How many hours should one allow to get from Positano to Fiumicino airport, and what would be the most efficient route? Car? Ferry/train? Other?

By rail: Take the Leonardo Express from Fiumicino Airport into Rome Termini station (20-30 min), then hop high-speed train to Naples Centrale (1.5 hrs from Termini), then CircumVeusviana tiny train to Sorrento (50-70 mins) thence by Amalfi Coast buses to Positano, about an hour i believe.

Can investigate buses from Rome to Sorrento or possible Positano.

An easier train route could go Airport-Termini-Salerno then Amalfi Coast bus to Positano. (Buses run very frequently as do all train components mentioned.)

If going by rail buy your tickets and mandatory seat reservations Rome-Naples or Salerno at the airport train station.

Thanks Bob.

What does efficient mean?

I would (I did)...

Private driver from Positano to Naples train station (~100E). This means you are not dragging your luggage on a bus and commuter train.

Then take the train from Naples to Rome and hop on the Leonardo Express train to FCO.

Personally I would not try to leave Positano in the am to catch a same day flight unless the flight was in the late afternoon/early evening.

Both posters have outlined your transfer options. And I'd agree with above (saps) that the more convenient/efficient choice is to hire a driver to take you from Positano directly to Napoli Centrale, and then take the Eurostar train up to Rome.

The other option via bus/commuter train (Circumvesuviana) to Naples is certainly much cheaper than a driver, but will take you longer and could be a hassle depending upon your luggage load.

Even more efficiently would be to have a driver take you from Positano to Fiumicino Airport. Around 350Euro for the drive.

You don;t say when you'll be traveling. Taking either bus or car from Positano along the coast road in high season can be excrutiatingly slow - versus off season. The difference can easily be more than an hour additional.

So - I agree - don;t try to get from Positano to the airport on the day of the flight unless it is later in the afternoon. There are just too many potential problems (traffic, bad weather, accident, train strike etc).

And the most conveninet/efficient would be a private car - but VERY expensive. (Even so - traffic/bad weather can still cause significant delays.)

I guess it all depends on what Marcia means by "most efficient".

efficient with money? efficient with time? or efficient with amount of hassle? You can't have all three.

On our recent trip we had a private driver pick us up at FCO and take us to Positano (400E). Then we opted for driver to Naples and the ES Train back to Rome.

Sorry to have been so vague. I really meant efficient time wise, hassle wise and moneywise. LOL. Nevertheless, all of this info has been very helpful. Once Bob's answer confirmed what I had suspected, that the trip could could range from 3 to 4 1/2 hours depending on several variables, I decided that was just too long a day, considering a 12-13 hour trip home. I've booked a somewhat more expensive flight from Naples departing in the afternoon. British Air actually helped me knock a few bucks off by changing the Naples to London leg from an affiliate carrier to their own. Now we are British air all the way. Can't figure why that option didn't show up on line.

Thank you all. I'm just waiting for final confirmation from 2 hotels and we're all set, except for one night somewhere on route between Venice and Rome. There are many wonderful choices, so it will be fun deciding.

We took the ferry Metro del Mar to Naples from Positano. So easy and inexpensive. It took 1 1/2 hours.