Amalfi Coast or Cinque Terre

To start with, your instinct to not spread yourselves too thin is a sound one. Stick to it. Including Sicily in a 2 week trip is spreading yourselves too thin. It is a really big island, and 2 - 3 days is nowhere near enough time for it.

Once upon a time, the Cinque Terre may have been “Italy at its most relaxed.” No more. Even in September, you can count on huge crowds, especially as the cruise ships disgorge their passengers.

The Amalfi Coast is not undiscovered. However, there is much of interest there and nearby, e.g., Pompeii.
If it were I, on my first trip, I would limit myself to Rome Florence and some of Tuscany. I say “some,” because Tuscany is also a very large area, with many attractions. If you must have a 3rd destination, consider Venice. There are easy train connections from Florence. In fact, on our first trip ( of 17) to Italy, we limited ourselves to Rome, Florence, and Venice in 2.5 weeks; and we were very satisfied.

I have been to Cinque Terre and enjoyed very much. But I chose weekdays in May instead of weekends and was fit enough to walk on the high trails instead of the lower trails which were very crowded and not appealing to me. I have completed planning and booking my next Italy trip which includes Amalfi. If you have Silicy on your list it is closer to Amalfi than Cinque so logistically it makes sense. Also possible to take a direct train from Rome to Salerno which is an easy first night and has it's own charms. I plan going directly there on same day I arrive.
Just wondering why you are using a travel agent. This is all very doable by you,plus the planning and research will give you lots of useful knowledge. I travel alone and have never found it necessary to use one.

With only 12-14 days in Italy, Rome, Tuscany and Cinque Terre would be a reasonable itinerary. Amalfi Coast is a bit of a detour, and it really doesn't make sense to go all the way to Sicily for only 2-3 days. I'm surprised your travel agent hasn't tried to discourage you from including Sicily in this trip

I agree with the previous poster about not combining the 2 regions. I planned my Tuscany trip last year to include Cinque Terre and Tuscany towns. Spent the first night in Florence on the high speed train from Rome.
From Rome it's not difficult or time consuming to get to Salerno from Rome. Direct to Salerno in 1.5 hours. Then from Salerno most places on the Amalfi coast there are fast and inexpensive ferries which sounds like fun in any case!
Link here to ferries
https://www.naplesbayferry.com/en/t/salerno/amalfi

jwh,

With such a very short time frame, my suggestion would be to focus on Rome and the northern part of Italy. It would be very easy to fit the Cinque Terre into a "loop" including Rome - Florence (Tuscany) - Cinque Terre - Rome. Including Sicily and the Amalfi Coast in a 14 day time frame is simply "too much". Italy is best enjoyed "slowly" and not on a marathon "if it's Tuesday, this must be Rome" basis. Remember the words Il dolce far niente - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg3n9z5zuJg .

One other possibility would be to fit a couple of nights in Sorrento between Rome and Florence. That would provide a brief view of the Amalfi Coast and allow visits to Naples, Pompeii and perhaps Positano.

While the Cinque Terre has become somewhat more crowded in recent years, especially (but not totally) due to the cruise ship hordes, it's usually quite pleasant and relaxing in the evenings after all the day trippers have left. Those who are staying there get to enjoy those quieter times.

It would help to have more information about which places you most want to see, as that would make it easier to offer more detailed advice.

jwhboston, I'm voting with Frank and Ken here. Sicily doesn't make any sense at all for just 2 -3 days, and the Amalfi is geographically out of the way. I'd concentrate your time in Rome and Tuscany and trade the time in Sicily for 2 nights or so in the Cinque Terre.

The C.T....Yep, I'm chuckling too over that one described as "most relaxed". Once, some moons ago, but it's been a tourist magnet for awhile now. No matter. If all you want to do is kick back on a terrace somewhere and take it the view, then go for it. The golden hours for poking about are in the early mornings, before the day-trippers arrive, and in the later afternoon/evenings, when they leave. The Amalfi Coast is very busy too: just more room for the crowds to spread out.

Monterosso is a good base as it's the biggest of the five, small CT villages so it feels less overrun, It also has more restaurants and other guest services. There are some hotels/accommodations with reasonably flat, easy walks from the train station...which is nice in very hilly towns which are virtually pedestrianized.

Florence makes an excellent base for some nice day trips to other parts of Tuscany via public transit (Lucca, Siena, Fiesole, etc) and is a fascinating city on its own if you like art and architecture (which I do)!

If you are there for 14 days a couple of nights in Venice may be doable - not a bad ride fron Florence or Cinque Terre

I had the same dilemma. I wanted to go to Cinque Terre and my husband wanted to go to Pompeii. (We're flying in and out of Rome). So I decided that the Amalfi Coast would quench my thirst for picturesque, oceanside Italy and we're going to go there instead of CT. It just fit better into our itinerary. Hopefully some day we'll go back and hit northern Italy!