Italy and Norway Itinerary - Please Review!!!
 

We are three girls in our 20's.
We arrive Arrive in Roma at 8:50 am on July 29.
We have one week in Italy as we have to be in Norway on the 5th.

Following is my IDEAL Itinerary. I know we do not have the time or energy to see all these places, my goal in posting this is to see all your opinions on which ones to nix and which to hold on to. How long to stay and what's a MUST-see. Lucca is the one city I don't want to miss, my great-gradparents were both from the town...it's drawing me there! We want to base ourselves out of one or two main cities to make life easier (and cheaper). So bear that in mind...any Ideas other than Roma?
Really, I want to absorb the essence of Italy. At this point the sights aren't as important to me as the culture, the raw energy that I hope to find on those enchanted streets.

ITALY

Roma 2 days

Day 3: (I'm seeing now that this isn't possible as a day trip - would it be worth 1/2 our time in Italy? Or how should we see it...)

-Speed train to Firenze early in morning

-Small train to Lucca (spend the majority of the day there)

-Small Train to Pisa

-Small Train to Firenze

-Speed Train back to Rome

Roma 1 day

Train to Napoli

Ferry to Sorrento

-Stay in Sorrento

Travel Amalfi Coast (This is also something we'd really like to do)

Visit Pompeii & Herculanum

Ferry to Capri the next day (take our Bags)

-Spend the day there

-I Faraglioni and the Blue Grotto

-Ferry to Napoli and fly from there to Norway

-(So we need to get an evening flight out of there)

*Flying out of Napoli is going to get nixed. It is cheapest to fly from Roma to Trondheim, Norway. So we need to organize our trip to start and end with Roma. What is the best way to do that?





NORWAY

Fly in to Bodo (August 4th)

Take the ferry across to Leknes

Leknes (5-9)

Spend time in Narvik and Bodo (9-11)

Lofoten Island Exploration (12, 13)

Then What?….I want to go back to Italy :(

*We need suggestions on places to go/things to do in Norway as the majority of our trip is spent here.

Oops...forgot to close out with:

We fly out of Trondheim Norway on August 18 at 12pm.

I am trying to understand your itinerary inItaly. I think you are suggesting:

ITALY
Priorities: Lucca, Amalfi Coast

Day 1: arrive in Roma
Day 2: Roma
Day 3: Train to Firenze early in morning; train to Lucca (spend the majority of the day there); train to Pisa; train to Firenze; train back to Rome; sleep in Rome
Day 4: Roma
Day 5: Train to Napoli; Ferry to Sorrento; Stay in Sorrento; Travel Amalfi Coast; Visit Pompeii & Herculanum
Day 6: Ferry to Capri; Spend the day; I Faraglioni and the Blue Grotto
Day 7: Ferry to Napoli and fly from there to Norway

You have some real crazy days in there. I know it's a wish list, but I think you're underestimating how much time it will take just to get from one place to another.

Here's my adjustment to your itinerary, taking into consideration your Rome departure to Norway:

ITALY
Priorities: Lucca, Amalfi Coast

Day 1: arrive in Roma; immediately train to Firenze; stay there (or continue to Lucca if desired and stay there)
Day 2: Lucca (skip Pisa); afternoon train to Firenze to Napoli; Ferry/train to Sorrento; Stay in Sorrento;
Day 3: Travel Amalfi Coast OR Visit Pompeii & Herculanum
Day 4: Ferry to Capri; Spend the day; I Faraglioni and the Blue Grotto; Ferry to Napoli; late train to Rome
Day 5: Rome
Day 6: Rome
Day 7: Rome; fly to Norway

Personally I would never do this trip this way, but since you suggested the originally incredibly busy itinerary, I thought this might work for you.

Thanks. The problem with this is, we booked our tickets too soon. We can't change the fact that we fly in to Rome. If I could do this over again...I would fly into Napoli on the 21st, spend 2 weeks in Italy working our way North and flying out of Rome, to Norway.

But- I can't waste time thinking what i 'should have done' so I need suggestions on how to make this work.

Crazy, I know.
Thanks

What did you think of my suggestion?

Your suggestion was very helpful! It's exactly what I needed to start my planning in the right direction. I was stuck in the rut of my 'ideal' itinerary and having trouble changing it around.

Have you been to Italy? Would you recommend Amalfi Coast over Pompeii/Herculaneum ... or the other way around?

Also, Do you think 3 hotel locations is too many?
Lucca 1 night
Sorrento 2 nights
Rome 3 nights
Maybe it would be ok because Lucca is only 1 night...

This is a much better plan. Did you notice Ellenem suggested the train from Naples to Sorrento? Since you will arrive in the Naples station, it's quicker to take the Circumvesuviana local train to Sorrento. It leaves from downstairs in the Naples station whereas for the ferry, you'd have to get yourselves to the port. A ferry would be lovely but your time is short.

Re: your 2 nights in Sorrento. You won't have much time the day you arrive. The next full day you could explore the Amalfi Coast. The morning you leave, take your bags with you back onto the Circumvesuviana, stop off at Pompei Scavi, leave your bags in the bag check while you tour Pompeii, then pick up your bags, return to the Naples station, and train to Rome.

So now you have both the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii. Capri and Herculaneum will have to wait for the next trip.

I think I like that...Do Amalfi in one full day, Pompeii in the next morning, then train to Rome when we're finished with Pompeii and fly to Norway that evening.

By the sound of that last bit...we'll probably be exhausted on that last night, especially if Pompeii is really hot. I don't know if I want to leave Italy with my feet dragging and just wanting to crawl in a bed...any ideas to keep ourselves perky?!

Using my itinerary, you will have two or three days to "recover" in Rome after Pompeii.

Three hotel locations might be too many for some, but considering you are young and Lucca is a priority, I put in an overnight there. Also, you waste less time traveling back and forth to Rome, just to go back to the same hotel. It's not my ideal, but I think you will appreciate an overnight in your "hometown."