Is this a reasonable itinerary?

Dan, I had 2 immediate thoughts (my quota for the day! ), but Zoe beat me to it: "Dan, your itinerary sounds reasonable. I also suggest dropping Pompeii for Ostia Antica, and perhaps dropping Pisa for a daytrip to Siena instead." Have a great trip!

Hi Dan, I think your itinerary is great..... you are giving yourself enough time to actually enjoy the cities that you will be visiting. You want time to see the sites but also time to just relax and enjoy the moment. I think you have allotted enough time for both. Enjoy your trip to Italy!!

I agree that your plan is very reasonable. The idea of "downtime" during a vacation makes it all much more enjoyable. I'd make a few suggestions. A day trip to Pompeii from Rome is a rushed, tiring day. A convenient alternative is Ostia Antica, another ancient Roman city, now in ruins, that is a quick, easy train ride from Rome. If Pompeii is a "must" stop, maybe you could do this as an overnight stop. One idea is that since many US to Italy flights arrive early in the morning, you might start your trip with a train ride to the Naples or Amalfi Coast area. By the time you arrive, you could check into your hotel and then spend a few days exploring the area, including Pompeii. For a relaxing end to your trip, you might consider dropping Lake Como and just end in Venice. Wondering around that traffic-free city and the nearby islands is relatively peaceful. There are trans-Atlantic flights from Venice airport. Feel free to write if you have specific questons.

Dan, your itinerary sounds reasonable. I also suggest dropping Pompeii for Ostia Antica, and perhaps dropping Pisa for a daytrip to Siena instead. Great shopping in all the cities you mentioned. Lake Como is a great way to end your trip - be sure to leave enough time to get to Milan for your flight home (perhaps even stay your last night in Milan).

I, too, would suggest dropping Pompeii and Pisa, especially if you want some down time. Remember, you lose at least half a day when you switch cities and hotels so your 4 days in Florence is only about 3.5 days and only 2.5 days in Venice. Other than that your plan sounds good. Donna

Dan I agree with the others about Ostia and time. Me, I love Venice and everything she has to offer and if I didn't have an extra day I could pull out somewhere I'd swap a day from Florence into Venice. Personal preference though. The majors in Florence can easily be done in that time, although if you need a day for a field trip maybe you need to leave it in.

I have to agree, substitute Ostia Antica (with Rick's excellent audio tour) for Pompeii. UNLESS you want to spend your down time on the Amalfi Coast. A few days in Sorrento would be a great way to relax and just be on the sea, getting sun, drinking wine. Ending in Sorrento you could start in Venice.

when we went this fall, my daughter and I spent 5 nights each in the big 3 (Rome, Venice, and Florence) and 4 nights in Monterosso Al Mare in the Cinque Terre. We spent one more day in Rome before flying out. Great trip, but our least favorite part was Florence. why? Well, it was our last stop, and we were museumed out, after visiting so many churches and museums elsewhere. Florence just felt too big, noisy, and dirty to us...it's half a million people, and I think I wanted to be in a smaller, quieter place by then. Our day trip to Siena was beautiful, and we wished we had booked at least one night there. I think timing is a factor when you consider how long to stay in cities. We loved rome, Venice, and CT and could have spent more time in each. My only regret is I didn't find this blog sooner in my trip planning! I learned of places here that I hadn't considered previously, so (sigh) will just have to go back to Italy, right?!

Smart to pace it! We like to do one "big" thing site, tour, hike each day, then rest, eat, hit some smaller sites like a church, outdoor monument (Trevi Fountain, etc). In Rome, the Vatican including the museums and St. Peter's, with a break for lunch and possible tour of the Scavi, is a day; A long-ish but doable day. Colosseum and Forum are a nice 3 to 4 hours. If you can get a guide, do, for this confusing and interesting historical area. Pantheon is about a 1 hour (max) visit, just to give you an idea. Nearby the church of San Luigi dei Francesi is magnificent and worth a stop to see the Caravaggios. The daytrip to Pompeii strikes me as a crazy-long and tiring day. I'd skip it unless I could devote 2 days to see the archeological museum in Naples as well as Pompeii and Ercolano. Rick Steves' Rome guide has some great itinerary suggestions. You can use your time in Rome, believe me. I think 4 days in Florence is too long. It is museum rich to the point of exhausting. But you can daytrip to Siena, or up to Fiesole to get away from the city. One more day in Venice would be welcome in my book. If the weather is good, take a day to do the Laguna islands: Murano, Burano and charming Torcello.

Dan, I think you got great advice to an already great start on your itinerary

the plan looks good down time is important I would say play it by ear for your day trips if you fit in everything else you want to see and have the time then go for it
a lot of people say skip Pisa but it really should be seen at least once and it is such an easy day trip (or 1/2 day) from Florence

Dan, your itinerary is almost identical to ours. We are flying into Rome, staying 5 days, taking the train up to Florence, staying for 5 days with day trips to Pisa, Siena and Volterra. Then we will take the train up to Milan and get a ride up to Lake Como where we are staying for 2 weeks. We will then fly out of Milan. Have a great trip!

I agree with everyone on this site. You're smart to keep your travel options open, as going to Italian cities is a very physical experience. Just going through one art museum and church per day can tax your body. I've always driven 1000 miles weekly at work, and have moved too fast on many European vacations. You can get so more out of your trip if you slow down and do a city/region better. We're going to visit a niece in London before flying down to Pisa, taking a train to Florence (3 nights) and staying in a small Tuscan town (4 nights.) Then, it's Rome for 4 nights. That's fast enough. If you get tired, sleep late and minimize walking.
But, don't forget to take in great nutrition and follow the doctor's orders--drink 2 bottles of vino daily.

Hi Dan, My husband and I took a trip to Italy in September 2011, with a similar-ish plan to yours. We started in Venice (3 nights), went to the Cinque Terre for some down time (2 nights), Lucca (2 nights), Florence (2 nights), then Rome for 5 nights. I'm going to pleasantly disagree with other posters- we took one of our days in Rome to do a day trip to Pompeii, and it was my husband's favourite day of our entire trip. We prefer ruins to museums, and much prefered the Coliseum, Pompeii, etc to the museums we saw. My husband is an engineer, and our private guide at Pompeii was great at enlightening him with all of the engineering "stuff" :)
Good luck!

Definitely consider Ostia Antica as a much easier alternative than Pompeii from Rome. Here are some photos from our trip to Ostia Antica in May 2008 in case you're interested. If you're in Venice and want a place to truly decompress, go to the public gardens in the southeast part of the island. You may be the only tourist there, even in peak season. Happy travels.