Is my itinerary too ambitious??

My personal opinion is that there is no reason to try to cover so much ground in a country like Italy that is jam-packed with wonderful places to visit.

Within 2 hours of Venice you have places like Lake Garda, Ravenna, Bologna, Verona, Trieste, Padua, Modena, etc.

More relaxation, less driving, less unpacking is always a good thing.

You definitely need more time in Rome. I assume you're going to Pompeii from Naples-I think it is a must see for your kids.

When the question is: is my itinerary too ambitious? - the reply is always a resounding YES, because it is and you already know it.

As a second reply, I wonder where the ambition is. As a musician I am used to whirlwind concert tours, the last being last July - 16 days in China including air travel to/from Europe (24 hours each, door to door), 6 cities, 5 travels by train, 8 concerts. Thank God our contract mandates weekly rest days. I would never do such thing in my leisure time and paying out of my pocket. It would not be ambition but simply a sure way to get tired paying a lot of money.

We are planning to visit Procida while in Naples. I can definitely look into Pompeii! Thank you for the suggestion.
I like the idea of staying near Venice but this is our one and only trip to Italy, most likely. Which is why we're trying to see so much.

Hi there, Julie! Welcome to the forum!
LOL, quite often when someone asks if their plan it too ambitious, they already have a hunch that it is. :O)

That's what I'd say about your itinerary; 5 locations is too many, although we all travel a bit differently. 2 nights only gives you 1 FULL day in each location once you subtract the time to relocate from one to another. As well, if that one full day ends up being the one that some of the attractions you most wish to see are closed, or, in the case of the CT, you're stuck with a day of rain and the trails are shut?

A couple of questions?

Where in Tuscany are you looking to go?
How are you intending to get around? (I hope not via car)
Why Naples? (Edit: I see it's because of Procida and not Pompeii)
What are your family's interests? What, more specifically, are you wanting to do/see on this trip? Knowing more about you guys might help us to help you narrow down to where you might add/subtract nights. At first glance? I'd definitely add to Rome.

this is our one and only trip to Italy, most likely. Which is why
we're trying to see so much.

As someone else commented, 2 nights = 1 full day. On those travel days you'll lose up to 6 hours on each when you consider the time it takes to check out, get to the train station, getting to your next hotel... you'll likely see much less than you'll expect because of the time wasted getting from place to place.

Have you made a list of sites you want to see in each location? If it were me, I'd then prioritize that list and do some serious cutting. Also, does your 10 days include your airport days for arrival and departure? If so, now you have 8 full days for travel.

This is so helpful already. Thank you to everyone for your input. To answer some questions:
Naples because it was the one and only request of my ten year old, lol. For the pizza. But I may need to reconsider it.
We would have a car in Tuscany only. Otherwise, the plan is to travel by train. Probably going to check out San Gimignano while there and Siena.
We'd really like to see the highlights in each area. Nothing is off limits and nothing specific is a "must see" for us. We're very flexible. We picked the cities we've always wanted to visit and are planning the trip based on the cities.
We fly into Venice on April 2 at 3:20 and leave Naples on April 12 at 11
I'm very clearly seeing that I need to reconfigure a few things. Ughhh, I am so new to this!
Would this be a better itinerary:
Venice (3 nights)
Tuscany (2 nights)
Rome (3 nights)
Naples (2 nights)
Or eliminate Naples altogether?

If you add an extra night to Rome, you could make a daytrip to Naples. It's about an hour by train.

IMHO, the plan is already looking better!
Personally, I'd cut Naples - pizza isn't a good enough reason to keep it - and add a night to Rome and another to Tuscany (hotel locations TBD). Assure your young person that they WILL have pizza, and you can find it pretty much everywhere!

The car: you know that you have homework to do before getting behind the wheel in Italy, right? Getting an International Driving Permit (IDP) for each driver and boning up on the rules regarding where you can and cannot drive the thing? There's a helpful ebook - "Definitive Guide for Driving in Italy" - you can order at the bottom of this page:

https://italybeyondtheobvious.com/about/travel-philosophy/

There can also be some complications with rental offices that are closed certain days/hours. No matter; as the plan comes together, you'll get some help from folks in the know about where to rent and return.

I did not know all that you mentioned about the cars, but I think it might be necessary for Tuscany?
So if I cut naples and go there for a day from Rome, would that be much better?

If you can change the flight out of Naples, I'd say split the time between Venice and Rome. Otherwise, make it Venice, Rome, Naples.

The kids will probably like exploring on foot and in boats in Venice, and there are a number of sites that are kid-appropriate. In Rome you'll need public transportation but that, too, will likely be a new experience for the kids (and maybe you, too). If you want an out-of-town day trip, Ostia Antica is a good destination from Rome.

I encourage you to include the kids in the trip-planning. Some age-appropriate history or travel books about Venice and Rome will make this a lot more interesting for them. They're old enough to help select destinations and to figure out an itinerary and travel details.

Please note - you are planning on being in Italy over Easter and Easter Monday. Closures and crowds.

You’ll need to plan accordingly.

With only 10 days I would personally limit the trip to only three places. If you look at the itinerary for Rick Steves Venice/Florence/Rome trip, as an example, it is 12 days. I have done this tour, and it was great, but I still found it rushed. And I didn’t have to do the driving. You see more by staying in place longer because it takes time to pack up and relocate. There are lots of places you could reach by train from both Venice and Rome so it might even make sense to just use those two places as bases, and do day trips. You may not even need to rent a car. Take a look at the guided day trips available from these two places and see if it would work for you. It might be less stressful, and more efficient to use the train.

I support fewer stops completely... And I understand that you are overwhelmed with the possibilities in each place... Having said that, you and the kids should watch the RS "Travel Skills" three episodes/ (available for free on You Tube) and then have a family discussion about reading about each place and each person picking two things that they really want to see in each potential location. We try to think in terms of AM, PM and Evening blocks and each change of place counts as one block of time. More travel fewer activity blocks. With kids most evening blocks will be mealtimes - with or without pizza. AND, to appreciate being in Europe in general but Italy in particular, you have to slow down a bit. Warning - A child taken to Europe will inevitably want to go back later maybe as an exchange student or on a Junior year abroad. You can guess how I know that. Mostly HAVE FUN!

As all above have stated- yes it is too ambitious!

10 nights- 3 locations would be my advice but I can see just Venice and Naples or Venice and Rome working well.

This is over Easter- arriving at VCE at 3:20 means you probably won’t even be at hotel til 6-7 If you only give Venice 2 nights that is just 1 day- not near enough time in Venice.

If your daughter can deal with no Naples for pizza then split your time between Venice and Rome. You can eat pizza anywhere in Italy. Maybe look for a pizza making class for her instead.

I would say skip Tuscany.
Tuscany hill towns will need a car and I don’t think it’s worth the trouble to rent a car for just 2-3 days. You’d need to pick it up and drop it in Florence probably. Driving is easy but does come with a lot of warnings, you would need a decent sized car for 4 people and luggage.
Traveling from Venice to “Tuscany with a car” is not as simple as it sounds. Train to Florence- pick up car, drive to Tuscan hilltown- spend 2 nights (really just 1 day) visit SG, Siena - then return to the car on your way to next city -just not going to be the relaxing time it should be. You could train from Venice to Siena- stay there 3 nights then just rent car for 1 day to visit hill towns or do a guided bus tour or if budget allows check ToursbyRoberto.com- he gets excellent reviews.

Anyway my point is Tuscany needs more than 2 nights.

Venice 5 nights- gets you past Easter weekend so travel would be midweek- probably better than travel ON Easter or Easter Monday.
Look for fun things in Venice for the kids- Row Venice is very well reviewed here- fun for the whole family. Take vaporetto out to the lagoon islands. Maybe take a day trip to Verona and/or Lake Garda.

Rome- 5 nights
You could day trip to Naples just for pizza. Or do a pizza making class.
Take a day trip to Orvieto for your hill town experience
Visit Ostia Antica in place of Pompeii.
Rome itself needs all the time you can give it.

Naples- why Procida? If you only have 2 nights in Naples you don’t have time for that- you only have 1 full day. I would guess kids would like Pompeii- so fascinating. Otherwise I really can’t see any reason for Naples- most folks save anywhere south of Rome for 2nd, 3rd or even 4th trips to Italy.

Glad to see you are willing to make changes.
Come back and share what you come up with.