12 Night Itinerary

Why did you cut Florence? I'm going to Florence, Venice and Rome for 11 nights next year.

Mary, the OP wants to add some downtime somewhere on the water in the heat of August, which they cannot do without dropping one of the three.
I say go for it--Florence will be there next time. As for the lakes and teens -- do they like swimming, boating, nature?

Flights often but not always leave at an ungodly hour--that may affect your order.

Wow! Sounds like fun! Below is Rick Steves suggested Itinerary and a link to his article! I'd note his pacing has worked well for us and our kids. Folks on this forum tend to be older, seasoned travelers who like it slower and dislike repositioning. Personally we find the traveling between places to be fun too! Either way you'll have a great time!

Happy Travels!

"Italy Itinerary
By Rick Steves
So much to see, so little time. How to choose? To help you get started, I've listed my top picks for where to go in Italy, and my plan for your best three-week trip. (This list excludes Sicily; see my separate recommended Sicily itinerary.) Of course, not everyone has jobs or lifestyles that allow a three-week trip, so make a plan, prioritizing according to your interests and tastes. If you're passionate about Renaissance art, linger longer in Florence. Exploring Italy's hill towns could soak up a week. For mountains, make tracks to the Dolomites. And if you've always wanted to ascend Pisa's Leaning Tower, now's the time for the climb.
Depending on the length of your trip, and taking geographic proximity into account, here are my recommended priorities:
4 days: Rome, Florence
6 days, add: Venice
8 days: Cinque Terre
10 days, add: Siena
13 days, add: Sorrento, Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast
16 days, add: Milan, Lake Como (Varenna)
19 days, add: Padua, Volterra, Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio
21 days, add: Dolomites, or slow down"

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/itinerary

David, thanks. I originally saw the Rick Steves itinerary, which is why I thought going to Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre and Rome was possible.

The issue with the kids is when will certain activities become overkill, especially in the August heat. My oldest loves history, so I’m not too worried about him. My middle and youngest generally prefer beach vacations, but who knows when they’ll be able to visit Italy next.

I’ll need to figure out the skeleton of the trip soon since I plan to book my flight with miles.

Makes sense! Our kids would catch "museum feet" if we spent too much time at some places.

They loved the train rides, cathedrals, castles, river walks, and of course gelato!

Have fun!

I was wondering where your post went. Thx for the explanation.
Better to fly into Venice than depart, because of the usual early morning flight times for departures. Venice is just fun coming in over the water.
You could also fly into Milan, if the price is better.
Look for Row Venice for the whole family- group rowing lessons on the back canals, 90 minutes, about 100 euros total for the family.
Lake Como and Venice are very safe, and you could let the teens wander and shop on their own. Gives everyone a break.
Villa Balbianello (Lake Como) has been in several movies, maybe have kids figure it out and watch them before the trip.
Add as many days as possible, you won't regret it.
Book everything asap.
Have a great trip.

We went in August with a group of 7-including older teen and twenty somethings to Lake Como. It was hot and most of my hiking plans went out the window. One of the big attractions of Lake Como is the gardens so I think if they would enjoy that, it would be a good match. We also went swimming and to a waterfall. The beaches are rocky but the mountains are spectacular. My group loved Lake Como. The ferries are really fun. Stay mid lake. We stayed in Bellano which isn’t quite as convenient but was the best location available for us with a large group.

We went from Lake Como to Verona which you might consider too. Less crowded than Rome. Not as many tier 1 sites but we really liked it there. We were in Rome last May for a few days on our way to Sicily and I couldn’t believe the crowds at the popular sites. So trade offs for sure.

We also went to Venice. We really loved it there as well. We spent four nights there and really does take some time to appreciate Venice. The first day the crowds seemed overwhelming as neither Lake Como or Verona had been that crowded. But we adapted-mid day is the most crowded so we learned to avoid most popular spots then. I would think your group would like it there as well.

My advice would to stay as long as you can. We had 12 nights which worked well for what we did. We flew into Milan and out of Venice. Many people say not to fly out of Venice because of early morning flight times but I think our flight was at 11 am which was fine. We took a water taxi to airport which was a great way to end our trip (and faster too).

Pat, great tip on Row Venice. I will have to check it out.

BethFL, how was navigating Lake Como? Will I be able to get around without renting a car?

Valedelphia, do you think it's more feasible to add back Florence if I make my itinerary 13 nights?

On Lake Como, you take the ferries! We like staying in Varenna, but Bellagio is also very popular .
Enjoy!

We didn’t have a car at all on our trip. You do have to be careful where you stay to make that work well. The three towns on the mid lake ferry that runs the most frequently are Varenna, Bellagio, and MENAGGIO. I like Varenna the best (on ferry line and train line from Milan) but even in 2020 when we originally scheduled our trip, there were not many accommodations for 7. You might have better luck for 5. We found accommodations we liked in MENAGGIO (have no idea why my phone is capitalizing it) but no availability when we returned a few years later and made reservations only a few months out. We chose Bellano because it was on the train line and we thought we could if necessary go to Varenna. One night we did that. We took ferry from Bellagio to Varenna and had dinner. We then took to the train one stop back to Bellano.

My sister in law and her family went to Lake Como a few years later and rented a lovely house. But they had to rent a car to get to the ferry! A car by itself does not allow you to visit the places you want as it would take forever to drive around the lake.

Valedelphia, do you think it's more feasible to add back Florence if I
make my itinerary 13 nights?

I really could not say, my impulse is that it is too much, but I am a definitely outlier in having gone to Italy 7 times but not {yet} to Rome, Venice, or Florence. What do the kids say? I can see them being enthusiastic about any or all of them, but I would confirm (and really insist on cooperation in the planning).
Some like the go-go-go excitement; some are overwhelmed by the big three one after the other. Heat, crowds, teenage stuff--all good reasons to balance things out with some down time. I think mapping out the actual transit times can be helpful, with a healthy round-up for time needed to pack/checkout/get to train station, etc.

I see from Rick's suggested itinerary that he suggests Lake Como but maybe Lake Garda is a better bet? You'll be travelling less distance if you go express trains Venice to Verona and Verona to Rome. There's Garda land theme park for the kids and the train from Verona to Peschiera del Garda takes just 15 minutes (and of course Verona itself is well worth a visit)