Advice for 14 day trip: first time in Italy...our second honeymoon :)

Though I have not been every where are you are going I can tell you that this looks like a lot of moving around. The one piece I can help you with is that I would suggest instead of being in Florence and Siena maybe staying someplace in the Chianti region which is halfway between the two and then you can visit both cities without having to move your homebase

I agree--it looks a little busy for a honeymoon. You don't have to see Venice, Rome, and Florence on this trip. You can always return! I suggest splitting it in half, where you do some historic immersion but also some scenic relaxation.
The main problem is too many two-night stays. Three is a good rule of thumb (of course all rules are meant to be broken), and realize that moving around takes time.
Your first day in Venice, you will likely be jet-lagged, and then on your third day you have a long train journey.
April can be a little early for the coast weather-wise. Don't go to the Amalfi coast for such a short stay.
Are the flights booked?
btw, congrats!

On my first trip to Italy, I couldn't wait to visit the Cinque Terre and I really wish we had spent that time somewhere else. This is just my personal subjective opinion, but I would drop Vernazza and spend a couple of nights in either Verona or Bologna on the way to Florence from Venice.

Thanks everyone! Yes flights are booked! (and randomly one morning at 4am a couple weeks ago they were 50% price of where they were the day before and the day after...lucked out!) I know what you're saying about too many two night stays...I guess I based my plans a bit on the Rick Steve's recommended itinerary (which includes those two-night stays) and someone told me Venice and Cinque Terre were OK for exploring in two days each...with spending more time in Florence/Rome.

So far I think we've decided to skip Sorrento and just do 5 nights in Rome (my wife is a big history buff and we'll definitely spend a whole day at Vatican), but am still not sure about the whole Florence/Siena thing...it'd probably be great to stay in a Chianti hill town as a base those 4 nights (both as a more tranquil place to stay and also because it's one less move during our trip), but how would travel to/from Florence be on a daily basis to go into the city for sight-seeing, eating, etc.? I figured staying near city center would be more convenient and maybe just a day trip to Siena?

Yes I think it is too much with very little Time to even get a glance.
In April, I would let down Cinque Terre part.
You arrive in Venice early afternoon. That means that you will indeed arrive in Venice itself middle of afternoon at the earliest. With jet lag you will be dead tired and will surely sleep two hours before wanting to get out and have dinner somewhere. So no time to see much. On the next day, you'll be better but not yet 100 percents.
So I would at least add one of the Cinque Terre night here.
So we get to day 4: where I would put travel to Florence (2hours) - setting in hotel or apartment - Ponte Vecchio - Boboli gardens. I would dedicate three days to visit of Florence and would daytrip to Pisa (I would rather do Lucca) and Siena (take a whole day for Siena, leaving early, Pisa is worth half a day, if you leave Florence early, you could do both Pisa and Lucca).
If you do want to go to Sorrento , I would skip Pisa and Lucca for another time you could do Amalfi, Sorrento , Capri.
if you do not want to skip Pisa, then go straight to Rome and savour your time in Rome.
If you decide for Sorrento and have to spend little time in Rome, take your hotel in Trastevere, or in the City centre, not so much near Vaticano (although it is cheaper and also quite nice but further away). If you have more time in Rome, try to find an apartment, it's more comfortable and cheaper.

I'd skip Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. It's pushing 200 miles south of Rome, and might just push you past the point of no return.
By the time you hit Rome, you've seen enough. And it's too important of a city not to see the right way--slowly.

There is plenty to see south of Roma, but you will travel a bit more slowly in the south. I would save anything south of Roma for a future trip.

Siena has public parking garages near the town, with transportation to the historic center. A few years ago, my friends and I stayed at Hotel Minerva, just outside one of the city gates, with covered parking onsite.

I think the long stay in Rome without trying to squeeze anything else in will balance out the first half, even if you keep the one night in Siena. As long as you aren't being completely unrealistic (you're not), I always advise do what you most want to do!
You might look for an apartment rental in Rome. That just feels relaxing to me.
The one night in Siena will give you a peek of "Tuscany," (literal and figurative) and the next time you visit, rural Tuscany (with a car) and the Amalfi coast will make a nice trip. If it looks like crummy rainy weather in Vernazza, I'd cancel though. The main appeal of Cinque Terre is hiking between the villages, and that is a no go in torrential rain. But fingers crossed for sunny days;)

With just 13 nights I think you are attempting too much. Save the Amalfi Coast for a summer visit.

Venice - 3N
Cinque Terre - 2N
via Pisa to Florence - 5N (days to Siena & Lucca)
Rome - 3N

We had a similar but different honeymoon five years ago and really enjoyed ourselves. 5 nights Rome, 3 nights Orvieto, 3 nights CT, 3 nights Venice. It was a good pace.

Thoughts:

We visited Murano and Burano from Venice leisurely for most of a day and really enjoyed it. If you're interested in them, could be a great way to spend a day.

Rome - we visited Villa d'Este in Tivoli. It was a lovely day trip from Rome and a completely different feel from the city. We haven't made it to Ostia Antica yet but it's supposed to be another good day trip.

With 13 nights, I would consider 3 nights Venice, 4 nights Florence, 1 night Siena or Orvieto (Orvieto is better connected by public transportation), and 5 nights Rome. Of course, the combination possibilities are endless. We did enjoy the CT and did not even see it all with 3 nights. We did laundry there, also moved a little slow but that was nice. You want to enjoy yourselves :)

If you only have 13 nights (which is 12 days) you can really only "see" 3 towns, and even then it will be quite rushed. for example on our first (and only so far, but will be back for 15 nights in Rome next march) we had 16 nights (15 days) we did 8 nights Rome, 4 each Florence and Venice, and while 8 nights was ok for Rome (as you can see we did wish for more though) 4 nights each in the other 2 really shortchanged both locations and we didn't even do any day trips (well we stopped in Pisa on the way from Rome to Florence but that only took an extra 2 hours the way we did it).

Part of our last trip was Venice, Siena, Montepulciano, Orvieto, Rome. We had a car between Siena and Orvieto which worked out really well. The smaller towns with a car make for easy two night stays and it's nice to get away from crowds for part of your trip. I'd leave out Cinque Terre and South of Rome because logistically those destinations will eat up a lot of time in travel.

Congratulations on your second honeymoon! A few thoughts......

As this is your first trip to Italy (and Europe), my first suggestion is to read Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip. It provides a lot of good information on how to travel well in Europe, and the differences you'll encounter. You'll have to get up-to-speed on obtaining cash, travel with technology, using public transit and a lot of other things. After you've read ETBD, use the RS Italy guidebook to plan sightseeing, hotels, transportation, etc. (you might want to pack that along for reference during the trip).

The proposed Itinerary listed above is not the most efficient and I'd suggest some changes. I'm not sure Rick's suggested Itinerary is the best choice in your circumstances. Travelling from Venice to Vernazza and then back to Florence is absurd. As you're not going to visit Sorrento this time, I'd also suggest increasing the time in the other locations. It would help to know where you're flying from? In most cases, you'll arrive in Europe the day after you depart your home location. You'll likely be jet lagged for the first few days, so not up to full "touring speed".

There are many possibilities, but would something like this work.....

• D1 - Flight to Venice
• D2/N1 - Arrive Venice (use Alilaguna from the airport, or Bus to Piazzale Roma and then Vaporetto to the area of your hotel)
• D3/N2 - Venice, touring
• D4/N1 - Train to Florence (high speed Freccia or Italo from Venezia Santa Lucia to Firenze SM Novella), some touring
• D5/N2 - Florence, touring
• D6/N3 - Florence, day trip to Siena by Bus (about 1H:15M each way if using Corse Rapide Express Bus)
• D7/N1 - Train to Vernazza (probably at least two changes), some touring (you could stop in Pisa on the way, if you want to see the tower but will likely have to store your luggage)
• D8/N2 - Vernazza and Cinque Terre, touring
• D9/N3 - Vernazza and Cinque Terre, touring
• D10/N1 - Train to Roma Termini (about 4 hours, one change in La Spezia)
• D11/N2 - Rome, touring
• D12/N3 - Rome, touring (possible day trip to Orvieto)
• D13/N4 - Rome, touring
• D14 - Flight home (use Leonardo Express to the airport, €14 PP - DON'T forget to validate your tickets!).

Hopefully the format I'm using is easy to understand.

I'd suggest getting an early start on booking accommodations in Vernazza, although April likely won't be as busy as it's at the start of the tourist season. Note that Vernazza only has a collection of small rooms and Pensiones, rather than conventional hotels. If you want more of a hotel atmosphere with desk staff and other amenities, you might consider Monterosso instead. If you were planning on hiking any of the Sentiero Azzurro trails in the Cinque Terre, note that only two of the four segments will likely be open.

As this is your first trip to Italy, it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the "rules" of using public transit there (trains, buses, metro), as there are some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of. If you need more information, post another note here.

Good luck with your planning!

Congrats on your first time to Europe! Bravo.

I would remove Sorrento and Amalfi for this trip. Add one day to Rome and one day to Venice.
I would see Sienna from Florence.

Here's a little reality check. You land in Venice at 1 p.m. It will take you a few minutes at least to get through passport control and collect your luggage. Then it will take you anywhere from an hour (private expensive water taxi) to 2 hours to get to your hotel. Getting around Venice takes a lot of time. You'll have the evening to see Venice - after a long-haul flight, jetlagged and probably sleep-deprived. You're allowing yourselves only one full day (when you're still adjusting to the time difference and possibly stilled zonked) to see the city. Energy doesn't compensate for the actual time it takes to get from place to place. Each move means time to get to/from the train (and enough time there to find your train) to the hotel and get oriented to the new city. I sometimes maximize sightseeing time by traveling in the evening, relaxing on the train after an intense day, but that means forgoing "romantic" dinner in a nice restaurant for a picnic supper on the train.

With 13 nights and 5 of them in Rome, 2-3 other places is the maximum. I think Venice is a great place to start, but you need to have at least 2 full days there, which means 3 nights. If you leave early, you could spend a day seeing Verona or Padua (I'm not familiar with Vernazza) - store your bags at the train station, then take an evening train to Florence.

That leaves you 5 nights. Florence - If you love Renaissance painting, sculpture and architecture, you'll want 3 days in the city itself, use one day for Siena by bus and another to Pisa and Lucca by train. But if you aren't that into classical art, you could stay in Florence for 2-3 nights to see the sights, then a couple nights in Siena (not as easy to get to Rome from there, but doable) or you could consider somewhere else - Orvieto is lovely and well-connected to both Florence and Rome by train. Or you could stay in Siena for 3-4 nights and day-trip to Florence and other Tuscan towns by bus.

Another possibility is to stay for several nights in Bologna between Venice and Florence or Siena. It's a pretty town with great food and it's a train hub . . . easy to base there and day trip to Padua, Ravenna, Ferrara, Modena and more.

Thanks again everyone...definitely going to pay this back to others with advice once we return from our trip! Adding a night in Venice...still have Cinque Terre booked (though I'm much more reluctant to do this base on all of your advice!) which we can cancel if weather is crappy and just spend more time in Florence.

After time spent in Florence, would it be worth an actual stay one night in Siena or Orvieto on our way down to Rome? Leaning toward Orvieto...I realize we can day trip to Siena from Florence but it seems it might be nice to chill at night and enjoy the tranquility of night/morning in one of these places by actually staying there.

We love staying one night in ANY village like Siena and Orvieto.

1. Many posters and travelers do not like "one night" stays, but this is your only one.
2. Do y'all travel well together ? Will you be packing light ? A one night stopover is easy to do when you don't have a string of one night stops.
3. Evening walks in small villages are just magical and will be a huge reprieve from the bustle of upcoming Rome.

I agree with Carla--it is all about balance. Giving yourself more time in other places makes a one night stay somewhere not that big of a deal and sometimes it logistically makes sense. I think it will be a nice preview for future trips.

I would choose one of the Cinque Terre or Amalfi Coast ; not try and do both in your timeframe for sure. I prefer the AC over CT but I think for your logistics Amalfi Coast is more out of the way and takes more time to visit than you have allocated.
I don't like 1 night stays so Siena may not be worth staying overnight in. If you had 2 I would say go for it, but your other stays are too short to add any to Siena plus it is easier to catch a fast train to Rome from Florence than Siena so the move south does not help you here.

You don't have enough time in Venice by the looks of it or Vernazza. You will arrive late your first day and really only 1 full day to see the Cinque Terre. Given it is out of the way and hard to move bags around staying for 1 day just isn't a great idea.
You really would want 3 in Venice and 3 in Vernazza. Problem is 3 in Florence is needed and especially needed if you want to do Siena as a day trip.
4 nights in Rome is good, 3 would be too hectic I think and you CANNOT do a day trip to AC staying in Rome at least not enjoyably. Even Pompeii is a tough day trip, definitely doable but given you don't really have much excess time I am not sure I would if you opt for 3 nights Rome ; no day trips elsewhere, 4 or more nights and you could probably do 1 day trip.

still have Cinque Terre booked (though I'm much more reluctant to do
this base on all of your advice!) which we can cancel if weather is
crappy and just spend more time in Florence.

You're making progress, and I'm in the camp with the others for the less-is-more approach. :O)
One comment on the above? Cancellation at the last minute due to weather may not be possible without penalty depending on individual policies for the accommodation or the booking site used, if you do use one. Just be sure to review fine print for your accommodations carefully, OK?

To what Kathy said, some properties will charge a cancellation fee of one night, or the entire stay. Read your booking info.

Decisions! Go with your gut on what feels right to you. You'll learn so much about how you like to travel by traveling. We've done one night stays and enjoyed them...but, they're still not my favorite. Even small places can be surprising with how much they have to offer a visitor. As for us, we only have limited travel days now with my husband's work so we make the most of what we have and that includes one night stays sometimes. I'd do some thorough research of your transportation options to help you make your decision if you end up going with a one night stay somewhere. If you go with Orvieto, check out Casa Selita. You get countryside views but you can still walk into town. It was the best of both worlds and very romantic :)

The reason I'd go with Orvieto over Siena is that it has better train connections to Rome. Also you can easily do a day trip from Florence to Siena by bus (about 1 hour, city center to city center). A day trip to Orvieto takes longer from Rome - getting to/from both train stations.

Arrive Venice - 3N
To Cinque Terre - 2N
Via Pisa to Florence - 4N (day trip to Siena)
To Orvieto - 1N
To Rome - 3N

The first trip is always trial and error and learning your preferred travel style. You are going to make mistakes, try to roll with them. Maybe you will realize that you aren’t a museum person or that all ruins start to look the same after a while (not my opinion but some do feel that way). Maybe you will learn you like fast paced or that you really are the type that prefers to savor fewer areas. You will no doubt go someplace and think, I wish I could have more time here and go somewhere else and think it was a waste of time. This, in particular, happens no matter how seasoned a traveler you are.
Make a list of things you want to do each day and realize that you won’t get to do them all. Something will be closed that you didn’t expect, a bad weather day will prevent a certain visit. Have alternatives in mind for each day you plan so you don’t waste time figuring out what to do in those instances. Figure out logistics as much as possible in advance so you aren’t wasting time figuring that out on the fly. Also, realize you will likely hit a day where you are too tired to do what you had intended to do.
I’ve been to Rome twice for a total of 9 days visited. I didn’t day trip to Pompeii until my second visit. Pisa is a quick visit en route to Florence. I haven’t been to Siena so can’t comment there. We enjoyed Cinque Terre but I don’t know what it is like in April. However, I can say that we walked the length of the 5 towns in one day and were fine with that. Loved Florence and wished for more time there. Venice is Venice and unlike anywhere you will ever go.

My advice:
3 Venice
2 CT
4 Florence (with your day trips)
4 Rome (decide in Rome if you want to daytrip to Pompeii but I think it can be skipped this trip)

But the first trip abroad will be unlike any other trip, especially for people coming from the U.S. where everything is relatively new in comparison. Rome was the first city I visited outside of the U.S. As we rode from the airport to our hotel, I was looking all around mesmerized. Driving down a rode, I caught my first glimpse of the Coliseum. I exclaimed “Look, the Coliseum!” Our driver was unimpressed but I will never forget that moment or that feeling.

And I’m a planner but you might go on your trip and realize you are a fly by the seat of your pants kind of person and like to just go without a plan.