First time Italy

To do CT, Venice and Rome, you would start by training to CT from Milan once you arrive. I suggest two nights in CT. Then train to Venice, leaving the earlier the better because that's a long haul. Three nights in Venice then Eurostar train to Rome for the rest of your time there. You can do a long daytrip out of Rome to Pompeii, laid out in the RS Rome book. Bolzano would be a daytrip from Venice, 3 hrs or so each way.

FWIW, you do have open jaw tickets, unless you left out some details. OJ means flying into one city and then departing from a different one, which you are doing (into Milan, departing Rome).

I am of the school of Longer Stays, Fewer Places, especially if trying to prevent killing yourself. You didn't indicate time of year. You might consider saving Venice for another trip. It is on the other side of Italy and makes for a couple of long trips getting to and from. Focusing on the west coast would make transportation shorter and a little simpler and allow you to easily work in Pompeli and perhaps Capri as a little change of pace. And don't skip Milan, it is worth a day or two.

There is so much to see in Rome, it is an amazing place. In 3 days you will be running around like a nut and you wont even put a dent in it. Skip venice, its like a 7-8 hour train ride from CT, you will be to tired.

Gloria, given the short time frame of your trip, IMHO you'll need to to drop a few of the places you wanted to see.

If I were planning this trip, I'd probably arrange it something like this:

arrive in Milan (if your flight arrives in the late afternoon / evening, stay one night in Milan. If you arrive in the morning, go straight to the C.T.)

Train to Cinque Terre (which village are you planning to stay in?) - 3 days (the C.T. is a great place to rest and recover from jet lag).

Train to Rome (try to choose a "fast" train on that route) - 5-6 days. With extra time in Rome, a day trip to Pompeii would be possible (although it's a LONG day - check Rick's book for details).

You'll need to allow some travel time, and with only nine days to work with, my preference would be to drop Bolzano and Venice this time. You indicated that the nine day trip doesn't include travel days, so I'm assuming the total time you have available is 11 days?

Good luck!

As to OJ, for the sake of brevity I left off the London part. We have to enter & leave Europe via London so I'v made plans for that part, we will be there for 3 nights before we get to Milan. After Milan is where I got messed up but you've straightened me out.
Thanks all for the great advice, and so quickly, too!
I've decided to drop Venice & the rest for this trip, anyway. We are going in Sept. so I need to get on the room res asap. Any suggestions for inexpensive rooms in Milan, Rome, CT?

Gloria, regarding rooms in the three cities you listed, I generally go with the listings in Rick's book. Check the Italy book for lodgings in various price ranges. The E-mail addresses are usually listed, so it's easy to contact them.

For your visit to the Cinque Terre, do you have any preference on which of the five villages you want to stay?

Happy travels!

Was thinking Vernazza. Do you think it will be crowded last week of Sept.?

I'll give you another option. I like CT as a respite from an otherwise hectic vacation. I don't really like it as the place to go right when you arrive in Italy.

As an option do a 4 or 5 day swing through Northern Italy. Milan, Lake Como, Verona, Dolomites, Venice then either straight to Rome or stop in Florence enroute to Rome. This requires you to keep moving but it is a logical flow and allows you to see sites as you move in the right direction without backtracking.

This itinerary completely leaves Tuscany and Umbrian hill towns out. Unfortunately, you could probably do 4 nine-day swings through parts of Italy and still want more.