Italy from Croatia

For a short trip, I would go to Venezia. I have taken an overnight ferry from Dubrovnik to Bari, it was okay but I'm not big on sleep-traveling.

Northern Croatia is very beautiful.

Flying Split to Rome is very fast. Why not fly in and spent a night (or two) in Rome?

Thanks, I am trying to experience and see as much as possible in such a short period of time so I am not sure if flying would be ideal.

With only 10 days to work with, pick no more than 3 base cities to explore from. Since you're starting in Split and ending in Rome, that's two already. Rome deserves at least 3-4 full days and you can easily spend 3 full days in Split, neighboring Trogir, and islands off Split (Brac, Hvar, etc). That's already 6-7 days. Pick another place in between Split and Rome (say Venice for another 3 days or a city in northern Croatia/ Istria region) and then you've pretty much accounted for all your vacation time - including the travel time to get in between each location. You really don't have enough to truly explore Tuscany leisurely - perhaps one city only (in that case, forget Venice). You have to check distances if you go the "northern" route as opposed to the ferry - 10 days is pretty tight.

If you take a ferry, Ancona seems more convenient to Rome (I think the Bari ferry may just be out of Dubrovnik which will add even more to your travel time on both ends - getting to the ferry from Split and then getting from Bari to Rome) - you should verify this to be sure.

Agree with Laurel. Fly from Split-Rome. Flight time is 1H05m. Vueling Air is a budget airline
that flies this route. Flights arrive @ 13:00.

Take the Leonardo express into Rome 30 min. Then train to Florence 1 1/2 hrs.

Though this will use up most of the day, you should be in Florence in time for dinner.

Thanks so much this is so helpful!