Itinerary thoughts

I don't think you are over scheduling but I have a few questions/comments. August weather will be hot in Italy. Plan to take a break in the heat of the day and be sure to eat lots of gelato! For the trains, is there a reason for a mid-day train? You will spend most of the day moving from one city to another. I'd recommend something around 9 am so you can arrive by noon, check into the new hotel and grab some lunch. This will leave you more time in the new city on arrival while not forcing you out of bed too early (Plus you can nap on the train). You can buy train tickets in advance to save some money if that suits your needs. You have a lot of tours scheduled and that's not necessarily a bad thing. I rarely schedule tours because I like to plan on my own and be flexible. For the Florence tour, what does it cover? Florence is easily walkable and many sights are easy to access on your own. You can get reservations for the Accademia and Uffizi museums if you are interested. This will save you time standing in line.

Do you have hotels booked? If not, I would consider getting an apartment since you have 4 adults. We rented through veto.com and had 2 bed/2 bath apartments in Rome, Florence and Venice. For less than $180 per night in great locations. We had my wife, myself and two sons (22 and 25).

EDIT: that should be vrbo.com. Autocorrect strikes again!

I think my family should be ok with the heat. We live in Tampa, Florida and are used to 90 degree temps but we will definitely partake in gelato breaks 😁. I was thinking about mid day trains to allow my kids to sleep in a little bit on a few days. I haven't booked any tickets yet for trains so an earlier train is definitely an option for our travel days. I booked multiple tours so that we were sure to see the highlights in each city without too much advance planning required on my part. The Florence one specifically will include. Academia, Duomo and Ufuzzi as well as several others.

We do have hotels booked. Hotel Lancelot in Rome (2 rooms), Hotel Pendini in Florence and Hotel Saturnia in Venice.

Looks like a fairly well thought out itinerary

My only suggestion would be to skip CT, and add that day to one of your other destinations. Any of the others could use another day and save some wear and tear

I would choose between Pisa and CT as this is a lot of traveling...is seeing a leaning tower worth a whole day in Italy?? LOL

As for Tampa weather....you mostly are in air conditioning I suppose...so be prepared for 6 hours a day outdoors...do as the Italians do and get going ( trains) EARLIER in the day, take a nap or just relax/shower at hotel in late afternoon and stay up to enjoy cooler evenings.

The letting "the kids" sleep thing is not a good idea...getting on the time as soon as possible is best...they can sleep on trains.

My only other suggestion is...go to Florence immediately from Rome and see Rome on the way back before flying out...Rome is the most taxing of your locations and doing it while jet lagged is not ideal..since you are passing through to fly home, I do this frequently as I travel to Italy every year. It is a fast train ride to Florence which is a much more managable place to deal with jet lag and get adjusted to a new country....IMHO.

Florence does not need tours...just use guide book, walk and RS audio guides.

Thanks everyone for your advice. Will talk to my family. We are flying home from Venice so probably can't change itinerary order but definitely will consider the othe suggestions

Be sure to research your options for getting from your lodging in Venice to airport for your flight home now.

If its a really early flight, the logistics are challenging, or just plain spendy.

Most here would recommend doing your trip in reverse, into Venice, out from Rome, as most US bound flights from Venice are grimly early.

Thanks for the advice about transit to VCE airport. My flight is at 11am and I am already prepared for the fact that I will probably spend a pretty penny to get to airport.

Since your flight out of VCE is at 11, you should have no trouble getting there by bus from the Piazzale Roma - not at all expensive.

I would not book a full day tour of Florence. Half day, yes but not a full day. I would book a tour that included the Accademia. I would also not take a day out to go to Pisa. The CT is breathtakingly beautiful but not sure what your tour will do for you. If you go to the CT, drop Pisa for sure and stay the night.
Go to Lido public beach when in Venice. Beautiful beach and a day off to just chill at the beach. I, for one, agree with your midday train travel. I prefer late morning. I'm on vacation!!! I don't want to rush to catch an early AM train. With the heat of August, you may all appreciate sleeping in, getting a good breakfast, then train during the heat of mid-day.
Have a great trip.

Regarding getting to the airport in Venice. Agree with Inbsig. We had a 7am flight and were able to take the vaporetto to Piazalle Roma and from there the bus to the airport. Very easy except for the getting up at 3am part. An 11 am flight will be much easier!

You guys have me rethinking my Venice hotel choices. I am currently staying in San Marco but do you think it's a better idea to get a hotel closer to piazzale Roma so we will be closer to train when we arrive and bus when we leave. Hotel Olympia is with 5 minutes of bus/train so it would be easy drop off of luggage upon arrival.

Any opinions

Thanks

Your hotel location is fine. If you had a very late arrival, very early departure, very short stay, or some special situation, then being closer to Piazzale Roma or Venezia SL station might make sense. But since your flight is at 11 AM, not 6 AM, you'll have time to take a vaporetto to Piazzale Roma to get the bus to the airport without having to wake up so early. And since you're staying three nights, and you only need the train station on arrival and the bus station on departure, it doesn't pay you to base your hotel location, for your whole stay, just on your arrival and departure.

You could easily combine Pisa and Lucca for the same day, spend more time in Lucca and visit Pisa for a couple of hours, maximum. Walk or bike the walls in Lucca, visit sights in the city, have lunch there.