help with first draft of our Itinery.....

Are there any suggestions for day trips from any of these locations? Also, any other small towns that could be recommended?

It seems you already have enough small towns with Sienna Assisi and Cinque Terre.
Maybe improvise a day trip from Rome depending on how you feel when you get there, that is about it.

Also, has any stayed at any of the many monestaries around Italy and would you recommend them?

Yes I have my last trip. I only recommend it If like me your wild revelry drinking coming home after 10 pm day are behind you as they usually are really calm and quiet. Don't expect luxury

I don't know if CInque Terre would be a good place to go that early in the season. Seems like more of a Summer place.

I'd definitely want at least 3 nights in Venice, though I don't know what the weather will be like in April. I'd think chilly+damp might be possible. Same with the Cinque Terre, where there are fewer opportunities to be indoors.

I think your pacing is good.

Looks like a reasonable and enjoyable trip.

I would do 2 nights CT and 3 nights Venice.

For CT in the 2nd half of March expect temps to be mid 50s for highs and 40something for the lows

As interesting as Pompeii is, it is too far the wrong way to include with the plan you have for this trip. Do it your next trip!

You can stop 2-3 hours in Pisa en-route Florence to CT

If Pompeii has to be dropped, please consider Ostia Antica as an alternative. It is reachable via a quick train ride from Rome Termini. I call it Pompei without the ashes as it is bigger and almost as well preserved---it is never crowded and contains amazing ruins from Rome's port city that was a boomtown until the fall of the Roman Empire.

Hi all
First, thank you all for the input!
We were thinking of doing a day trip to Pompeii, another to Tivoli and a day for Ostia Antica from Rome as part of the 7 day stay there. The trip to Pompeii looks like a long day but worth the trip.
We hope to be in CT & Venice in April towards the end of our trip and are keeping our fingers crossed that we have sunshine. (or at least no rain)
There are so many beautiful site and places to see in Italy and I hate to rush it. Hopefully, I will have an opportunity to return and visit the many places I missed on this trip.
Thanks again for the help.

I would choose between Pompeii and Ostia Antica. You really don't need to do both, at least in this trip. Ostia Antica is a lot closer.
For a day trip from Rome, I would go to Orvieto, It is about an hour train ride.

We were thinking of doing a day trip to Pompeii, another to Tivoli and
a day for Ostia Antica from Rome as part of the 7 day stay there. The
trip to Pompeii looks like a long day but worth the trip.

Yes, it would be a long day. Personally, I'd save that one for a future trip that would incorporate a longer stay in the Campania region. There is enough to see in that area to warrant 4-5 days, and Pompeii is much less time-consuming from Naples, Sorrento or Salerno.

While some people do it, I would not recommend an escorted tour from Rome that includes BOTH Pompeii and the Amalfi in one day. Those trips are REALLY long days, you spend over half of it on a bus/van, and usually only 2 hours or so at Pompeii. It's a huge excavation that deserves much more time than that. I've been twice, spent 5+ hours there the 2nd time and still haven't covered it all! It's also quicker to get there by train.

Also consider that your 7 nights will be 6 FULL days in Rome, not 7: arrival day is a partial and often a jet-lagged haze at that. As you wisely have taken into consideration, it's not a day that you want to plan anything involving your full attention or advance reservations should your flight be delayed. IMHO, there is so much to see in the city that I'd be cautious not to plan too many day trips? As suggested, I wouldn't do both Ostia and Pompeii: Ostia will take much less time from Rome, and you'll have Pompeii in the back pocket for a next time.

Editing to add: you might consider Charlotte's suggestion to substitute Orvieto for Tivoli, or substitute a walk on the Appia Antica for both.

https://www.parcoappiaantica.it

Oh I love these suggestions! Thank you!! I had been thinking about spending time at Appia Antica! And trying to figure out how to fit it in. It looks like a beautiful place to relax after being in the city.
We could spend the day there instead of Pompeii....
But that means we HAVE to come back!!!

Thanks again!

But that means we HAVE to come back!!!

Awk. You poor things. 😉

Do you realize Cinque Terre and Venice are on opposite sides of Italy and will entail a train journey of around 5 hours or more just from Venezia Santa Lucia to La Spezia, after which you will still have to catch another train to one of the Cinque Terre towns?

Thank you for the input. We didn’t at the time but have decided to keep both places for a future visit.