Hi Everyone,
My family and I will be traveling to Italy this summer for 1 week and for one of the days that we are staying in rome, we would want to take a day trip to amalfi coast. We only have 1 day to do this and I am wondering the best way to get this done to get the most out of our day. We do not care for Pompeii so just there and back. How could we get this done! Thanks (first timers going to Italy)

Taking a guided tour might be the most efficient. If you want to attempt it on your own, you need to plan to head out from Rome very early in the morning. Use a combination of trains to get you to Sorrento, and from there it is probably best to take a boat to the Amalfi, and work your way back to Sorrento by bus. Be aware that the buses often make travelers very nauseous, so if any in your family are sensitive to motion sickness, then take ferries only, or hire taxis.

The buses can also be very crowded, so you need to budget time for the possibility that you might not be able to get onto a bus, and thus must wait for the next one. In summertime the one road along the Amalfi coast is extremely crowded with cars & tour buses, so traveling by land during the daytime is very slow.

One advantage of doing this on your own is that you can wait to see what the weather is, and only go when you feel like it & are sure it will be worth it.

WHY is this important to you, and HOW important?

For me, this would be an absolute horror, but my interests in European scenery differ, thank goodness, from those of many others. I would never in a million years "waste" a day of my Italian vacation visiting the Amalfi Coast, which to me is a bore of the over-rich indulgent lifestyle.

It's interesting that you don't care for Pompeii. So you have no interest in the rich life of the ancients, but want to leer at the same today? gvfcb

IMO, too much for 1 day.
Consider staying down there for one night at least (it's cheaper than Rome).

If you must though:
1) Take the high-speed non-stop train to Naples.
2) Hire a private driver to take you down the Amalfi Coast
3) Get dropped back at the Naples station for the last train

Sorrento First Choice or Americo Car service
http://americocarservice.com/

First timers to Italy, this is intended to be helpful, not unkind or negative. If you had said Pompeii was important to you (though I would not do it), I would say it will be a long day, but OK because you could get something out of it, but the AC is different.

I do like the Amalfi Coast, but it is not a place for a drive by photo-op. Even though it is visually beautiful, it is more a place to experience. The real beauty is in leisurely taking in the sea, the cliffs, the smell of flowers and lemons.

Without knowing the rest of your itinerary or the ages of your family, it is hard to advise, but if you must go to the AC, at least spend a night or two. You don't have to stay on the AC. You could stay in Sorrento on the bay of Naples and take a ferry down the AC. You could also take the train to Salerno and a ferry back up the coast or hire a driver to take you around. In Summer, be ready for heavy, slow travel.

What is the rest of your itinerary? How many nights will you actually have in Italy?

It's not clear whether you understand how much time is involved in a day trip to the Amalfi Coast from Rome. Three hours each way would be an optimistic estimate.

Knowing the rest of your itinerary would be helpful, but it sounds like you're already staying in one other place in Italy besides Rome, and you're only in Italy for a week. I suspect your dance card is already full.

I have no idea why people are telling you that you don't have time to do something you want to do, especially since they are already telling you that don't know what the rest of your itinerary is.

Every day is 24 hours long, and you are free to do with it whatever you want. If you'd like to get up in the morning and leave Rome and come back in the evening -- instead of getting up in the morning and staying in Rome until the evening -- it's the same amount of time, whichever you do.

Many many years ago people who lived in Italy had to live behind walls and gates and overlords kept track of how they spent their time. Then there was the Renaissance, and people got a life.

Here is a tour that goes from Rome to the Amalfi. They are pretty pricey to my eye, but they wouldn't exist if there weren't many people who wanted to do it and if it weren't feasible.

https://www.viator.com/tours/Rome/Am...POSITANOAMALFI

But if you don't want the kind of vacation where you do a lot each day, don't go.

You say a '1 week' trip to Italy, and the one of your days in Rome you want to go to the AC. MI suspect the rest of your trip is also a 'drive by'. How many days do you have in Rome and where else are you squeezing in to your 'week'?

As Sassafrass says - the AC is not a 'drive by' destination . . . unless you simply want to box check. That is a LOT of time and money to spend to tick a box.

frencharmoire is correct. You can do whatever you like.

Just a couple of comments about the tour. Some people get car sick on the drive between Salerno and Sorrento. If you're on a tour, you're stuck. The tour is 13 hours, half of which is moving from place to place.

Having been to the Amalfi coast many times, I think it is fabulous and my favorite place. Yes there are some wealthy folks and fancy hotels, but most of the people visiting there are average tourists.

Having said this, I agree with Sassafrass that the Amalfi coast is a place to be experienced. It's not a drive by. From Rome you would spend most of your time on transportation and very little time on the coast. Save this for a time that you can savor the area for at least several days.

Of course you can do as you please. I will share my personal experience:

Any vehicle on wheels (bus, car, limo) on the Amalfi Coast triggers horrible motion sickness in me.

I have returned but used boats. Boats can take longer and require more planning.

If no one in your group is susceptible to motion sickness, that's good.

I don't think you will find many (any?) day trips from Rome for this although there are quite a few to Pompeii.

You could take the train from Rome to Salerno (fast train takes about 2 hours) and catch the bus to Amalfi (buses on this end of the coast tend not to be crowded like the bus between Sorrento/Amalfi). You will get a good view of the coast (sit on the driver's side). Visit Amalfi for an hour or two (have lunch?) and then take a taxi or bus up to Ravello before heading back to Salerno to catch the train to Rome. If Positano is a must, you could taxi (or ferry) there from Amalfi. Keep in mind that ferries don't run as often as buses and don't put into Positano if the sea is rough.

Before I fully answer, I have a question: Where and what do you want to see on the AC?

I will tell you that I once did a day trip from Rome to Sorrento, but of course Sorrento technically isn't the AC. I drove. If you are going south of Sorrento, I strongly recommend against driving.