my accommodations weren't close to one of the bus stops in Praiano, then I would hire a taxi from Amalfi to my accommodations in Praiano.

My husband and I drove from Tuscany to Positano (Amalfi-- the driving there is a bit unnerving and while you are there it is definitiely recomended to park your car in a public garage and pay daily because driving around the area is not easy.

As for getting back to Rome, we drove from Positano to Rome Airport without a problem and dropped the car off at Rome airport which was surprisingly quick and painless. Driving from Praiano is pretty much the same situation and should be easy as the route back to Rome once you have done navigating the coast is much like North American highways with road stops for food, bathroom etc.

I see no reason to drop the car off in Naples -- you're just adding another stop and mode of transport to your trip.

Agree that Automatic car is the way to go-- especially in Amalfi coast with its twists and turns.

Hope this helps.