2 couples In Italy 17 Days

You are really shortchanging Venice. It needs at least three nights at a minimum. You will barely check in to your hotel when you'll be leaving.
Rent a boat in Bellagio? I have been there for four times for up to two weeks each visit and have never seen this; perhaps it is something new.We always use ferries to travel around the whole lake.
You are listing days but should list nights such as three nights equals two days to get a clear picture of how much time you actually have. This can be dome but it's much too rushed for me. Our first trip to Italy we did three nights Bellagio, four nights Rome, four nights Florence, four nights in a Tuscan town. Lovely introduction to Italy. We didn't get to southern Italy until our seventh trip to Italy.

That's a great itinerary. I'll throw a few alternatives at it for fun. I'm wondering if you could squeeze in a trip over to the Dolomites while you're up north - not sure what your options would be there. You might also do a day trip to Orvieto while you're staying in Rome. Cinque Terre can be done in one day if you want to remain in Florence and hire an all-day tour guide by bus. That way you're not relocating as much. Although it's a great place, personally, I'd skip Venice. Have fun!

It really doesn't make any sense to travel to Venice from Florence for one day and night, then head to Lake Como for just part of two days. If you only had 6 days in Italy and a burning desire to see the Big 3, maybe. But you've got much more time than that. If you don't care enough about seeing Venice to spend real time there, save yourself the travel time and use the night elsewhere. There's nothing wrong with choosing the places you most want to see and skipping the rest or postponing them till the next trip. A partial day in Venice looks like a compromise decision, and it is not a good idea.

I'm not sure how you're counting your time. To have two days somewhere, you need 3 nights. What you have listed under Day 1-13 adds up to just 12 days but would require 15 or 16 nights. I'm guessing that you're planning to move on to the Amalfi Coast on Day 13. Otherwise, you'll have only about 3 days there. So that means you're really looking at something like this:

Rome (4): 3 days plus 1 jetlagged partial day
Florence (3): 1 day plus a few hours in Florence proper, plus a full-day tour of Tuscany
Venice (1): a few hours on two different days (at best)
Bellagio (2): 1 day plus a few hours
Cinque Terre (2): 1 day plus a few hours
[On Day 13, move from CT to Amalfi Coast; this will take pretty much all day.]
Amalfi Coast (5): 3 days plus time on Day 17 before you head back back to Rome
Rome (1): Just the night before the flight home

You have three stops in a row that are either one night or two. That will be tiring, and getting 4 travelers (even mature travelers) to the train station/bus station/boat dock on time may not be a lot of fun.

If beaches are a big thing for you, do some careful research since many European beaches are picturesquely rocky and/or extremely crowded.

You are trying to do too much in too little time and haven't allotted sufficient time to travel between cities - which I assume you will do via trains since you don't need (or would want) a car in any of these places. With 17 days, I would suggest you pick 3 and at most 4 cites/areas to see. Given what you've listed, I would drop the Amalfi coast.

This also assumes that you have 17 full days in Italy and that the 17 days does not include arrival/departure days. Thus, your itinerary could look something like this.

Day 1 -Rome (you will be jet lagged so this day is generally not a full one)
day 2- rome
day 3 - rome
day 4 rome
day 5- travel to florence
day 6-florence
day 7- florence
day 8 tuscany day trip
day 9 - travel to venice
day 10 venice
day 11 travel to lake como
day 12 lake como
day 13- lake como
day 14 - travel to cinque terre
day 15 cinque terre
day 16 cinque terre
day 17 return to rome

This should give you a nice taste of each of these areas without making yourselves crazy. Bear in mind you won't see all Rome or Florence has to offer with this itinerary so you may want to research what you truly wish to see and do in each and then adjust accordingly.

Save Rome for last.

You're already at the airport. The first day is pretty much a waste so use it to reach the farthest distance.
Fly from FCO-VCE (Venice). Alitalia has flights at 9:20, 1:30 and 5:40. Flight time is 1 hr 10min. Price is reasonable.

Think nights not days. 3N=2D.

2 N Venice.

Train to Florence.

3 N Florence.

Train to Lake Como.
2 N Bellaagio.

Train to CT.
2N village of choice.

Train to Naples.
Private transfer to Positano.
4N AC.

Train to Rome.
3 N Rome

Fly home.

Edit: frankly, you are trying to do too much with some long travel times.
You're traveling in April and the weather is very unpredictable in both the CT and Lake Como you could end up with four days of rain with nothing to do. For this reason I'd skip these two and add 1 night to Venice, Florence,Rome and the AC.

Hi Diana -
I think you get different viewpoints on your plan but ooof, it's a lot of moving around and quite a number of short stays. Keep in mind that you can easily kill 1/2 day every time you make a move?

It would be most accurate to count the number of nights you have to spend in Italy versus days. How many nights do you have on the ground in Italy?

Rome: arranging your trip to miss the Easter holiday is advised.

1 night in Venice is only 1/2 day; not much time for a city which deserves at least 3 nights. I'd take it off the list and add that day elsewhere.

I'm confused by Florence; are you staying 2 nights or 3? 2 nights will only give you one full sightseeing day. Same with Como and the CT.

2 days Cinque Terre (hike between villages)

When most tourists say they want to "hike between the villages" they mean doing it on the most popular route: the Sentiero Azzurro ("Blue Path"). Note that the legs between Corniglia>Manarola>Riomaggiore have been closed to damage for some years now and are not expected to open in 2018. There are other routes in the park but they're longer, more strenuous, and shouldn't be tackled if it is or has been very wet. Reference the park's website:

http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/Eindex.php

This page is the most useful:
http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/Eindex.php

Right now the entire length of the "Blue" (SVA2) is closed but that's not unusual over the winter.

Day 14-17, Amalfi Coast (Positano etc... beaches,relax and chill for
4-5 days. Take train back to Rome- fly home next day.

Again, count your nights and not days? Positano is a long way from the CT and will use up most of day 14. If you have to return to Rome on day 17, you'll only have have 2 full days and fractions of two others in the Amalfi area, not 4 or 5.

We all travel differently but I'd probably consider dropping either the CT or Como along with Venice and shuffling the time between the remaining locations.

Hate to be "bah humbug Scrooge", but it appears you're trying to do way too much in too little time. You are moving five or six times and you'll loose three quarters to a whole day each time you move. It's not just the travel time in route, there is also the time lost packing, checking out of the hotel, getting to the train station, getting to the new hotel, checking in, and unpacking. Afraid you will have great memories of train stations but little else. With your limited time, consider only three or four (at the max) locations with perhaps some days trips from each. If you must go to the Amalfi Coast, go directly there from Rome to chill and get acclimated. Then a quick flight (or fast train) to Venice. Lake Como is beautiful but save it for another trip. Head to Florence and then to Rome before flying home. Everyone tries to do too much on the first trip to Italy so you are in good company. But this is a case where less will definitely be more.

Take a look at Rick Steves’ Best of Italy Tour. It was 17 days and we had all of our transportation arranged. We did not go any further south than Rome. I don’t see how you will do it it the 17 days and have time to see everything that you expect to see. Venice definitely deserves more time.

I concur with gerri

For the amount of time you have CT, AC and Lake Como is at least one too many places.

Going to Venice for one night is like traveling cross country to go to the Super Bowl and then leaving at the end of the 1st quarter.

Gerri is soooo right. Venice is the best place to soak up the atmosphere while getting out of the haze of jetlag and lack of sleep, but since you've already booked your flights, go straight to Florence by train. It's easy enough from FCO with a transfer in Rome's Termini Station. Then (maybe) Como, 3 nights in Venice then train or fly to Naples and private transfer to the Amalfi Coast. Skip the CT. Finish up in Rome.

Rome is the worst place to start your trip, zonked and dealing with a big, bustling city that's got major sights and too easy to get lost in.

Amalfi Coast - where you stay depends on what you want to see and do. Come back and tell us, and we'll have better advice on where to base.

I can see the wisdom of starting the trip in Florence (going there directly on arrival day) and ending it in Rome. It's an option many of us recommend to when flights are both in and out of Fiumicino, and both Florence the A.C. are on the agenda as it eliminates that extra move for just one night prior to a flight.

I will disagree some that Rome is a bad place to start because it's big and busy, though. It's where we've started our trips to The Boot (so far) and haven't found it any more difficult to manage than other large European (or U.S., for that matter) cities which have been our starting points. The area that most first-time tourists are interested in is relatively compact compared to, say, Paris, London, Munich, etc.

The big three, in my opinion, in Italy are Rome, Florence and Venice. Lake Como is nice, but doesn't compare with the big three. Cinque Terre is good for a couple of days, if you can cover the big three. A week in Rome will not cover Rome, but you can see a lot in four days. Florence requires at least three nights (two full days), Venice requires two days.

Rome 6 nights
Florence 4 nights
Venice 3 nights

This is my suggestion.

Diana,

In my humble opinion, I think you're trying to do and see too much. This kind of pace can only be achieved (comfortably) by a tour operator or someone very familiar with the locations being visited. I fear you will be spending as much time packing/unpacking and looking at the inside of trains/buses as you will be sightseeing. I recommend picking out two or three regional centers to home-base and take day trips to other sites. I would opt for an equal split between Venice, Florence and Rome (preferably flying into the country at one end and flying out the other). This would leave plenty of time for day trips into the countryside when the hustle and bustle of the city got overwhelming.

I would also look very closely at the Lake Como, the Amalfi and the Cinque Terre as the tourist season is just (slowly) kicking off and the weather can be cool and a bit wet.

Rome, Florence and Venice all deserve as much time as you can provide them. I've spent a cumulative 7 days each in Venice and Florence and feel I could go back to each for another week. I've only scratched the surface with 3 days in Rome and I'm planning a 10 to 14 day trip to see it in-depth.

I’ll join the crowd telling you that you’re trying to cram in too many places. In my opinion, the first trim should be CT/AC. Too repetetive. Both offer beautiful coastal scenery. Of the two, I vastly prefer the AC. There is much to do, even if the weather is bad. No small consideration in April. However, you could cut both and still have a wonderful trip.
I think you should add at least one more night to Venice, possibly two; one to Florence, possibly two; and one to Rome, possibly two. Each of them offers multiple possibilities for day trips, though you could stay in the cities for the whole time and not run out of things to do.

Hi Diana,

The consensus is that this is trying to cover too much - glad you asked the question because you want your trip to be wonderful. A helpful site that will give you quick info is rome2rio.com Enter each of your planned cities, and you will find out how long it takes between locations and which modes of transportation are best. It's very helpful to create a small spreadsheet to see which destinations are worth the travel time. My husband & I have been traveling for several years to Europe, and our ideal transportation time is having breakfast at the hotel, being at the train station by 9-10am and arriving at the next destination no later than 1pm. If we stay at a location 2 nights, that gives us a full 1 1/2 days; 3 nights gives us 2 1/2 days. If you're not at a location by 1pm, by the time you're settled in the new hotel & understand the town's layout, your 2 nights will only be one whole day - not enough for any of the locations you've listed. Plan what you would like to do at locations and then set the number of days at each.

Per your initial itinerary - Venice definitely needs more than a day. It's so unique and special; two days is an absolute minimum. We've been to Venice four times for several days, and I would love to return again! Also, I see lots of water locations - Lake Como, Cinque Terre, Amalfi Coast. Drop at least one of those.

This is a quick lunch-hour thought to get you started:
Fly into Rome; 1-hour train to Orvieto (1 night)
2.5 hr train to Florence- 4 nights (plan some nice day trips - Siena, a wine tour, a cooking class, etc. or a longer daytrip to Cinque Terre)
2-hr train to Venice- 3 nights
3.5 hr train to Rome- 3 nights
3.5 hr train to Amalfi Coast - 4 nights
3.5 hr train to Rome airport- 1 night
Fly home.

Italy is wonderful!!!. I concur with the feedback of trying to do too much on this trip. My feedback from my own travel experiences in Italy which may or may not apply for you. I went to Lake Como in April 2015 and it rained all 3 days. I was a disappointment. The lake and scenery are beautiful however we were unable to sit outside at the cafe due to weather and it was unfortunate Spring weather.
I would start with Rome. It is awesome with so much excitement, sites, walking. My experience has been that by the end of a long European trip with multiple stops that I start to get tired so I try to put the big cities at the beginning and middle. I did not go to Venice on my first trip and when we decided to go back to Italy for the second time, I figured we "should" put Venice on the list.
Well....I know it's a cliche but it was magical. I loved Venice and hope to go back again. Please give it more than 1 day if you keep it on the list. Amalfi Coast or Cinque Terre-pick one for this trip. You will be the north so it probably make sense to go to Cinque Terre.
Both are beautiful coastal areas however you will be unlikely to go to beach in April. Have a wonderful trip.

One caution to Jean's thoughtfully provided transport times? While it's 2 hours by fast train from Florence to Venice, that doesn't take into account time to check out, get to the station, find your platform, and then get to your hotel and settled in. This can easily add over an hour and more - especially if connecting with ferries to Bellagio or Positano - to all of the estimates.