Lucca-Sorrento-Rome Itinerary...Share Your Wisdom!
 

Sample Itinerary for the first leg of our travels. Ellenem helped me out here...I was in a real pickle a few days ago.
3 Girls in our 20's.
Flying in to Rome July 29 at 8:50 am.
We are leaving Italy, flying out of Roma, August 4th as late in the evening as possible.
From there we are headed to Norway, see itinerary for that leg of the trip in the Norway section of Fodors.


ITALY

Day 1: Arrive in Roma; immediately train to Firenze; stay there (or continue to Lucca and stay there depending on timing & cost)
Day 2: Lucca; 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 there; Ferry to Napoli; late train to Rome
Day 5: Rome
Day 6: Rome
Day 7: Rome; fly to Norway that evening


Are the train rides too much? Or is it doable?

Have you been to Italy? Would you recommend Amalfi Coast over Pompeii/Herculaneum ... or the other way around? I've heard Amalfi Coast needs more than one day, but I've also heard Pompeii is deadly hot in the middle of Summer.

Recommended (inexpensive) place to stay in Lucca, Sorrento & Rome for 3 women?

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...Thoughts?

Grazie Tante!

Lucca is OK one day. You can walk the wall and there's a recorded guide you can rent. But I think you are travelling a long distance for a little to see.
Amalfi coast is beautiful and there are several towns you can visit on day trips. Summer will be crowded, but fun for your age group. I would recommend you add a night there instead and tour Pompeii in the morning one day, take a bus to Ravello and other towns, spend time in Positano, take boat to Capri. I am not crazy about Sorrento, prefer staying in Positano, but you may have reasons to want to stay in a larger city.

I would forget Florence/Lucca.

Amalfi 3.5
Rome 3.5

I dont care for Sorrento either.
Positano is charming and so scenic.
Dont forget to drink your share of Limoncello.

I should add that Lucca is the town both my great grandparents were from. I just can't go to Italy and not visit it, it'd be almost criminal :)

I received an idea to take the train from Naples to Sorrento, take the Circumvesuviana local train to Sorrento.
The next full day explore the Amalfi Coast. The morning we leave, take our bags back onto the Circumvesuviana, stop off at Pompei Scavi, leave bags in the bag check while we tour Pompeii, then pick up our bags, return to the Naples station, and train to Rome. Capri and Herculaneum will have to wait for the next trip.

Alleta: How would you structure the night in Amalfi? The only thing with that is we wanted to avoid many hotels...I think 3 is already plenty. My uncle is the one that suggested Sorrento...is it big and crowded? I like it because it's excellent for a home base between Pompeii and Amalfi...which we are visiting.

Can I ask why no one likes Sorrento?
How is Positano for a home base between Amalfi and Pompeii?

In 2004, I started my trip by landing in Pisa (changed planes in Milan) and headed to Lucca for 2 nights before moving on to Tuscany. Why not go that route or even fly to Florence instead of Rome?

Monica ((F))

Hi; I would suggest you are spending too much time on trains/ferries. Consider eliminating the Lucca portion of the trip and add another day to either Sorrento or Rome. Do Rome first and then go to Sorrento/Amalfi Coast. It seems like you do not yet have your flight booked to Norway. If not, you could then try to fly out of Naples to Norway. This is one way to save some daylight hours by eliminating some train travel. iris1745/dick

This is a sore subject with me :(

We could have a whole nother week in Italy and better travel direction but we already bought our tickets. The price was going up so we bought first...groaned later.
We SHOULD HAVE flown into Napoli on the 21st and done Amalfi, Pompeii, Capri then went to Roma, Then up to Lucca and flown out of Firenze on on the 4th.

But...the service charge to change our tickets is just too much...I kicked myself about this for days but there's nothing I can do now but work with what we've got.

Thank you though Monica! That would've been a good way to do it!

Dick: <Do Rome first and then go to Sorrento/Amalfi Coast. It seems like you do not yet have your flight booked to Norway. If not, you could then try to fly out of Naples to Norway.>

Prices to Fly Naples-Norway are over double what it costs Rome-Noray. We are not filthy rich 20 year olds so we've got to go the cheap option...if anyone can find a cheap flight from the Naples area to Norway I would be forever indebted to you!

I like Sorrento, I used it as my home base for exploring Capri and the Amalfi coast and it was wonderful. I agree with Monica and I'd fly into Milan (it has more international flights) and train to Lucca and then work my way south to Rome and the Amalfi Coast and then fly out of Rome. You should explore the possibility of using an open jaws ticket, it may cost a bit more than the round-trip ticket but it'll save you lots of time which you can use to visit.

At the time you will be visiting I'd skip Pompeii and maybe just do the Museo Nazionale in Naples (it has all the neat stuff taken from Pompeii) and I'd try to work in a trip to Capri. The island is great in the summer time.

--gatorbill

Hi; Just read your new post. Then why not consider eliminating the Sorrento/Amalfi Coast end of the trip. Only in your 20's, you will get there on another vacation. Do Rome [3 days] first and then Florence/Lucca [4 days]. No backtracking this way. It gives you more options to fly to Norway from Pisa or Florence. There is so much to see and do in the Tuscany area. iris1745/dick

Hmm...That would be a thought dick. I'd definitely have to mull that one over. I think I have first time traveler syndrome where I feel like I need to fit everything in :)

It does make so much more sense stay in Northern Italy if we cant fly to Norway from the Naples area...

Here's a great place to stay in Lucca-

http://www.laromea.com/

I also agree that staying in just Rome and Lucca would be better. Instead of Sorrento/Amalfi coast, consider visiting somewhere closer to Lucca- the Cinque Terre. Here's a nice place to stay-

http://www.lamala.it/en/index.html

Yep, I agree that if you like art and architecutre a longer stay in Lucca, Pisa, Florence and then heading down to do just Rome would be better. If you're interesting in seeing a "Pompeii like" area you could visit Ostia Antica which is a much closer daytrip from Rome than Pompeii.

-- gatorbill

I love Lucca but I am no longer in my 20's. I think that makes a big difference.

Pick 2 out of 3---your call !

Oh the choices we must make!

Thank you all so much for your help, I'm going to talk to the girls tonight and we can decide this together. I really don't want to sacrifice Lucca...but some things must be done.

Yeadonite: Are you saying you wouldn't have liked Lucca when you were younger? Are you thinking maybe it's too slow paced?

SamandKy - It depends on your interests. I was there during the day in MArch and it was very quiet. I loved it, but I am more interested in historic places than nightlife. In my 20's I might not have found it a place I would want to spend a lot of time in.

I'm 50+ and not a fan of Lucca, but I understand you need to go because of heritage. I vistied with a group of 6 ranging in age from 18 to mid 50's and none of us liked Lucca. I usually describe it as deadly dull, but others seem to like it.

You are trying to schedule too many places in too short of time. You will likely spend most of your time checking in and out of hotels, getting to and from train stations and on trains.

ITALY

Day 1: Arrive in Roma; immediately train to Firenze; stay there (or continue to Lucca and stay there depending on timing & cost)
Day 2: Lucca
Day 3: Lucca/Pisa
Day 4: Train to Rome
Day 5: Rome
Day 6: Rome
Day 7: Rome; fly to Norway that evening