Itinerary - 2nd Attempt

Two weeks in the middle of the trip somewhere like you temporarily live there? On my longer trips i most enjoy settling in somewhere for a while, run out of groceries and go buy some more, maybe some day trips ....

I would be inclined to go from Florence to Naples and finish in Rome and save a move.

I would be amazed if there is any real difference in the weather, 3rd week of Oct vs the 4th week

Wow! Have you put your itinerary on a calendar to see how much you’re moving around and how much you have planned during each stay? Any time for a breather?
There is lots of background behind my upcoming trip, as I’ve spent a couple of years(oh! What could have caused that!) taking our trip from 3 months down to 72 days on the ground with far less moving from place to place and enjoying a few free days in each of our locations while trying not to fill the entire time with day trips/tours and the like. We will not see everything we want to see, but feel we will enjoy what we do see.
Why in Venice are you not just staying in Venice (other than Murano/Burano)? When in Florence why the side trips to Lucca/Pisa and no time for Florence? Might be good to skip Le Marche this time and concentrate on Umbria and Tuscany.
I highly recommend you map/calendar your trip and see if it’s too much. Amended to say, you may like a fast paced, see it all, no costs barred itinerary!!
Best of good travels ahead!

Like Sjs, I find your itinerary very fast-paced, especially so for a 7-week trip with no down time at all. I must assume that is your preferred pace and that you've done similar trips in the past. As my friends would say, good on ya, mate :-)

Why are you dropping the car at the Venice airport? Is there no rental drop-off in the city?

It's my understanding that Lucca/Pisa is a better by train than by bus and can be combined in a one-day trip. You are backtracking to Florence which you go through to get to the CT. Have you considered switching the order and renting a car in La Spezia?

I am unclear where you are sleeping on your 8N in Campania. Are you aware of the slow transportation there?

If you want another location for your two nights vs. just staying longer at where you’ve mentioned, I am currently on my last day in Bergamo, staying in the Citta Alta section of the city. This gorgeous section reached by a ground funicular or taxi/bus along the Venetian Wall has been a very special experience! (This is my 6th time to Italy.). I have been here three days. I had to stay in two different hotels because of my required days, but both have been very nice! The Hotel Piazza Vecchia or the gorgeous Gombit Hotel.

For your itinerary, it would be between Varenna & Verona. Bergamo is an hour train from Milano Centrale.

These kinds of plans are so hard to comment on fairly because we all have our personal preferences, but I'd keep refining toward fewer moves. I definitely think all of those three-night stops will be exhausting. I think you might be underestimating travel times.
You need time to do laundry at some point earlier in the trip (even if you send it to a service).
Random observations:
Right off the bat, I'd probably merge the lake stops, extend Dolomites, remove Bologna.
I loved Marche, but your time in Tuscany and Umbria is so brief, I'd consider cutting that to extend those.

8 days/8 nts - Naples (2), Amalfi (2), Pompeii (1) Herculaneum (1/2),
Capri (1), leaves extra day and night to use somewhere.
You don't need to stay in Pompeii--you can visit there and Herculaneum from Naples. I'd add the extra nights to Amalfi or Capri.

Thanks for replying and commenting with useful tips and advice. We are two 64 year old active travellers who have travelled Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands, the UK and Scotland and Australia similar to how we have outlined this holiday. We have lost 2.5 years of travel as everyone has, and we feel with our age we don’t have decades left to travel, probably more like ten years. Husband just retired last year. We are basing it on RS recommended length of times in different areas and cities. We try to eliminate two night stays anywhere and never do a one night except if it aligns with needing to fly out of a city early the next morning. We have found this to be less stressful to be close to an airport with close links.
Reversing Rome and Naples - thanks for the advice on the little difference there will be for the weather - makes more sense to visit Naples and Amalfi first.
Is the consensus to skip Bologna? We could then have two additional days/nights somewhere else.
Cinque Terre - we’ll have to revisit the logical transportation to get to La Spezia.

I think adding our two extra days to Tuscany and Umbria might be a good idea as someone mentioned. BUT, Verona and Varenna are also appealing!
We are basing out of Florence with a day trip to Lucca and Pisa - evenings all in Florence.
The Campania region - sorry, confusing how I set it out! We will stay in Naples four or five nights (day trips to Capri, Pompeii and Herculaneum), then move down to somewhere on the Amalfi coast for the balance - haven’t decided where yet.
We ARE staying in Venice, with a day trip to Murano, Burano, etc. as Rick has outlined in his Venice program. We did have one extra day in Venice, but thought 2.5 days and four nights were adequate, we aren’t leaving Venice until afternoon on the day we leave).
The Dolomites are a quick drive through, three days as recommended by friends who have been. We have their itinerary which we will follow as well as Rick’s advice. We do not intend on doing a lot of hiking - osteoarthritic knees.

Thanks again, appreciate the constructive ideas.

I would look at your schedule in terms of "down days". Your pacing is fine if you were going for two weeks. It is just hard to keep up that pace for 50 days. I would schedule every week after the first two weeks an extra day beyond what you think you need just to rest up and do things like laundry. If you don't need the day for those purposes, I am sure you will find something else to do. You don't want to end up like our friends who pushed themselves so much on a trip to Italy that when they got to Pompeii, they did not actually enter the site. They were tired of touring. They sat at a coffee shop instead.

Like your pick of locations, but if you have not made any reservations, this path might flow better and cut down on miles traveled after Bologna.

Bologna> San Marino >Le Marche > Umbria > Tuscany > Cinque Terre > Florence > Naples > Rome.

Hope this is helpful.

Thanks bethFL and gerri. I can see the problem of maybe running out of gas! Pompeii especially near the end, hubby would drag himself through it or get a wheelchair - it is almost top of his list, haha. And the itinerary reverse from Bologna makes a lot of sense. We decided to save Rome for last as logistically it saves us extra travel/train time.

Most of Pompeii, including some of the most interesting and popular bits, are difficult to walk, impossible by wheelchair. A few years ago I uploaded these photos to give people an idea of what awaits them.

I love Bologna for many reasons. But Bologna is well located for a base with day trips. Padova,Vincenzo, Turin via fast train, and of course Parma and Modena. Ravenna for the mosaics. There are probably more destinations, these are just the ones that I know of.
All under 2 hours, most less .
The time saved in moving accommodations is not to be underestimated. The appeal of settling into a city for more than a few days also not to be underestimated.

We are basing it on RS recommended length of times in different areas
and cities.

Lorie, while understanding that you've traveled abroad before and have based the itinerary on personal travel style, many of us find Rick's recommended itinerary timings to be too rushed. I'll also caution you to be realistic about your day/night counts. For instance:

3 days/3 nights - Florence. Side trips by bus to Lucca and Pisa.

You won't have 3 FULL days. 3 nights will provide closer to 2. 5 days. That means only 1 full day for Florence itself if using the other for Lucca and Pisa. Unless you've little interest in what Florence has to offer, that's giving Italy's jewel of the Renaissance sadly short shrift, IMHO. The same day/night count applies to some of your other 3 night stays: 3 nights = 2.5 days. 4 nights = 3.5 days, etc.

Anyway, as some of the others have expressed, the amount of 3 night stays in your plan would be too rushed for us too.

We do not intend on doing a lot of hiking - osteoarthritic knees.

Hmmm. those knees are likely to bother you in the CT, even if you don't hike. Lots of stairs and inclines to manage. The same will be true for parts of the Amalfi Coast; I would eliminate Positano right off the bat as a candidate for your base in that region. I'm pretty sure your comment about a wheelchair at Pompeii was meant in jest but, well, I sure hope it was! HA! The good news is that while it involves navigating a lot of uneven surfaces, the scavi is fairly flat overall.

You've probably already experienced this during some of your other travels but a heads up that many accommodations will involve the ability to manage stairs. Same with a fair amount of restrooms in restaurants; it's not usual to find them a steep flight down to the basement. Just another reason not to push yourselves too hard, eh? :O)

Thanks for all the replies! The wheelchair comment was meant in complete jest! Therefore my “haha”comment. Just a way to emphasize Pompeii will be a highlight for him.
We may look at adding our extra two days to Florence.
Thanks again.

Hi
Sent you a couple of PMs-hope they’re helpful.

We just returned from Italy and we loved Tuscany, all of the small towns, although they are hilly. Also, would you consider Sorrento over Naples? Naples was our least favorite of all of Italy. Sorrento is a good base and Ravello is just beautiful. We stayed in Positano and found it beautiful but very touristy. The gardens in Ravello and wandering the town was one of our highlights. We took day trips all over the Amalfi coastline via ferry and a few buses. We did hire a private car service from Napoli train station to Positano. You do not want to drive this road...!!!! All in all, Tuscany was our favorite area because of the Val D'Orca area , the best wine and best food of all.

pammyo1957 thanks for the tips! We were planning on staying on Amalfi coast (Sorrento) and Naples as well, taking the train from Naples to Pompeii and Herculaneum from there (two separate days as hubby knows how long Pompeii will take to visit - his sister was there about five years ago). So we will rethink how we split our time between Naples and Sorrento. So much to think about!
And now that we decided to bypass Le Marche (save it for another holiday) we are adding that time to Tuscany and Umbria.
Already starting our next Italian itinerary - Le Marche, Puglia and Sicily😄