Accomadation and what to do/ not to miss for Venice, Florence, and Milian in mid-Sept

A good guidebook, like Rick Steves' Italy Guide should be your first stop. Or use www.Booking.com which allows you to filter for your preferences including budget and location.

Most of us here have a far more modest budget than yours. You should not have a problem finding accommodations at those rates.

4 nights in Florence is too long given you are not huge museum fans why not just skip it if CT is where you really want to be?
What about Milan brings you there? Flight home? If so I'd skip Milan and spend the time either on Lake Como OR Maggiore and come back to Milan for the night before the flight

Venice - look over on Giudecca for less expensive lodging or stay outside Venice and day trip in

hi helenli
i also agree with others to get a guide book of those areas, use euros instead of canadian $$. booking.com is a start which you can put filters to what you want. in venice you can stay on a back canal and not be "expensive" (which is a vague amount to us).
stay in cinque terre and day trip on train to florence, same as in milan, stay lake como and spend last night in milan before flight home. happy travels
aloha

in venice you can stay on a back canal and not be "expensive"... What's " back canal" or what words I type in search box for " back canal" hotels in Venice

"stay in cinque terre and day trip on train to florence", stay at " cinque terre" for my accommodation, or 1 N in Cinque Terre, remaining 3 N in Florence.

In Milan, how many days/nights usually first-time traveler stay in Lake Como ? You suggest to stay in Lake Como to save the cost of hotel in Milan correct, then last night in Milan, so fly home the next day ?

Thanks

I might suggest that you go www.booking.com and use the map on the site that will show all the available hotels, prices for your dates and their location. You'll notice some will be on the Grand Canal, most are expensive and some super expensive. Even if you book one of these the room won't necessarily be facing the water. For that you need to make a specific request and pay a higher price, because they are in highest demand. You'll also notice side canals, and as was mentioned, they can be less expensive.

For Milan, the suggestion to stay on Lake Como is not due to price. Depending on the season, they may be more expensive. The reason is the scenery along the lake shore. Suggest Varenna because it is an easy inexpensive train ride to/from Milan. Milan itself is big-city Italy, center of business, industry, fashion. It has a few interesting sites for the casual tourist, like the Duomo (cathedral), Da Vinci's Last Supper, which is hard to get into last minute unless you sign up for a tour.

At this time, a guide book would help you decide where to spend your time in places you want to see and that interest you.