Itinerary that includes Sicily and venice

Arriving and departing from Rome means lots of traveling. It would be easier to start in either Venice or Sicly and work your way down (or up) the country. There's not much beach in Venice per se, unless you mean the Lido. You are trying to cover a lot of area in two weeks. Why not just focus on Southern Italy (Rome and south)? The Amalfi coast (Positano, Isle of Capri, Sorrento, etc) is lovely, but touristy. The beaches in Calabria (e.g. Tropea)are wonderful and not as well known by Americans. Beaches in Sicily can range from wonderful to not so nice, depending on the area of Sicily. You could spend two weeks just in Sicily, as the western and eastern sides are so different!
If you want to try north of Rome, the beaches on the Adriatic are very touristy (Rimini). Cinque Terre is lovely, but the floods of last October played quite a bit of havoc and I'm not sure if the towns are totally recovered yet. And of course, the Italian Riviera is lovely. How much beach time do you want to spend? There is so much more to see in Italy so it's hard to do justice in just two weeks!

Thank's Kathy. We actually wanted to concentrate on the north size, but wanted to see if it was possible to put Sicily in the itenirary. And yes we know is to much. Thats why we need help to decide what is the best choice. The thing is that we definitely want to visit sicily just for the beach part, but again my wife does not want to come home without visiting venice?

as previous post mentions I would stick to sections of Italy that are closer together, you will be spending a lot of time travelling in your two weeks you can do the whole two weeks in Sicily are your flights to Rome already booked?
for July/August being on the coast or a lake is not a bad idea but I'd suggest you decide quickly for summer travel

We would book our flights by the end of this month Toni. Like Kathy mention above, we where thinking flying to sicily and departing from venice but its just to much for our budget. Now the flights go for 1500 per person round trip to rome. Otherwise is 2500 one way.

if you are going to focus on Venice and northern Italy I would suggest you look at flights to Venice or Milan

Make sure youare looking for open jaw flights properly on the websites. You want to choose the muti-city option on most booking sites. That will allow you to ticket a flight from your home to one destination and the depart from another airport to your home aiport. You do n ot want to book two one way tickets. these "open jaw" flights aren't usually much more expensive than a roundtrip.

It's very easy to turn a round trip airfare into an open jaw. Save Sicily for the end and then book a flight from Sicily to your departing city. People forget that flying within Italy is dirt cheap compared to coordinating a true open jaw flight.

Thank's everyone for taking the time to help us decide whats the better option. I think we are going to arrive to Rome and work our way up. Then fly from venice to palermo and fly from palermo to Rome for departure. 3 days in Rome, 1 day in Pisa, 3 days in Florence, 3 days in Venice, and 3 days in Sicily. We end up having a full day left, any suggestions?

Regarding your last post, skip Pisa or day trip from Florence. Its not worth it for one site, the tower. I'd also start by proceeding directly to Florence upon arrival in Rome, making Rome you last few days before returning home. Sicily is huge. How much do you think you will see in 3 days? Basically you'll have to pick one town/city there. Is it really worth the expense for that short of time on the island? Add your planned Pisa day to Florence or Venice and you could use another day in Rome. It is large, complex, and fascinating.

Arturo: You might be better served if your trip was either pulled up to April/May or pushed out until September/October. Flight prices are often half what you're quoting in summer months. My 3/27/2012, open jaw flight was $705-into London and out of Rome. We're flying into Pisa on EasyJet cheaply. As was earlier said, use multi-city flights when looking online for flights (Kayak.com). You can also book flights directly with the airlines. I found U.S. Air to be the least expensive carrier to Europe, but service is sometimes marginal. (I wish now I'd paid $20 more and gone Delta.) Italy in the middle of the Summer is blazing hot, and air conditioning is not up to U.S. standards. There are even government regulations that are anti-air conditioning in hotels. The country essentially goes on vacation for the whole month of August. It's just not as pleasurable time to go. A good 14 day itinerary is to fly into Venice and spend three nights. Take a train to Florence, and spend 3 nights in the city. Rent a car and go south 20 miles into the Chianti countryside to spend 4 nights in B&B's or agritursimos. You can do day trips to Siena, San Gim. and Volterra. You can relax and just knock around the gorgeous countryside eating from town to town. Then, take a train to Rome, and spend the rest of your time taking in the sights there. Italy is culture overload for first time European tourists, and it's a country best taken slowly. You can see so much more if you stay in one place and take day trips. The people in B&B's and agriturisimos are just so enjoyable, and so are their guests.

Sicily should really be it's own trip
Why start and end a trip in Rome?

Re BEACH vaca in Italy: Mediterranean beaches are probably not what you (or I) have imagined our whole lives! I'd always looked at pictures of the beautiful Med and imagined lovely soft sand, warm waters, etc; but having dipped my toes in the med three or four times in the last few years the beaches are pebbly, not sandy; the water is stop your heart cold (both times were in late summer, early fall). Not to say they're not beautiful, and the Europeans get right into that icy water off the beaches that are more gravel than sand........! So, if you're expecting soft sand and warm water, then forget it in the Med. The Adriatic side, Rimini, is more what you may be expecting, and we have family there; and the sand is soft and fine, and the waters warm. It is a tourist Mecca for all of Italy and Europe, so if you want to go, plan ahead and make reservations early. My family enjoys the BEACH there but it is crazy but a fun crazy. If it's the culture and fun of Italy and Sicily you want, remember that Rome is realy HOT in the summer but Roma is Roma and we love it. Sicily will also be hot, but there will be many hotels with pools. You will find no better food in the world!! Especialy late summer the further south you go in Italy, the better the food. So, if it's beaches you want Adriatic side of Italy. Culture: Florence, Venice, Rome. Don't try to do more than three destinations in that period of time you'll be wasting all of your vaca checking in/out/taxi/train/taxi/check in/unpacking.....
relax and enjoy what you choose to do.

Arturo, your trip looks fine. Sometimes we have had to do the same thing; fly into and out of Rome, and use the cheap inter EU airlines to "connect the dots". Just cut out Pisa! and make Sicily 5 days. Be aware that Sicily will be blazingly hot...don't attempt to walk on the beaches without some sort of swim shoe. We used the Lonely Planet guidebooks to pick the places that we wanted to see in Sicily. Sicily is huge. Just pick a coiuple of places to stay, and do road trips from these bases. Use Whichbudget.com to find the lo-cost inter EU airlines.