Italy suggestions end of May beginning of June

Do you want to visit Milan, or just using it as a base to fly home from. If so, it is a waste of time as you would have to spend the night there to get to your flight.
Most people (first timers) prefer to fly into Venice as it is more relaxing and easier to unwind from jetlag. Then onto Florence, and fly home from Rome. Rome is more than just museums, by the way. The kids would enjoy Trastevere as it is younger and more lively (even though myself, a senior, love it!).

You mention no museums for Rome - is this because of lack of interest in history or art (which is fine!), or the crowds expected? What does everyone like and what are their interests? You could find interesting walking food tours in each city. Rome’s street food, Venice ciccheti tour, gelato tours - lots of options. You can also look for “hidden gems” tours to find interesting things in each city that might be away from the crowds/off the beaten path. Here is one that was highly recommended to us for Venice: https://www.secretvenicetour.com/tours/. Row Venice is another unique experience option.

Welcome to the Travel Forum! We are all here to share our thoughts and experiences with you. Honestly, it helps build my excitement from my 21st trip to Italy. June can't come fast enough! Charlotte is right! With 2 weeks (how many nights?), you can do Venice, Florence and Rome fairly easily. If you fly into Venice you may have to wait a little for your apartment or hotel room to be ready for you. Check ahead - many places will let you store your luggage until check-in time. Venice is a great place to get over jetlag. Stay at least 3 or 4 nights. Murano, Burano and Torcello are a great day trip away from the crowds. The evenings in Venice are my favorite - dancing on the Piazza San Marco, meandering the neighborhoods away from the tourist areas, late night vaporetto ride (guaranteed to help you get a better than good-night sleep), and having a slow dinner. The train ride to Florence is fast and easy. And indeed, Florence is very walkable and comfortable and crowded and hot and humid . . . but very beautiful. Rome is, well, Rome! It's entirely possible to enjoy Rome without taking a tour or spending all your time in museums. And Trastevere is a great place for the younger people. I haven't been in my 20s for several decades now and Trastevere is my favorite place to spend a large part of my evenings (drinks, dinner, people watching). My warning though: plan your trip now. For places you want to enter, make specific time and date reservations. Dinner reservations maybe for the 1st night might be a good idea. As you walk around, if you see a place that looks fun, make a reservation. Dinner is about 9 o'clock by the way. You own the table for the night so don't expect (or want) fast service. Enjoy the food, the local wines. Might be a good time to reflect on the day's experiences and anticipate tomorrow's. And definitely fly home from Rome. See if you can get a flight closer to noon so you don't feel so rushed on your last morning. Car service, taxi or train - all about the same time just different prices. The RS guide books are great for planning and the comments on this forum will add a lot of info. If all 4 of you get involved in the planning, all 4 of you will enjoy the preparations. My motto: You deserve this!

If you haven't booked tickets yet - it's always best to book MULTI-CITY tickets and fly into Venice and out of Rome.

I'd skip Milan and focus on Venice, Florence, Rome. Know that 3 nights is only 2 full days in each town.
Use the Train. Fly into Venice, 3-4 nights, Train to Florence- 4 nights with a day trip with WalkAboutFlorence - do their BEST OF TUSCANY TOUR, then train to Rome for 4 nights - don't miss the Vatican, Colosseum & Forum, Pantheon, San Clemente Basilica - hire a private guide for more learning and ease of tickets.

If you haven't booked hotels, your best choices are gone. We go over every 2 yrs and book a yr in advance.

Hi, I took my adult daughter to Italy a few years ago for two weeks. This trip report tells what we did in Venice, Florence & Rome. We also went to a couple of less touristy locations which I recommend. Have a great time!

I also very much agree with the idea to fly into Venice & home from Rome on a multi-city one reservation ticket. Rome is intense as a beginning intro to Italy, especially with jet lag.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/mother-adult-daughter-italy-trip-aug-sept-2022

One note: the Mr. 100 Tiramisu I mention in Rome is now very much on the tourist route. I was in Rome last May and each time I walked by, there was a long line waiting to go inside.

This is a wonderful Travel Forum !
Thanks to each of you for your generous thoughts.

Charlotte and others have great advice to forget Milan and fly into Venice for 1st night..... flying back from Rome
Will certainly look into Catmoms suggestions for Hidden Gems tours there.

Robert, thank you for the fantastic advise for 1st timers in Italy. Trastevere sounds like the perfect area for us in Rome.
and possibly ok just to walk around and not have organized tours ....Any suggestions where to stay there?

Sounds like Florence is beautiful place and walkable ... any suggestions where to stay there and are we ok with
simply walking around discovering on our own and not organizing tour etc.
Jean, love the itinerary you shared with mother/ daughter trip, very helpful.
Also, none of of us speak a lick of Italian, will this be difficult for us?

Thank you again!

mhgogo, don't worry about not speaking Italian. Just try to learn basic phrases...please, thank you, good morning, etc. Learn the words in the train station, tickets, platforms, arrivals/departures. Phrases like Quanto costa (how much does it cost?)Use google translator, especially helpful when menus are in Italian. I need to know what I am eating! As long as you are polite and friendly, and at least try a few words, you will be ok. Rick does have a small translator book, purse size, which was helpful.

mhgogo - see I told you that you'd get lots of helpful ideas on this site! You asked about where to stay so let me tell you what I've enjoyed over the years. In Venice, the Hotel Ala is really wonderful and very centrally located (hotelala.it). Apartments are available also. Amazing breakfast buffet and rooftop sitting area. I prefer staying in VRBO apartments in Florence (try to get near the Duomo or Piazza della Republica so you will be very centrally situated). The Oltrarno area is an option, try to be near either Ponte Vecchio or Ponte Sante Trinita. In Rome I always rent as close to Piazza Navona as possible. That gives you easy walking access to everything! It's also a great place to end each night with a gelato. Of course, gelato is perfect any time. PLEASE - get busy! Places are disappearing very quickly (I had an apartment I've rented a few times in Rome taken away while I was filling out the reservation). VRBO lets you put your 'wants' (price range, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, air conditioning (a MUST!), neighborhood etc etc.

Thank you Charlotte.. We will learn the necessary Italian words and ...that will be it :)!!

Thank you once again Robert! Such fantastic ideas and yes I will get busy tomorrow!
I do know I am very late in planning this trip but we just found out this week that both my kids plans have
changed for summer and are available to travel...will be our last summer that they are not committed to internships, jobs etc.
so want to try and go!