First time to Italy, 14 day interary

Smart smart smart! Especially in Rome, leaves you time to change your mind, hop on an opportunity that might present itself like a special exhibit at a gallery, a concert, etc. Day 13 is light, IMHO. One fascinating tour you might add is Palazzo Valentini. (I can't get the URL to work here, so Google it.) Absolutely fascinating! I believe the only English tour is at 1:15 each day. Pop over to Trastevere for dinner and a walk, too. As to the Sorrento stay, looks good. We did not go to Capri so cannot comment. I would not miss the coast, you might satisfy yourselves and your budget with the bus trip to Amalfi town. You can do some light hiking there if you are so inclined. You don't have Naples on your list. The Museo Nazionale Archeologico is well worth the time. RS book has a good overview and a good daytrip to Naples outlined.

Looks like you've just about covered everything. Since you have so many days in Rome, you can always sleep late one day or chill out in the middle of your trip. That's good. People with 2 week itineraries can just wear themselves out with so much to see, and so many places to visit.

Finally, someone who's not trying to cram 4 weeks of travel into 4 days. Good for you! You're going to enjoy your trip soooo much more than those who take the "drive-by" approach to seeing as many places as possible without actually experiencing any of them.
Bravo!

This looks wonderful! Once you are in Rome, you can easily shift around your different destinations depending on weather, what you feel like doing each day, etc. Just watch out for which days of the week different things are closed, and you'll be fine. If you feel like another day trip, you could go out to Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este. Be careful on your bike ride on the Appian Way. One section is traffic-free on Sundays, but it's very uneven stones and requires careful riding. If you are interested, several miles out of Rome on the Appian Way you could visit the archaelogical remains of a huge country estate, the Villa dei Quintili. Tours rarely go there so it tends to be peaceful and quiet.

A couple of side comments Mondays tend to be slow days since many of the smaller exhibit/attractions that were open over the weekend are closed. Don't know which day is Sunday in Rome but would plan on the Appian Way and the catacombs since the traffic is restricted on Sunday. Rent bikes. It is great way to have a lazy but interesting Sunday in what feels a little like the country side. Ostica Antica is, at best, a half day but it is your last day so you will need time to get organized for the return trip. You could also work in St. Paul's Outside the Wall on the way or back from OA. A very under rated site. Both the Pantheon and The Trevi Fountain are 15 min stops so you might roll OA into that day. It is always nice to have a lot of flexibility in your schedule. In our plan we always plan on a dead day with nothing scheduled every four or five days just for laundry, catching up on sleep or doing something that we discovered after we arrive.

Great info thanks all. Yes (Anita) I made a spreadsheet listing all the things we want to do down the side and the days of the week (for span of our trip) across the top marking days open for each activity/site. Also have columns w/hours & cost. This really helped in organizing our days. I like the option of flexibility too. We have tours scheduled for Days 3, 4, 8, and 10 but are otherwise free to switch activities around if needed. I am looking forward to the bike ride on a Sunday (that is my day 12) but had not thought about the road being a bit difficult to ride...is it still relaxing or do you spend your time on the look out for ruts in the road? A couple here noted some days are a bit light. It's true, I've assumed some time for relaxing, wondering, shopping, or general mischief. I also have a "things to throw in" list that I was hoping to add to if anyone has more ideas. Anyone have any other sites to add or had a cooking lesson in or near Rome or something unique such as this? thanks again, only thing better than going on vacation is the planning & talking about!

Here are some other ideas for Rome: San Clemente - A church built on an older church built on a Mithraic temple and a Roman home. Very cool. San Luigi Santa Cecilia (Trastevere) National Museum of Rome has very good mosaics Palazzo Barberini - Beautiful palazzo as well as a fine smaller museum with great Raphaels I'm too lazy to look them up right now, but several churches have Caravaggios in situ

TJ, Your Itinerary is somewhat "busy" but well organized. It seems "well paced" so you should have time to visit all the locations on your list. Capri would be a great choice on Day 2. When you arrive at Marina Grande, take the Funicular up to the town. One suggestion though - if you'll be taking the last boat back in the afternoon, the queues at the Funicular can be LONG to get back to the harbour. I took one of the open top Taxis and avoided the crowds. For your trip on Day 5, you might consider a visit to either Positano or Ravello. What are you planning to see in Orvieto on your day trip? Happy travels!