Help in planning Italy trip

Beyond learning a few polite phrases, English is all you'll need in the places you mention. Your rough itinerary sounds very reasonable, although you should err on the side of more time in each place... Like if you were thinking "3 or 4 nights here", go with 4. As for adding Paris, I wouldn't. Once you start to really research Italy you will find so many places you'd love to add to your trip! You might read about a place such as lake Como or the Amalfi coast, or decide you want to spend those extra 4 days touring Tuscan wineries.

One other thing, if you take out Paris then should start your travels in Venice and fly home from Rome. The flight from Venice to the USA leave early, and the airport is not so easy to get to from the middle of the lagoon.

Diana, I would go along with the advice to skip Paris and spend all of your time in Italy. Besides Paris - and more of France - really deserving a trip of its own, adding those days to Italy will allow you to do some some easy day trips from Florence or the C.T. to some smaller towns.

Definitely allow for at least 4 full days in Rome: there is a LOT to see there, and you won't begin to cover it all in 4 days/5 nights but it's better that only 3 or 4 nights. Five would be even better. Keep in mind that wherever you fly into, getting settled and dealing with your jet lag will take time and have an effect on just much can be accomplished on that first day?

Same for Florence: as mentioned, this is an excellent location for easy day trips to other Tuscan towns (Pisa, Lucca, Siena, Montepulciano) plus the city itself is fascinating, and very different than Rome.

The C.T. is always crazy busy during high season but the villages are very easily and inexpensively traveled between by local train. Being an early riser is a bonus here as some of the best times of the day are before the crowds descend.

Venice is different again than either Florence or Rome but is also quite small and so takes less time to explore than its larger sisters so maybe no more than 3 nights will do ya here, or 4 if you really want time to unwind before heading home. This one quiets down (thankfully) at night when the tour groups leave for their ships or less-pricey quarters further afield so if you can swing it, try to stay in the old city proper.

As Angela said, you won't have a problem with language. Learn a few polite terms (good morning, good day, please, thank you, etc) and you'll probably receive a reply in English: they'll know you're a visitor, trust me!

Just want to echo what the other posters have said about not speaking Italian. Do not worry! I did my first Rick Steves tour a year ago in May, doing Heart of Italy with extra days at the beginning and end. I was concerned about having no Italian (and absolutely no talent for picking up another language unfortunately). We found that if we started to order a dish in a restaurant with the Italian name the waiters automatically switched to English and would help us with the pronunciation. It was very easy to manage. Get one of Ricks pocket language guides for back up.

I felt the key was making an attempt at Italian and not assuming people spoke English.

If those are the places you want to see, this order would work.

Do Rome,
High speed train from Rome to Monterosso (Cinque Terre),
Then train from CT to Florence (consider Pisa in on this train route. You can leave you bags at Pisa Train station and check out the leaning tower for a few hours then back on the train).
Then high speed train from Florence to Venice

I agree with those who advise to skip Paris. If you do, one thing I suggest you look into is whether you can conveniently fly into or out of Venice. We did that one time. SFO - JFK - Rome, and VCE - JFK - SFO on Delta. It added no hassle, and saved us going back to Rome. If it worked for one West Coast city, it may work for another. If you eliminate Paris, you'll also have time to spend in some of the small Tuscan towns (or Orvieto) and/or take in some of the Veneto towns, such as Padova, Vicenza, or Verona.

I like Robert's suggestion for route.

I prefer to start my trips in Rome. It is a big city and can be very hectic. But I find at the beginning of the trip I've got more energy and the culture shock seems more exciting and less frustrtating because I'm not tired. Then I end my trip someplace more relaxing like Venice. However, if you are a little worried about the culture shock then ending in Rome may be worth considering as you will have figured some things out by then.
I would also consider skipping Paris and consider another night in CT or a few nights in Siena.

No worries about the language. I usually find those that have the most problem with only English are over communicating. Don't use 10 words when 2 will do ("2 cappuccinos" instead of "we would like to have 2 cappuccinos")

Thanks everyone & especially Robert for the practical travel advice. I appreciate all the great tips & I'm sure as things get closer, I'll be back for more specific info on the cities we plan to visit.

And I will be sure & get a RS Italy guidebook too. I used the Pocket Paris one & full size London one last month & both were very valuable resources for us. I actually wore out my Pocket Paris map!