coopsyall

Hi, my family and I (including three college-age daughters) are headed to Italy next June for two weeks. The first week we will be at a villa in Tuscany, followed by visits to a few other destinations. We are considering a couple of potential itineraries after leaving Tuscany:
1) Depart Tuscany and take train early morning from Florence to Naples, get driver from Naples to Capri ferry terminal, 2 nights on Capri, followed by 2/3 nights in Positano, followed by 1 night in Rome, then departure
2) Depart Tuscany and take train early morning from Florence to Rome, 1 night in Rome, then driver to Capri ferry terminal, 2 nights on Capri, followed by 2/3 nights in Positano, driver/train to Rome for departure
Questions:
- which itinerary is preferable?
- is it better to take the train from Florence to Naples to ferry or should we hire a driver to do that? We have no idea what the cost difference would be.
- Are Capri and Positano both worth 2 nights or is there another location such as Sorrento or elsewhere that is better? Does it matter where one stays in Positano in terms of getting around (looks very steep)?
Thanks in advance for any guidance you could provide.

Traveler_Nick

I don't see the point of the second one. Outside of the fact that one night in Rome isn't even a taste it just complicates your trip.

The train from Florence to Naples is roughly 2.5 hours. The drive more than double that. At the moment we're in a Covid enforced high price for train tickets but the walk up price (highest possible in other words) is €70 On Italo. A little higher on TrenItalia. If the world returns to a little more normality next year I wouldn't expect to pay even half that with an advance purchase. You're schedule is likely going to be fairly fixed so no reason to not buy in advance. But even with five of you buying €70 it's likely cheaper than getting a driver. Remember the driver needs to drive home. Just tolls and fuel will likely cost him €200+ round trip.

yorkshire

It depends on what you want to do--I would not go all that way unless you have three nights for Positano.
Sorrento is a convenient place to stay if you want to do a lot of day trips in all directions (Naples, Pompeii, Capri, and coast), but I don;t think it has the wow factor that Capri and the Amalfi coast have.
With just a couple days, it will just be about enjoying the views, etc.
You can stay close to the coast in Positano, but this is generally not a good area for people who do not like stairs and verticality!

Jean

I composed a few replies and then erased them because I couldn't decide what to suggest/recommend. I really dislike a string of short stays and the feeling that a lot of time is being spent checking in/out and moving between hotels, so I don't like either of your ideas. Idea #2 wouldn't be a good bet unless your departure from FCO was in the late afternoon or evening, just because there's always a chance something will foul up the journey between Positano and FCO.

There is no need to hire a driver for transport between the Naples train station and the ferry dock unless you absolutely must all be in one vehicle. Just take taxis. The distance is less than 3 miles.

You don't mention whether Pompeii holds any interest, but it would be a bit difficult to visit in either itinerary, both logistically and time-wise. You could hire a car/driver to meet your train in Naples, take you to Pompeii and wait while you made a quick look at the excavations, and then drop you at your Positano hotel. (This is Idea #1, but switching the order.) FWIW, we thought Pompeii was fascinating, but FYI almost all of the artifacts have been moved to the Archeology Museum in Naples.

Or you could spend all of your nights in Sorrento and day trip to the other places using ferries, buses (or taxies) and the commuter train. That's what we did on our first visit to the area, and we were able to see a lot and adjust plans for weather forecasts. Sorrento is mostly flat, if all those stairs in Positano are concerning. We've stayed at both the Imperial Tramantano and the Bellevue Syrene in Sorrento. Wonderful views from both. Of the AC towns, I prefer Amalfi over Positano, but I know I'm in the minority here and Amalfi is farther from Capri and Naples.

There's probably no way around needing to spend the last night in Rome. Could you fly home from Naples...?