Itinerary for 8 day trip to Italy

Thanks for all the advice...we REALLY want to see Rome and REALLY want to see Venice...so, I am going to take one night from Vernazza and plug in Venice.

I would not say that you are crazy, but what do you have planned for Rome? Are there enough items that you can remove from your Rome itinerary to add a day in Venice?

Venice is very nice, but it is a place for a very relaxed pace. I don't know what your son would be interested in, but he might or might not really enjoy the boat ride out to Murrano and Burrano.

Since you asked, I would dump Venice and go straight to Milan instead. My husband and I had our first visit to Milan last October and we really liked it. It was worth it just to see the Last Supper. I guess it's easy for me to say that since I have been to Venice, but on future Italy trips I would love to go back to Milan, but I have no real desire to go back to Venice. I definitely would not cut Rome short to add time for Venice.

That's a tough one. I would say unless Venice is an absolute must, save it for the next trip. This is because I wouldn't take a night off of Rome, especially since you are flying in and your first day will (I assume) be coming after an overnight flight. And, I wouldn't take a night off Cinque Terre so you won't be rushed there.

Plus, the travel from CT to Venice will be at least 6 hrs., and if you did try to catch the 7AM train, planning on arriving around 1, this would only go smoothly if the train doesn't arrive late (since there are multiple connections). Ideally this won't happen, but I have been to CT twice, twice tried to catch the morning train out, and both times it has been late. If you were to miss your connection this could be the difference in arriving at 1PM vs. arriving at 4 or 5PM, plus spending about an hour or so getting to your hotel to check in, etc. So you would be getting out once everything is beginning to shut down for the day, which wouldn't be so great. Plus, having to get up early again the next day to sprint back to Milan... I don't know.

I would suggest keeping your schedule as it is, yet heading to Milan on the last day as opposed to Venice. This way you won't be rushed train-wise and you will have time to see Milan's highlights like the Duomo, the Last Supper, etc. But this would make the best use of time, especially since you are flying out of Milan. However, IF Venice is an absolute must not miss and you had to take a night off somewhere, then I would shorten your stay in CT by one night and add it to Venice, so you wouldn't possibly be wasting time over there. But, again, overall I would suggest keeping the schedule as is, just making Milan your final sleepover as opposed to Venice.

either skip Venice and try Milan as Stuart suggested or take the night from Vernazza and stay two nights in Venice.

Sherry and Stuart are spot on. Save Venice for another trip. Do Florence during the next trip as well. Have a great time! Your son will love the CT area if he is outdoorsy.

Since you are from Boston, do you think that 3 nights in CT might be too much? Cute seaside towns, but it may not be that warm, and being from Boston, you may have already seen seaside towns. We were in CT last April on a RS tour & it happened to coincide with an Italian holiday, & lots of Italian tourists, also. It was shoulder to shoulder on the trains, and the towns & hikes were so crowded we couldn't wait to get out! Venice has it's share of tourists also, but because it's so different, your son may find it more interesting. Have a great trip.