Family of 7

Go to Venice. It's their trip, too, and it IS unique and interesting.

Cinque Terre is interesting, but in my opinion overrated compared to the BIG Three, Rome, Florence and Venice.

Are you planning to stay in Rome prior to moving on to another city? Rome has so much to offer, the Colosseum, Forum, Pantheon, St. Peter's Basilica and the incomparable Sistine Chapel. There is more as well. Five days would not be enough for Rome.

Florence is special and has two amazing museum the Uffizi and Academica. Also, the Doumo and other city sites as well. You need three days minimum for Florence. Venice is special and you need 2-3 days there..

There is a great high speed train that runs from Rome to Florence and then to Venice.

If you go to CT, it will be somewhat out of the way. Still, if you go there don't spend a lot of time there. Pisa is nearby and so is Lucca, with are great places to see.

If you plan on doing CT, you can still do Rome, Florence and perhaps do Pisa as well. It will be tough to include Venice.

It's much easier to get to the Rome airport than the Venice airport early in the morning. And many flights to the U.S. depart early in the a.m. If possible, you might consider reversing you route.

Rick Steves has a tour that goes to Venice, Florence, and Rome. Don't think it goes to the CT. At any rate, you might want to look at that tour for ideas about how to structure your itenerary.

Also, if you have to chose between Florence and Venice, I'd suggest Venice. This is not a knock on Florence, but Venice is very unique. The only bad part about going to Venice, is that you will always want to go back. It's that great.

If you don't already have your plane tickets, fly into Venice and home from Rome. People on this forum say that Venice is best city to recover from jet lag.

Visit both Florence and Venice. Skip the Cinque Terre, it doesn’t compare to Florence and/or Venice.
And don’t depart from Venice which is more difficult to do. We had a problem one time leaving Venice due to extreme tides.

Thanks for the tips. My husband and I have been to CT and we really want to take the girls there. We really enjoyed it. I realize it is out of the way but we are pretty sure about keeping it on the list. Just not sure we can do another day of museums in Florence as the girls are not huge into art and Rome will be so full of History. I realize Florence probably offers more with the country side options also but Venice offers something so unique. UGH!

How long ago did you visit the CT?

Go to Venice. Your daughters want to visit the unique city.

I’m headed back there in September for my 3rd visit, 5 nights this trip, previously 4 and 3 nights. There is always something to see whether big museums, the lagoon islands Murano, Burano and Tortello, small museums or just walking around the neighborhoods. Padua is an easy day trip.
I haven’t been to Florence but have four nights planned in September before going to Rome for five nights.

My husband and I were there 20 years ago. I was there again 10 years ago. I know it has changed a lot and has gotten busier.

Keep your expectations low. European travel has changed massively in the last 10 years, but I imagine you saw a significant difference between your two trips. Your trip is short. How many nights are you able to spend on the ground in Italy? You might have as few as 8 full days. The less time you spend at each stop, the more crowds you'll encounter, because you'll need most of the time you have to go to the famous places everyone wants to see. Slow down the pace and you can enjoy the back canals in Venice and the equivalent at your other stops (though I'm not sure there's an equivalent in the Cinque Terre these days).

Those girls are instagram ages. Maybe they can research the best photo ops for Florence and Venice. But please no jumping in canals.