24 days in Italy itinerary advice

It looks great to me! Be sure to start books rooms for CT as soon as you nail down the exact days you'll be there.

Yep. It's do-able, mostly by train. But your trip is to more areas than I'd want to see on one trip.

I would suggest doing the trip in reverse--fly into Venice and out of Rome. Those 6:00 a.m. departures out of Venice Marco Polo Airport take you to other large European gateway airports where you'll sit around a few hours until catching your final flights home. Flying out of Rome is just so much easier, as you'll leave late a.m. directly for the U.S.

I would suggest cutting the lakes district, which I assume you're talking about Lake Como. It's easier to visit Lake Gardo--just west of Verona--and right on the way to the CT. It's just beautiful

For Tuscany, stay in Florence 3-4 days, and take a day trip via bus (not train) to Siena. Renting a car as you leave Florence is preferable to see hilltop towns like San Gimignano, Volterra and Orvieto. You can turn the car in at the Orvieto train station and take the 70 minute train ride into Rome Termini.

Reverse the order (Fly to Venice and fly back from Rome) and you are set.

Everything can be done with trains and buses, however a car is more efficient for:

DOLOMITES and LAKES
TUSCANY'S HILL TOWNS and COUNTRYSIDE (except Florence and Siena, where a car is a hassle).

A car is generally an expensive useless hassle outside the 2 areas above. Make sure you don't have one while you are staying in big cities (Florence, Rome, Venice, even Siena). Also a car is not necessary at the Cinque Terre (it would stay parked the whole time).

Along the Amalfi Coast a car could be used, but parking is expensive and on summer weekends the scenic Amalfi Coast road is congested. A great way to see the Amalfi coast is also by boat. There are buses (SITA compamy) that go back and forth along the scenic drive and that take a way a lot of stress for the driver.

you could do:
arrive and visit VENICE (no car)
At the end of Venice visit rent a car (at Venice Piazzale Roma) and head out to Dolomites mountains and/or Lakes.
Drive to Tuscany, visit the small towns and country side first. Then return the car when you get to Florence.
Visit Florence (no car)
Take train to Cinque Terre (no car)
Take train from CT to Naples area (likely change in Rome). It's a long trip that will take most of your day. Stay in Sorrento or Positano. (visit Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Pompeii, Capri, Naples).
A car is not needed during your stay in the Naples area.

Train back up from Sorrento (or wherever you stay) to Rome, which should be your last destination before coming home. No car needed or advised in Rome.
Visit Rome.
Fly back from Rome. The airport is 30-35 min taxi (train) ride from the city center.

Roberto is right. If you haven't booked the flights yet, it's better to start in Venice and end in Rome. Since you don't want to spend a lot of time in museums and galleries, you won't want to stay in Florence. It's all about art and architecture, but not much atmosphere. Since you'll use most of a day to get to the Amalfi Coast from Tuscany and another half-day back to Rome, think about adding a day or two to that bit.

Thanks guys this is a great help. We are actually from Australia and the flights we have mean we only have a 2.5 hour stop over in Dubai both on the way there and on the way home so no long lay overs for us. Unfortunately we have already booked these flights a few months back and got a great price so our flights in and out are fixed.... With this in mind are we still looking Ok? Also should we do CT after Tuscany then over to lakes then to Venice? Is that logical?
Thanks again everyone!

I should have known you weren't American when you wrote "hire a car" rather than "rent a car".

I think the Emirates flight to Dubai is in the afternoon, therefore you have more than enough time to trek to the Venice airport from the city.

If the itinerary is fixed and if you intend to 'hire' a car you should try to keep the areas where you will have a car consecutive in order to minimize the time you need a car to the most useful locations:

So in such case you should do the trip in the following order (use trains and buses unless specified otherwise):

ROME
AMALFI COAST/NAPLES AREA
CINQUE TERRE
FLORENCE (maybe day trip to Siena via bus)
At this point hire a car upon leaving Florence
TUSCANY'S HILL TOWNS AND COUNTRYSIDE by car (find accommodations outside Florence while having a car)
Keep the car and drive from Tuscany to Lakes and/or Dolomites mountains in Northern Italy.
LAKES/DOLOMITES - by car
drive from Lakes/Dolomites to Venice. Return car upon arrival in Venice.
VENICE.
SIDNEY (car, but drive on the left side of road, in case you forgot).

I think I would do the same order even without a car. However without a car you need to stay in Florence (or maybe Siena) to visit Tuscany's towns. Florence is Tuscany's transport hub. But I think a hired car is a better option for your trip (Tuscany and Lakes). Just remember to drive on the right side in Italy.

Why is Roberto's itinerary the best? Rome to the CT is the most direct route (you have to go through Rome to get to the CT or to Tuscany from the Amalfi Coast). If you go first to Tuscany, you will have to travel back through Florence from the CT to continue to the lakes and Venice.