First trip to Italy - feedback please

That’s an excellent itinerary. You might consider going to Pompeii while in Sorrento. Spending at least two days everywhere really helps give you a chance to experience the location at night when most of the tourist buses have left for the day. Doubling up Siena and Firenze might short change both.

I highly recommend the RS choice of the Torre Guelfa in Firenze. That way you can climb their tower at night both for the wine bar early and enjoy they view later at night. It’s worth doing the wine bar whether you stay there or not.

Make sure to save a day to go up the Aguille de Midi and across the glacier to the Italian side and back while in Chamonix. The view is tremendous. Going down the Italian side is interesting too but there’s not much to do there. Consider eating a fine meal at the highest restaurant in Europe (if it’s still open, I was there in 95).

I think you are trying to cram too many places into too few days. 3 nights doesn't equal 3 days, it equals only 2 days. Moving from place to place uses up about 1/2 day. Think about it. You get up, pack, have breakfast, check out, then get to the train station, allowing for traffic and time to find your train (and maybe a line to buy tickets). On arrival you have to first go to your new hotel to check in and drop off your luggage before you can start sightseeing. If you take a lunch break of an hour or so, you've only got 3-4 hours left for sights before they close. Rome to Florence would be a short trip, 1.5 hours by train and then about 15 minutes from the station in Florence to your room. But you are planning longer trips. Rome to Naples is over an hour. Then you have to make your way to the local commuter train. It only runs about every 1/2 hour and takes up to 1-1/2 hours to get to Sorrento (depending on which train you get and how crowded it is. Then you have to get to your hotel. Sorrento to Florence is longer. Florence to the Cinque Terre is about as long, from there to Venice is even longer. That gives you:
-Rome 2 days
-Sorrento 2 days, one to Capri and one to the AC
-Florence 1 day (choose between Siena and Florence for your sightseeing)
-Cinque Terre 1 day for hiking
-Venice 1 day.

12 nights and 7 days of sightseeing. Don't underestimate how stressful it can be just to get oriented to each new place.

Too much too fast. As Chani said, two nights equals one day. As first-timers you probably do not realize that you will lose at least 1/2 day each time you change locations. Pack, check out, go to the station, ride the train, figure out where you are when you arrive in the new location, find your lodging, get oriented: Boom! 6 hours have passed!

In the case of transferring from the Cinque Terre to Venezia, you will spend the better part of a day in travel. Also, with only one day in the Cinque Terre for hiking, what if that day is poor weather? Staying longer gives you a better chance of at least one day of good weather. If you get two days, great! There's plenty to keep you entertained. And once you get there you'll wish you had more time.

I suggest you drop the Sorrento stop and add a night each to the Cinque Terre, Firenze, and Venezia.

FWIW, 3 nights in Rome is barely a good start especially jet-lagged. Ditto a short stay in Paris. Plan your time well and pre-reserve what is possible.

No idea if you are familiar with the US television program, The Amazing Race, but your itinerary reminds me of it.

You have youth on your side so you can 'move quickly', but the trains, buses go the same speed regardless of the age of the passenger..

Trim back on the number of destinations and just plan to making another trip.

How exciting!! I think you should ditch Venice and add those days to Florence or Paris. Florence itself has so much to do and see (Major museums the Uffizi and Accademia , Pitti Palace and Palazzo Vecchio with the Piazza Della signoria right in front), but if you want to do a Tuscany day trip I can recommend using tour company Walk About Florence, they have a "Best of Tuscany" all day tour that takes you to Sienna, San Gimignano and Pisa with a lunch provided at an Organic winery/farm, a really great value. Sorrento 3 nights is fine as is Cinque Terre for 2, that is all you need for a nice visit (and you will wish you had longer in both!). In May you will have nice long days for exploring.

If you're the type of people who will get an early start each day (like Rick), then your itinerary is feasible. But with only one full day in Florence, you won't really have time for the side trip to Siena; choose one or the other. And if your two chosen daytrips from Sorrento are to Capri and the Amalfi coast, then you're missing Pompei and related sites (which I prefer over Capri). At the same time, I could also support Laurel's proposed substitution.

If Geneva is just a waypoint to Chamonix, and if you haven't already booked the Venice/Geneva flight, I have a suggestion: there is an absolutely thrilling and easy way to get from Cinque Terre to Chamonix and may wish to consider changing your itinerary to Rome / Sorrento / Venice / Florence / Cinque Terre.

From Cinque Terre, take the local train to La Spezia (or Genoa). From there, take a fast train to Turin and connect to a regional train to Aosta. Then the fun begins. From just outside Aosta, you can take a series of cable cars directly over the Alps to Chamonix: first from La Palud to Hellbronner; then from Hellbronner to L'Aiguille du Midi over the Vallée Blanche; then down from L'Aiguille du Midi to downtown Chamonix.

Rick writes about this itinerary in his book. The relevant websites are: http://www.montebianco.com/en/ (Italian side) and https://www.chamonix.com/aiguille-du-midi-timetables-and-rates,180,en.html (French side).

This was far and away the most thrilling thing I've ever done in Europe. Over the Alps by cable car, with glaciers below and Mont Blanc to the side, and the giddiness of being at 13,000 feet.

I can’t say for certain as I have not visited both, but your Sorrento & Cinque Terre stops feel like similar experiences considering the added time and effort to reach them. I can tell you that Naples/Amalfi coast area is packed with sights and beautiful to relax in (particularly in May.) It can really be its own trip, I did six nights in the region and it wasn’t enough. Why not take those extra days and use them in Cinque Terre or Florence?