Italy itinerary

Flying to Venice is a good idea (Easyjet at 3.10pm for $70), then train ...
Venice (3)
Florence (3)
Cinque Terre (2)
Pick up hire car in Pisa or Lucca
Tuscany (3)
Return hire car in Arezzo or Orvieto
Rome (3)

Jonacat,

My initial thought was to fly from Nice to Venice, stay for 2 nights, train to Florence, stay for 2 nights, rent a car then travel through Tuscany for 4 nights, back to Florence to return car, train to Cinque Terre for 2 nights, train to Florence then train to Rome.

• Keep in mind that 2 nights in any particular place will give you one
  full day to explore such a place. So 2 nights in Venice will give you
  one full day plus a few hours the day you arrive from Nice.

• You may consider adding a night in Florence so you will have 2 full
  days to visit.

• You may choose to return the rental car in La Spezia instead of
  Florence, especially since you plan to travel to Cinque Terre.

• You can take a train to Rome from CT (via La Spezia) so there is no
  need to go back to Florence as you mentioned above.

Thanks for the tips! How long is the train from La Spezia to Rome? I thought the quicker train was out of Florence?

One advantage of picking up a rental car in Lucca, and dropping it in Orvieto is that a continuous north-south road trip through Tuscany will save you a rail journey over a similar route.

--Train from CT to Lucca (1 night) via Pisa
Pick up rental car in Lucca
--From Lucca to Siena (1 night) via San Gimignano
--From Siena to Orvieto (1 night) via Montalcino or Montepulciano
Return rental car in Orvieto
--Train from Orvieto to Rome

Picking up and returning a rental car in Florence have been problematical, and expensive, for some travelers reporting in here. You might want to further research those issues.

We just did your itinery minus Nice with 11 days in Italy starting in Rome and ending in Venice. It was amazing! Here's what we did.
1 night on plane, 3 nights Rome, 4 nights Florence with day trips to Pisa, Cinque Terre and Sienna, 2 nights Venice

Day 1 Flew to Rome from U.S. 9 or 10 hr flight overnight

Day 2 Arrived Rome airport 6:40am, checked in apartment at 11am. Piazza Navona, got groceries, did Pantheon day and at night, Trevi Fountain. Recovered from jet lag/time change.

Day 3 Rome – Capitol Hill, did Through Eternity Tour of Colosseum,
Forum, and Palatine Hill from 3-6:30pm , Spanish Steps.

Day 4 Rome - Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica Tkts for 11:30am,
bought online prior. Evening: Campo di’Fiori, Piazza del Campidoglio.

Day 5 Checkout 11am, left luggage, walked to Trastevere and back. Got luggage and taxied to Roma Termini; Trenitalia train to Florence 2:50-4:22pm, Frecciargento 943. Bought these tickets online from home as soon as they went on sale and they were only about $20 each. Same for the ones to Venice. Arrived Florence. Taxi to apt and checked in. Piazza Della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio, shopped.

Day 6 Florence – Piazza della Repubblica (arch/carousel), climbed Campanile Bell tower, toured and climbed Duomo, museum, San Lorenzo Market, dinner at Mercato Centrale (food court). Night - Ponte Vecchio bridge, Pitti Palace

Day 7 Day trip to Pisa and Cinque Terre with Tuscany on a Budget Tours, This was amazing!!!!
7am-8:30pm, Pisa - Climbed The Leaning Tower, cemetary, church and baptistry, then 3 CT towns: Riomaggiore, Vernazza, Manarola. Trains and a bus at Pisa

Day 8 Day trip to Siena – Took 1:10-2:25pm SITA bus from station by Santa Maria Novella.

Day 9 Firenze S.M. Novella station train to Venice; Frecciargento, 10:15am-12:20pm. Rode Vaporetto boat to Zacarria stop, arrived Residenza de l’Osmarin 1:45pm. Saint Mark’s Square & Basilica, wandered around and explored

Day 10 Venice – Grand Canal Vaporetto ride up & back, Rialto Bridge. Evening – Orchestras St. Mark’s Square

Day 11 Took Alilaguna boat from San Zacarria-Jolanda stop to Marco Polo airport. 1 hr 10min
Flew home
I would do it all the same again except maybe change the Sienna day trip to a biking Lucca daytrip, or do 3 nights in Florence, and 1 night in Cinque Terre to have more time there. CT was so beautiful, and the lovely mountains, ocean and nature were a refreshing change from all the city time. Tailor your trip to fit your interests. Hope this helps!

Lots if great advice thank you!
I have one more question..we fly home from Paris at 1:30pm. We have to fly from Rome to connect to Paris. There is an Air France flight that gets us into CDG at 9:15am. Should we book this or is it too risky? The only other option is to fly to Paris the day before..leaving us 1 night less in Rome...

"Should we book this or is it too risky?"

It would be for me. If anything goes wrong and you miss your flight back to the US, you're stuck. You'd have to buy a last minute, full fare, one way ticket to the US - can you afford that? And you'd have to find a suitable flight back to your home town, which could very possibly be the next day; so, add a hotel night to the flight cost.

"The only other option is to fly to Paris the day before..leaving us 1 night less in Rome..."

That's what I'd do. Or, see how much it would cost to change your trans-Atlantic ticket to depart from Paris instead of Rome.

Harold, you mean rebook to fly from Rome instead of Paris?

Were from Canada by the way, not that makes a difference, just want to clarify.
We've travelled in SE Asia where we had to ferry 2 islands, then fly to another, then fly to Bangkok all in one day to catch a flight home and didn't worry.
Am I getting older?