Italy Trip Itinerary - Any feedback?

Hello Cynth. I think your itinerary looks good, although very busy. The only change I would suggest is deleting Pompeii and substituting Ostia Antica. To take the train to Pompeii you must first go to Naples and then switch to a regional train to Pompeii. It would be a long trip for a short visit. On the other hand, Ostia is just outside of Rome and can be reached by the Metro/train. It is similar to Pompeii but closer and much less crowded.

I hope you have a great vacation.

The drive from Venice to La Spezia is 4 hours. Plus stops, the time needed to get and drop the rental car and the train to Monterosso. Note that a long section of the A15 motorway goes through the mountains. There are direct trains with reserved seats from Venice to Milan and from Milan to Monterosso. You can book the Sala Blu assistance at Milano centrale for those who have mobility problems, but I doubt it's possible at Monterosso station.

I wouldn't stop in Pisa with luggage in a rental car.

You can't drive into downtown Florence, Siena and Rome because of the ZTLs. Memorise the ZTL signs.

I'd also check how high is a place called Certaldo Alto and where visitors are allowed to park during the festival.

I agree with charylm, go to Ostia Antica and save time. Even if it's not that similar to Pompeii, it will make you experience a Roman City ruins.

A bit more information would possibly change recommendations for sightseeing and travel. How old are the children and how many people, total, are traveling together? In general, I don't like driving in the areas of Italy where you are going. Parking is often difficult and driving into some cities is impractical.

I agree with the previous writer that a day trip from Rome to Pompeii, while possible, could be skipped in favor of a quick train ride to Ostia Antica. Another option is to skip Cinque Terre and instead spend those days on the Amalfi coast and Pompeii.

I just visited Pompeii from Naples a few days ago. I'm 71 with an iffy sense of balance but otherwise no mobility issues. (I did nine miles in Naples yesterday, most of it going up or down hills or steps.) I found Pompeii to be quite a workout, even without having to take the train from Rome. The streets in Pompeii are cobbled; if you don't keep your eyes down, you can easily turn an ankle or take a fall. Walking a considerable distance on cobblestones is exhausting. There are elevated sidewalks alongside the cobbled streets, but they are very high (an issue for me at 5'2 ", though I can do stairs easily enough) and clambering up and down is tiring, too. The sidewalks are not wide, so sometimes you need to get drop onto the cobblestones to get around folks blocking the sidewalk.

Both Ostia Antica and Ercolano (Herculaneum) are less physically challenging than Pompeii. I don't know that everyone in your group will be gung ho to walk around Rome the day after a very long trip to Pompeii. I wonder whether it would be smart to do Pompeii on the last day so you can just collapse on the plane the next day. It will be important to have a dry day for Pompeii; I bet those cobblestones are deadly slick when wet.