I recently heard that there is an inland road to Amalfi from Sorrento. Anyone know about this and what the route is.

there are no direct overland routes running eastwest other than the main road along the coast ( which does cross over the mountain as it goes from Positano into Meta and Sorrento ).

The usual road (also followed by the regular busses) goes Eastwards over the SS 145 to Sant Agnello, then inland Southeast over the SS163 to San Pietro.
From there the road follows the coast over Positano, Praiano, Conca dei Marini and Amalfi.
I drove on this road on several occasions and could never look at the wonderful landscape. The road turns every 50 m!

You're crazy driving in this area - take a bus or public transport. We've driven in the Middle East and most parts of Europe but stopped in Rome as the driving was so bad.

I was in that area in March. There is a maze of very minor roads that go inland and cross the mountains between the coasts but the only really practical route is the one that goes from Sorrento to Positano and then on along the coast to Amalfi. You can leave from either end of Sorrento but the roads meet at San Pietro before dropping down to the coast to Positano. It is a beautiful route but it is a very stressful drive. The road is for the most part very narrow in a continuous series of tight bends. Many of the local drivers are impatient, discourteous and downright dangerous. The tour buses bully there way through rarely giving way and the tourists meander along. If you are driving it's almost impossible to really see the views and there are very few safe places to stop. Parking in any of the towns or villages is impossible. Better by far to take the bus and enjoy.

allow me to take minor exception - based in Positano, we drove all over the place in a rental car as far east as Vietre and up to Ravello. Yes, the main highway is tortuous and hilly but it is plenty wide enough for two vehicles except in the villages of Positano and Priano where one just has to drive slowly and cautiously. We visited in peak season and did not find crazy drivers, hallucinating bus operators, and mad Vespas. Traffic may have been slow and attention to the road was required, but a Ph.D in road management is not required to handle these roads. I simply can't understand where these horror stories come from. And the scenery is never better seen in a bus than from the front seat of a car, BTW.

If you can't handle these roads, don't visit Lake Como.

I drove on the coastal road and thoroughly enjoyed it, although all those curves can be a little stressful. The drive and views are breathtaking in this spectacular landscape. Don't be afraid, take your time, drive at your speed, and ignore anybody who drives in your boot ;-)

From my (long) experience of Italy and Positano I agree with Geoveo:

"Many of the local drivers are impatient, discourteous and downright dangerous. The tour buses bully there way through rarely giving way and the tourists meander along."

It's just so that the local drivers, regular and tour bus drivers, are obliged to drive on that road to do their work or to go to their work.
When they are delayed by tourists who "ignore anybody who drives in your boot" they get nervous and try to overtake these slow drivers under very risky conditions.

If you want to make friends in Italy avoid ignoring the local traffic bad or good habits.

Ciao.

i heartily agree with Nicolaitan and Geoveo. I'm a seasoned New YAWK City driver, and I drove, for the first time, between Sorrento and Salerno in May 2007. I was naturally unfamiliar with the back roads, so I wisely ignored them. Based in Positano, we drove along the coastal highway known as the Strada Nazionale. It's one lane in each direction, sometimes narrower, sometimes wider. Signage was always clear and visible. When passing thru Praiano, the road serves as the sidewalk, too! So yield to dog-walkers, local shoppers, bicyclists, school kids, etc. The locals were indeed impatient, but NOT unsafe, unlike NYC drivers. The drivers of the dinosaur-tour buses nonchalantly folded in their side view mirrors while passing each other, like two elephants in a hallway, on hairpin turns. The only thing that scared me were the Vespas; as I was about to pass an opposite-bound car, a Vespa would come between the 2 of us, risking his life! WHen entering a short tunnel under a mountain, there are mirrors which provide you with a view of oncoming traffic. Besides, you'd probably Lose alot of time on these intestinal back roads, even if you didnt get lost. and suppose you got lost at night, even with GPS? There are NO streetlights or street signs on the backroads. [are there any in a typical American small town?] Suppose you stop, in the dark, to read your GPS, and you get hit? It's not worth it, in my humble opinion; stay on the main road.

With my comment to "ignore anybody who drives in your boot" I did not want to express that tourists should hold up other traffic on purpose. I wanted to express that someone who is not used to driving on such roads should not feel urged by following traffic to drive faster than he would feel safe with and risk his and other people's lives.

If you see you hold up the traffic stop from time to time to let others pass, should be the second part of the advice. But do not drive faster than you feel comfortable with if someone pressures you by driving in your boot.

I am also annoyed about dreaming tourists on the roads in NZ BTW ;-)