Flying in/out of Rome - Need Help with 10 day itineray

Even if I was 100% sure I could never go back, I would not plan a trip like this--too little time, too many places. With two kids you'll be ripping your hair out.
Skip Cinque Terre: a six year old is too young for the hikes, and if you are not hiking, I see little reason to go.
Since I doubt most kids that age care much about Renaissance art, I'd visit Venice and Rome, with possibly a day trip to Pompeii.

James - Did you look into flying into Milan or Pisa International airport and flying out of Rome?

Flying into Pisa will get you close to Florence then you can start your trip there then proceed to Venice after. From Venus, train to Rome and then you can fly out to head home.

Sorry, you are setting yourself up for misery, with too much moving around, and almost zero time actually being somewhere.

First, recognize that "X nights" anyplace means you get X-1 days there.

Then get out a map of Italy. Look at the places you are trying to squeeze in. The extremes include:

Venice (far north, east side)
Cinque Terre (far north, west side)
Sorrento (very far to the south)

Many Americans seem to think that because it looks small on a map of the world, and because they have trains, that it takes no time to zip from one end of Italy to the other. That is very, very wrong. You have too many destinations scattered across too great a distance for this to work.

Your plan is way too much even for highly charged and very motivated adults. For kids, this pace will produce lots of misery (and perhaps a lifetime of family counseling).

Rome, OK.
Florence, OK (it's not THAT far from other places on your list).
That's where the reasonable stuff ends.

Pick Venice OR Cinque Terre (not both) for a still-hurried-but-doable location in the north.

Lose Sorrento and Pompei. Way, way too far to go on such a short trip, if you only have 10 days and you're trying to include anything in the north. If you want Sorrento and Pompei, you need to skip venice and CT, probably Pisa as well.

Personally, I'd suggest you do Rome, Venice, and Florence, then draw the line there.

I know, I know...it looks small, you want to do it all. It isn't, and you can't. I think you need to sober up, and cut out half of your intended locations. Sorry.

You need better use of your time and recognize that six years old get bored in a hurry. First fly into Venice, and spend three nights, The first night, your arrival day, will be pretty shot with arrival, jet lag, etc. Don't plan much as you will not get much done. Then you will have two full days in Venice. Move to Florence for three nights and finally Rome for 4 nights. Far more for the boys to see in Rome and the other areas. The problem with Sorrento is that it is far south of Rome so you will spend extra travel time getting there and, of course, return to Rome. Far less time in a train --- "Are we there, yet???"

3 nights Arrive Venice
3 nights Florence
4 nights Rome - depart

Hello.
I would agree with everyone so far. You will spend a lot of time travelling from place to place. I know how exciting it is and wanting to see so many wonderful cities and towns and sites in Italy but you don't want to do it at the expense of enjoying your trip with the family. Venice is wonderful and it is so different and magical (I know it is a cliche) but it holds true for me and I think all ages can enjoy. If you spend part of the trip in Florence, it will offer you a convenient day trip to Pisa, but Cinque Terre will be very time consuming and not a lot of activities for the kiddos. Rome is the ultimate in offering a wide variety of sites both outdoor and indoor.
Enjoy your trip.

I'm going to jump on the bandwagon. If I were you I'd cut back to three places max, preferably two. We're not trying to dampen your enthusiasm, please don't think that we are. We are suggesting you'd have a more pleasurable trip if you lower your sights a bit.

Someone else recently posted in her report of a recent trip to Spain:

One of the many things I’ve realized over several years of being on the forum, is that changing locations less means you will probably enjoy your trip more, and that seems true for us. Even though none of our locations were more than about 2 hours away, it still took at least ½ day to change. We can still see a lot without moving around as long as we research and find places that interest us. And each location was very different.

Remember that 2 nights in a town is one day; I don't know if you're planning to rent a car or travel by train, but getting from town to town will take hours, then finding your hotel (or other lodging,) checking in, unpacking, freshening up, finding the nearest place for a meal or snack, orienting yourself to your neighborhood, figuring out how to get the the sights you want to see.....

Then when you leave this place, packing, counting kids, checking out, getting to your next destination - which takes hours ... I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Rick says "Assume you will come back." That's wise advice.

You can also fly into Venice, then make your way south, and fly out of Rome. With that varied an itinerary, it would probably make more sense to not fly into and out of Rome. Venice, Florence, Rome would be a nice tour. And by flying into Venice, you may have added the better part of one day there.

I'm with Frank and Carolyn. I've been to Italy about ten times. Pompeii was on MY bucket list but it is way too subtle to benefit kids. (Note that the fake Gladiators have been forced out of business on Rome sidewalks.) Sorrento, near the AMALFI Coast is best put off for another time. Possible change, one less night in Florence if the kids don't go to at least two art museums a year at home. Rome is good for a week!

Frank nailed it. Fly INTO Venice and out of Rome.

While it might seem more expensive, in the long run, by the time you fly into Rome then have to wait 3 hours (recommend) for a connecting flight you're saving time and $$ doing a Multi city flight.

I say this after 15 years of travel with my grandaughter.
Your kids will be out of sorts, exhausted or just wired for sound, and do you know how you'll react? Make this first trip as easy as possible.

My other thought is the Vatican. It's not really a kid friendly Museum. There are throngs of people and the kids can't see much of anything.
The Vatican has a tour for families and also has early entrance and a Friday evening entry which I would recommend.

https://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?weblang=en&do

If the kids need to run around a bit, I'd recommend the Boboli Gardens in Florence and the Borghese in Rome. The latter has 4 person bikes for rent.

Info on Venice

https://quickvenice.com

Edited to add links.

The fastest way to travel Rome-Venice-Florence-Rome is definitely by train.

You can visit Ostia Antica while you're in Rome if you think an ancient site will be of interest to the kids. I do not have children, but I saw a lot of kids there, including at least one school group. Ostia Antica is super-easy from downtown Rome.

Right in downtown Rome there is a cat sanctuary at Largo di Torre Argentina.

I think I've seen references here to riding bikes along the Appian Way (again in Rome).

Some folks have mentioned gondola rowing lessons in Venice as something children might enjoy.

Gondola tourist products are pricey and I don't see how 6 & 11 can scull standing up. Unlike Pompeii, Venice is filled with action that kids will enjoy, and the "art" places are smaller and faster than Florence. Fish market, glass blowing, boats as city busses, outdoor markets and workshops, boats collecting the garbage and delivering UPS and Amazon, gelato shops, palaces, beggars, pigeons, churches ....

More time in Rome. I say eliminate Sorrento.

I agree, definitely drop Sorrento. If you can, fly into Venice and out of Rome. If round trip to Rome is a must, then go immediately to Venice by train upon arrival (kind of a lost day for multiple reasons, direct trains from FCO to Venice at 11:08 and 15:08) and then work your way back to Rome via Florence. If you must do Cinque Terre as a day trip from Florence, take the 7:38am Freccia train from Campo di Marte station (not SMN) that gets you to La Spezia Centrale in only 1:43. It's an easy taxi ride from central Florence to the Campo di Marte train station. Pisa is also an easy day trip from Florence, but don't short-change Florence itself. With 10 nights total, I would do 3 nights Venice, 3 or 4 nights Florence and 3 or 4 nights Rome. It's your choice between Florence plus day trips and Rome for the 4th night.

If entry/exit must be Rome then either Venice or Sorrento must go.

For the time you have you cannot reasonably do both Venice and Sorrento.

Is this possible?

In strict terms, 'yes' but when you get home you will feel more like a survivor than a happy traveler.

I agree with other posters. Skip Sorrento and Cinque Terre. Save them for the next trip. I would add the saved nights back to Rome and maybe Florence. Have a great time.

Singing with the choir here.

Is this possible?

Yep, but is it sane? Nope. There is NO flex for anything to go awry...and things CAN go awry. It could be the only full day you have in Florence being the day all the major museums are closed. It could be the only day you have for Sorrento being the one it pours rain. It could be the only day you have for ANYTHING being the one your 6 year-old has had enough and can't keep this aggressive pace anymore. Given the mob in Vatican Museums, he/she might not be able to see much anyway; it's not a great place for really short people (I'm 5'1" and had difficulties seeing over the crowds). Pompeii? He/she is too likely too young to get the gist of its history.

Given the time/effort to get there, Sorrento isn't reasonable for only 2 nights so I'd scrap that one right off the bat. Venice>Florence>Rome is all you can reasonably do in 10 nights/9 days, especially if you have young children in tow.

Speaking of the kids, you haven't mentioned what THEY are interested in?

Thanks for all the input. As I said I knew this was a crazy packed schedule because we are trying to fit it ALL in. Sounds like Venice would be great for kids so will try to aim to keep that in my itinerary. I knew Naples was further south but was hoping to squeeze it in since my husband’s grandparents are from there so a visit would be nice. Thanks again!

You could consider Rome and Naples/Pompeii/Amalfi coast as well, and save Florence and Venice for the future. Choose what your family is most interested in, just don't try to do everything on this list so it will be much more enjoyable and successful!
I think Pompeii could be intense for some children, so you'd have to evaluate based on your younger child's temperament. Tying in family history in Naples, seeing all the fascinating things there (underground tunnels, castles, volcano!, ruins), and then some time on a beach (though it will be too cold for swimming) would make a nice pairing with Rome.
Depending on your arrival time in Rome, it could work like this:
Arrive Rome, bus or train to Naples
Naples 4 days
go to Vietri sul Mare for 2 relaxing days at the seaside (alternate plan, see Greek temple at Paestum)--a little mid-trip R&R
train from Salerno to Rome, 4 days

Since your family has that "Naples" connection, check to see if they are from Naples or one of the towns or villages in the Campania area.

I like valadephias suggestion to travel south first.
I would however, since you've not been to Italy before do this.

Arrive Rome, taxi to Roma Termini.
Train Rome-Salerno, 2H10m. Use Trenitalia.com
Picking a train with 0 Changes. Taxi to Vietri sul Mare. €13-16.

3N Vietri sul Mare. One of the real towns on the coast without excessive tourism. This gives you and the kids time to recover from jet lag and visit a few of the southern Amalfi Coast towns by bus or ferry. There's a nice beach here or in the town of Maiori.
Or visit Paestum by train from the Vietri train station. There's a Buffalo farm close by that demonstrates the production of mozzarella. This might interest the kids.
Doing this will give you a much easier introduction to Italy compared to Naples.

Train from either Vietri or Salerno. Under an hour.

3N Naples.

I love this city, hectic, chaotic sometimes dirty. But it steals the heart.
The people are some of the kindest I've encountered.
Do however be prepared to hold on to the kiddos crossing the street. Drivers of cars and motorbikes have their own way of weaving in and out of designated lanes.

There's a ton of things to see and do and you can't see it all in 3 days. You might look into doing Herculaneum instead of Pompeii, the site is smaller than its more famous cousin, but much easier to navigate with kids in tow. It's also closer to Naples. Via Circumvesuvian.

Some other sights the kids might enjoy are Castel Sant'Elmo up on the hill overlooking the city, actual fort, perfect photo op. Castel del Ovo on the waterfront. The Royal Palace, and one of the Naples Subterranean Tunnels. AND Pizza Pizza Pizza.

Train Naples-Rome 1H17m.

4N Rome.