First time in Italy - 2 weeks in August

katie,

Is this your first time to Europe, or just first time in Italy? If it's your first time abroad, I'd suggest reading Europe Through The Back Door to begin with, as that provides a lot of good information on "how" to travel well in Europe, including estimating costs as I recall. It would also be prudent to pack along a copy of the RS Italy guidebook as that has lots of information on sightseeing, hotels, restaurants, transportation, etc.

With such a short time frame, it would be a good idea to limit your visit to perhaps three locations, with day trips. Start with 3-4 nights in Venice, 4-5 nights in Florence (with day trips), and the remaining time in Rome (with day trips).

As you noted, it will be HOT & CROWDED in Italy at that time, so touring will probably take longer due to huge queues, etc. Travel from one place to another is best by train (or in some cases, bus). The high speed trains travel at up to 300 km/h so it's a very efficient way to travel (ie: Florence to Rome in 90 minutes).

There are some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of when using trains and other public transit in Italy. If you need more information on that, post another note and I'll forward my usual "boilerplate" on the subject.

I would highly recommend getting the details in place and start getting some hotels booked, as they will fill up quickly. Be sure to confirm that they provide A/C as it makes sleeping so much more comfortable.

2 nights in Venice gives you just 1 full day, so I strongly recommend adding at least 1 more night there. 4 nights in Florence opens up the possibility of a day trip to somewhere else in Tuscany. I wouldn't move to a different place. With such a short trip, you don't want to waste more time changing lodgings. That leaves 5 nights for Rome. Again, the loss of time involved in checking out, traveling, and checking in dictates that you should leave Sorrento for your next trip to Italy. There are some nice day trips you can do from Rome. Ostia Antica and Orvieto are my favorites.
$200 pp, or $400/day seems quite adequate to me, though your destinations have some of the highest hotel prices in Italy. However, even if you spend $200/day on lodgings, you'll still have $200 for the rest. Look on booking.com for lodgings. Some people like to book directly with hotels, but I like booking.com for a couple of reasons. You get access to (probably) hundreds of listings. You get instant confirmation; and you can see ratings from people who actually stayed in the places. All the nitty gritty information is listed; credit cards?, ac?, elevator? breakfast included?, easy cancellation unless you opt for the cheaper but non-refundable price, etc. Hotels' own websites sometimes aren't as clear. The one caveat about booking.com is that the hotels may have vacancies that they have not released. If there is a place that seems perfect to you, you can always check directly. I advise that you get cracking on reservations. You'd be surprised how many places are already fully booked for August.
As your trip takes shape, come back to this site with more questions.

Ken's suggestion to limit you trip to three locations with day trips is excellent advice. Three to four nights in Venice is needed to do the city justice. The time in Florence can be four to six nights depending on the number of day trips. Rome will easily consume the rest of your time.

If you want off the beaten path then I would suggest you find something like that in Tuscany and take a day trip into Florence. It will be hot in the city so you might enjoy a village for a change of pace. I would stay in Venice and you can pick up a car when you leave there. Drive to Tuscany then do day trips with your car to lots of little villages and vineyards in the countryside. Drop you car at the airport in Florence and take the train or bus to Sorrento and end your trip in Rome and fly home from there. It might be a little rushed, but unless there is a place you want to omit (and think you will come back for it) this will give you a wonderful taste of Italy.

I would stay with just 3 locations, otherwise you will waste a lot of time travelling and sitting on trains. You are starting in Venice, great! Stay 3 nights (you need a day to get over jet lag). Go to Florence, either 3-4 nights. Day trip to Lucca/Pisa and/or Seina. Spend remainder of time in Rome. Do day trips to Orvieto or Ostia Antica, or just stay in Rome. There is enough to see! Remember, you can always come back :)