Itinerary for 15 day Italy

Probably ok
How many nights in Rome?
Any chance you can fly in to Venice and out of Naples?

Venice has an airport, fly into that if you're going to Venice and avoid 6-8 hours of transfers tacked on to a 14+ hour travel day. Plus, you're essentially killing a whole day to (I assume) save a few hundred dollars flying open jaws into Venice and out of Rome or Naples.

IMO, day trips to Pompeii from Rome are looong additions to an already full day. 3+ hours each way assuming there's no traffic. You have enough days to spend an overnight down near the scavi, wake up refreshed and ready to see the site. Alternatively, you could spend a couple days down in Sorrento. Flying out of Naples solves some of your issue here.

fly into Venice
Venice 3
Florence 3-4
Rome 4-5
Amalfi Coast 3
Bus to Naples airport and fly out of Naples

Hi there, Even if you decide to do RT to Rome, you could take the train directly to Florence from FCO (closer than Venice) to avoid backtracking and splitting up your visit to Rome.

Agreed, Pompeii or Herculaneum for that matter would be a very long day from Rome, without the benefit of being able to go into the ruins early in the day with fewer crowds. Try to avoid the weekend, and especially the free Sundays.

As mentioned above, if you could fly into Venice, out of Rome (or Naples) you'd spend less time in transit. You could end your Italian trip by taking the train to Pompeii and stay in the small town of Pompeii at the wonderful Hotel Forum, 5-minute walk to the ruins. This is what we did on the advice of a Forum member. Here's my trip report. The walking stones in Pompeii are VERY uneven, consider taking hiking poles with non-stick points. We checked them in our bag. We both wore sturdy hiking boots. And we loved our Askos archaeologist tour guide! Good luck with your trip planning! https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/great-trip-to-pompeii-naples-over-new-years-december-26-january-2nd-2026

I think your plan is fine, if I understand it:

Venice 3/4 nights
Florence 3/4 nights
Rome 7 nights (day trip to Pompeii)

Some suggestions:
Try to fly into Venice and out of Rome. I would prefer four nights in both Venice and Florence, there's too much to see in each for just two full days. Florence has many must-see attractions, and Venice deserves time to just wander about.

My preference would be:
Venice 4 nights
Florence 4 nights
Rome 6 nights (day trip to Pompeii)

It's been said: fly into Venice and out of Rome. Day trip from Florence? Siena. Lucca. Day trip from Rome? Ostia Antica. Easier to get to/from, quite undiscovered by tourists. Although Pompeii and Ercolano are also amazing. The downside of flying into Venice is a fairly early arrival. That may make checking into your hotel or apartment a bit difficult. If they will hold your luggage, that would solve lots of problems. You'd have time for a walk and lunch without luggage. For me, honestly, 3 nights in Florence is more than enough. Rome always gets the extra time because there are so many centuries to experience. Had enough of the middle ages, just turn left and you'r either hundreds of years ahead or behind. I've, for tthe past 17 trips to Rome, stayed in a VRBO apartment usually near Piazza Navona or in Trstevere. Kitchen, laundry, neighborhood, shopping with locals makes for a great experience for this 76 year old travelling alone.

Rome always gets the extra time because there are so many centuries to experience. Had enough of the middle ages, just turn left and you'r either hundreds of years ahead or behind

What a wonderful description of Rome, and often it's a History Lasagna, where those eras are in layers together!

I will assume that since your visit begins in 8 weeks, your flights are set. Note - I've used the Italian names of train stations which you will need to check schedules and book tickets. BTW you can register for CartaFreccia on the Trenitalia site (and then for the X-GO program) which could save you some money on early ticket purchases.

Have you looked at the Trenitalia website for train schedules? It takes about an hour to get from the airport (Leonardo Express) to Roma Termini - the main train station in Rome. Then it's another 4-4.5 hours by train to Venezia Santa Lucia. I'd only take a direct train (no transfers). They run hourly. All that after a transatlantic flight will be exhausting and could be confusing.

So I join Sandancisco's recommendation to start in Florence which is much easier to get to and much easier to navigate. There are even some trains from the airport direct to Florence (Firenze Santa Maria).

How you allocate your days depends on your interests. There's a case to be made for less time in Rome and more in Florence and/or Venice. Or even going from Venice to Naples (Napoli Centrale) for a couple nights to see the Herculaneum, Pompeii, and the National Archaeological Museum in Naples (it's a wow).