Italy Itinerary

No, absolutely do not give Cinque Terre more time than Florence and rural Tuscany! There is no comparison between them.

I feel you should do what you want to do, just give it enough time. Note it is a long train journey from Venice to CT. La Spezia is a city, just so you are aware and not expecting a quaint village.
I would check to see where I could get the best flight to Paris and plan accordingly. You are moving a lot--I would pick one or the other and not try to do both. Add some time to Venice or Rome or both and then finish in a Liguria town and fly to Paris (perhaps from Genoa?).
Do you hike? If not, then I would suggest picking a different village on the coast. You don't say what month--in bad weather, CT is not the place to be.

If your time in Venice is set then, rather than backtracking to Tuscany or Cinque Terre and because you mention relaxation time, consider spending those 4 days at the Italian lakes (Garda, Como or Maggiore) and flying from Milan to Paris.

If you decide that Tuscany and Cinque Terre are must-sees, then I suggest you go from Rome to Cinque Terre to Tuscany (Florence or Siena) to Venice, and fly from Venice to Paris. With 4 nights, I would stay 2 nights in each location. You can take a winery tour from either Florence or Siena so there's no need to make it a separate overnight stop, especially since you only have 4 days in total for that portion of your trip.

Edit: If visiting Cinque Terre, I'd suggest staying in Monterosso rather than La Spezia.

You have 10 nights and 7 are devoted to Rome and Venice. That is a very nice pace. Adding visits to three or four additional locations with only 3 nights/2 days at your disposal means a race at the end, not the relaxing end you are hoping for.

My suggestion is to pick one place and use it as a base. Siena is nice and you can day trip to Florence, or vice versa. You can take a nice tour with Tours by Roberto to see countryside and wineries without having to drive. Whatever you don’t see this trip (Cinque Terre, Volterra) you can put on your list for next time. And there will be a next time!

Laurel, I'm counting 2 nights in Venice (Friday and Saturday) with departure for Paris sometime on Sunday, leaving 4 nights open for other Italy destinations. Hopefully the OP will provide further clarification.

We will definitely be staying in Venice for the weekend after Rome. so that's a full Monday to Thursday. 4 days to see CT, florence, tuscany, siena/volterra. I'm just not sure how to break it up. Either siena or volterra or both?

Frank, thanks for your reply!
Friday to Sunday in Venice. I'm not sure if we will leave that night or early the next morning but we will go to Florence from there.

And we will be departing to Paris on Friday morning, leaving the prior monday-thursday open.

OK, two night Venice. Not enough, IMO, but let's see if we can lay this out.

Friday - travel to Venice, sleep Venice
Saturday - Venice, sleep Venice
Sunday - Travel to Tuscany, sleep Florence or Siena or ???
Monday - Tuscany, sleep Tuscany
Tuesday - Tuscany, sleep Tuscany
Wednesday - Tuscany, sleep Tuscany
Thursday - Tuscany, sleep Tuscany
Friday - Travel to Paris

That is five nights for Tuscany, 4 full days. If you only have four nights I would not split it into two different stays after a 2-night stay in Venice, but if you have five nights in Tuscany, you certainly could split it up but stick to transportation friendly hubs, like Florence you are not going to have a car. Three nights Florence and 2 Cinque Terre is doable.

Laurel, so you mean to go from Venice on Sunday to train to CT? Then have a full day, stay the night on Monday, and then travel back to Florence Tuesday Morning to have a full Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in that area?

Is that a better option than just going straight to Florence and waking up early one morning to do a day trip to CT? This way we dont have to deal with checking in and out of hotels, packing our stuff up... Can be more annoying.

CT can be a day trip from Florence (a long one, and not one I would advise) IF the weather is good that day, but if you choose a town in Tuscany, which I would suggest as a respite from all of the moving around, then it will probably be too onerous to do a day trip. Just considerations.

Is that a better option than just going straight to Florence and
waking up early one morning to do a day trip to CT?

I don't think Laurel will mind if I add a personal 2-cents here.

A lot of us don't recommend day trips to the CT because unless you're going during the winter, that places you squarely in the middle of the infamous day-tripping hordes. The golden hours are the ones before the mobs arrive and after they leave. Speaking strictly for my husband and myself, we wouldn't have enjoyed our visit much had it been just a day trip, and it wouldn't have given us enough time to explore. As it was, we spent some of the hours the villages were busiest climbing to lofty spots most of the trippers didn't venture to. Getting up and out early in the mornings bought us some peaceful sightseeing hours as well.

So I just got the rick Steve’s Italy book today. I read the Cinque Terre section and I see he recommends staying two nights to get a full day in CT. I definitely still want to go to CT this trip!

So you can do two in CT and 2 in Florence (have you checked flights out of Florence to Paris?), but I'd still advocate for adding time to Venice and then slowing down for CT.

If you truly have 5 nights between Venice and Paris, then 2 night in the Cinque Terre and 3 in Florence or Siena is reasonable. As Kathy says, most of us do not recommend a day trip to the Cinque Terre. You can go to Florence by train, move on the the Cinque Terre, and fly to Paris our of Pisa or Genoa.

I definitely still want to go to CT this trip!

Are you sure?

I actually remember reading somewhere that museums are closed Monday’s so I would prefer to go to CT first, on the Monday.
Then fly out of Florence Thursday night or Friday morning.

And yes, we’re going to CT. We wanted to go to Amalfi coast but once we heard how expensive it is...
This is next best.

But you did not mention plans for many museums--and you lose SO much time on the train going from Venice to CT.
The Amalfi Coast is quite large and there are places that are not expensive. Keep that in mind for an anniversary trip, as you don't have enough time anyway, but I only paid 50 euros per night--sea view and all!

Right, but we want to see Capri as well. I’ve spoken to people who have been there and they said it was astronomically expensive. Every step of the way was a fortune. Ferry, taxi... so we rather go when we can have more freedom in spending it all 😁

And yes, we would want to see a couple of museums in Florence. A visit to Siena and San gmignano as well.

Have you been to Italy before? Have you traveled in Europe before?

Your plans for the end of the week are not at all realistic. Pick one of the three. From a transportation standpoint, Florence would be easiest. You could do a Tuscan winery as a day trip tour.

First time in Europe.
What do you mean, unrealistic?
What part? Staying in CT for two nights? Or going to CT altogether?

What do you mean, unrealistic?
What part? Staying in CT for two nights? Or going to CT altogether?

I think you are trying to do too much and too little time. Since you haven't been there before, it's hard to get a feel for distances and logistics.

I think most of us want to "do it all". We have done trips where we tried to do too much. We also have this underlying fear that we'll never get a chance to go again, which leads to, in the words of Elvis, a "It's Now or Never" way of thought.

You have made three choices, any one of which would work. If your heart is set on CT, then you need to do things to make sure you have the best possible visit. That means staying there at least two nights. As Kathy and others have mentioned, you need to be able to get up early to be there before the cruise ship crowds and stay up late to enjoy it when they have all left.

There's a couple of problems IMO. That leaves you with a block of time during the day when you'll be trying to avoid the crowds. Precious time will be used while you are essentially in idle. The other problem is that 4 full days in CT is more than enough, but you really don't have enough time to adequately devote to other areas. That's why I think Tuscany or Florence are better options.

Tuscany would let you enjoy another aspect of Italy that is different from the cities. Since Siena is a bigger town, I would lean towards Volterra, which is a lovely hill town. To make the most of your stay, you'd need a car. That would allow you to explore the countryside. San Gimignano is only 25-30 minutes away and you could even do a day trip to Siena if so inclined. You could even consider staying at an agriturismo outside Siena. There are some agriturismos that are wineries which would allow you to indulge without worrying about drinking and driving. Of course, if you stay in Volterra, there's plenty of opportunities like here to sample wines.

I'm partial to Florence, which will always hold a special place in my hear. My wife and I met on a school trip way back in 1966 and shared our first kiss in Florence on August 10. There's a myriad of reasons it would be a great choice for you, but since you'll be seeing Rome and Venice, a taste of the countryside might give you a more rounded view of Italy.

BTW, when are you going? Time of year will be a factor for CT.

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a wonderful trip and it is just the first of many trips to Europe!

Right, but we want to see Capri as well. I’ve spoken to people who
have been there and they said it was astronomically expensive. Every
step of the way was a fortune. Ferry, taxi...

Regarding Capri - which doesn't fit geographically and you don't have time for on this trip anyway - we've done it without "astronomical" cost. Hotels can be expensive, yes, and the ferry isn't cheap but during our Oct. 2-night stay we didn't need or use a taxi, skipped the Blue Grotto (largely an expensive tourist trap for the few minutes allowed in the thing), didn't need any tours, didn't eat expensively, didn't shop the luxury stores, and most of our activities were free; there's some fun and very scenic hiking around the island.

So if planning to go there on the next trip, do some research before just taking what "people", who may have had a completely different agenda or budget than your own, have to say at face value. :O)

Editing to add: our stay in Sorrento wasn't "astronomical" either. Again, didn't eat expensively, didn't take any tours or taxis to get around (other than a necessary one to Naples for a very early flight but a specific situation), did Pompeii on our own with a book and cheap commuter train...