Itineray for 14 days in Italy

I think you are being a little ambitious in what you want to see. I would say Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre and Rome would be plenty- otherwise sign up with a tour group and let them whisk you around and do all the arrangements.

First, figure out what it is that interests you. Big city vs. small city. Museums, yes or no. Nature (narrow down even further to mountains, Forrest's, beaches)vs. tourist sites and/or shopping. And then once you've figured out your interests, then cut further by cutting out "duplicates". You want big cities and museums, Florence and Rome. You like smaller cities, do Siena intsead of Florence. Do cinque Terre OR amalfi coast, but not both. Good luck!

Are you saying you will be in Florence for 9 days and from there you want to see Cinque Terre, Siena, Tuscany, Pisa, Amalfi Coast Rome and Trieste as day trips? There's no way you can do that. From Florence you can do the CT, Pisa and Siena from the list you gave. Pisa and Siena are in Tuscany, as are many other places worth going to. If you want to go to Rome and/or the Amalfi Coast you will need to go stay in those places. I suggest you look at a map of Italy and see where these places are actually located.

Reda, You have 8 locations, widely scattered geographically, in 9 days. That's not going to work. I'd minimally drop Amalfi (too far) and Pisa. With 12 days (assuming those are full days on the ground, excluding arrival and departure days), I'd pick 3 locations (or less), and then do a day trip from each location. Maybe Venice (day in Trieste), Florence (day in Siena or CT, although I'd vote for Assisi), and Rome. Any of those 3 cities could easily occupy your full 12 days, so do save most of your days for the city in which you are staying. And Orvieto is a wonderful day trip from Rome. Spend some time with the map, so you know where the cities are. And figure you'll lose a half day or more each time you change locations. Deutsche Bahn website is good for determining how long each train trip will take, and I'd add a couple of hours to each end of the train trip to deal with hotels, getting to and from the station, finding the right track, finding bus stops or waiting for a taxi, getting lost, etc. I pretty much can guaruntee that you'll enjoy your first trip better if you plan to do less. The one way you could do your schedule is sign up for a package tour, which will wisk you from place to place as quickly and efficiently as possible. I've not done any of the RS tours, but people seem to really like them.

Reda, I am assuming you are flying into Venice and out of Florence. If you have any hope of seeing the places listed, you will not be able to stay in Florence for 9 days. I would try to change lodging in Florence. To check train schedules use Trenitalia.com For additional lodging, Venere.com This is a lot to see, but doable fast paced trip. Try this 9-15 arrive Venice 9-16 Venice 9-17 Venezia S.Lucia-Triest 7:34-9:42 2H08m E12,10 Triest-Venezia S.Lucia 19:45-21:49 2H05m " later trains available 9-18 Venezia S.L.-Roma Termini 8:35-12:20 3H45m E59,00 9-19 Roma 9-20 Roma 9-21 Roma 9-22 Roma Termini-La Spezia 8:10-11:51 3H41m E29,00 Regional train into Cinque Terre. Stay CT 9-23 CT 9-24 La Spezia-Pisa 8:20-9:35 1H15m E7,10 Luggage storage in station Bus to Leaning Tower Pisa-Siena 13:45-15:37 1H44m E10,00 stay Siena 9-25 Siena-Firenze SMN 15:18-16:50 1H32m E8,60 9-26 Firenze 9-27 Firenze 9-28 Travel home If you want to see more of Tuscany,take one nite from CT one from Roma and add to Siena
Hope this has been some food for thought

Reda, Yes, you WILL be in Tuscany when you're in Florence. With only a VERY short nine days, you probably WON'T have time to visit the Amalfi Coast and Trieste. With nine days, it's relatively easy to take day trips to Siena and the Cinque Terre. The best way to get to Siena is via Bus as that will drop you in the centre of town, rather than the bottom of the hill where the rail station is located. A day trip to the Cinque Terre will be a LONG day, so be sure to leave early and plan on returning late. I made that trip when I was in Florence in June, so the details are still fresh in my memory. I'd suggest starting in Riomaggiore and working north, using the local trains. Finish in Monterosso with a fine hot meal before heading back to Florence. I can suggest some restaurants if you're interested. As this is your first time in Europe, I'd highly recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip (you should be able to find a copy at your local Library). I'd also suggest packing along the Italy 2013 Guidebook, as it's an excellent source of information during trips. One other suggestion - given the short time until departure, you might want to attend the Denver RS group, which meets Saturday (Aug. 17) at Panera Bread in Aspen Grove. Details are listed in the "General Europe" section of the HelpLine. The very well travelled and knowledgeable group there will be able to help you work out any last minute details. There are some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of when using trains in Italy. If you need further information, post another note. I'll try to provide some Itinerary suggestions tomorrow. Happy travels!

Reda, There are many ways to arrange your Itinerary, and this is one suggestion..... D1 - Sept. 14 - Flight to VCE D2 - Sept. 15 - Arrive Venice (Alilaguna boat from airport to hotel) D3 - Sept. 16 - Venice, touring D4 - Sept. 17 - Venice, touring D5 - Sept. 18 - Train to Florence (depart ~11:00 after breakfast) D6 - Sept. 19 - Florence, touring (reservations important if you're planning to visit the Uffizi or Accademia) D7 - Sept. 20 - Florence, touring D8 - Sept. 21 - Florence, day trip to Siena (via SITA Bus - station is near Firenze SMN station - DON'T forget to validate your ticket!) D9 - Sept. 22 - Florence, day trip to Cinque Terre (get an early start!) D10 - Sept. 23 - Train to Rome, touring (again, depart ~11:00) D11 - Sept. 24 - Rome, touring D12 - Sept. 25 - Rome, touring D13 - Sept. 26 - Train to Venice in PM D14 - Sept. 27 - Flight back to U.S. To get some idea of the rail journeys you'll be taking, use the trenitalia.com website. Although this covers different countries, you may find it helpful to watch www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AxtbifeoBY which shows a few things you'll need to know for rail travel. You'll need to be up-to-speed on "changes", as there's sometimes only a few minutes to get from one platform to another. Try to choose routes with the fewest changes. You may also find it helpful to have a look at www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n8rITO1Eek and www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1LtAv22nfU. If you're using public transit in Rome, I'd suggest getting a B.I.G. ticket. Validate once on the first use and it's good until midnight of that day. Buy the ticket at the first Tabachi you find. You might also check to see if the Roma Pass would be of benefit. Cheers!

I would highly recommend an overnight in CT or maybe not bothering as its a long day trip. IIRC you can see Pisa as a stop between Florence and The CT, which would be how I'd work it if I were doing this again. We did the very insane, very kooky idea of going Rome 2 days Florence 3 days CT 2 days Milan 2 days Venice 2 days
Rome 2 days My wife and I fight in train stations and airports. I learned that on this trip. I would break up the 9 days in Florence with maybe Sienna and CT, another day out of Venice and 3-4 in Florence. But my energy level is not anything like energetic.

Do you have 12 days in total? I wouldn't bother with Trieste on this trip. You need at least 2 full days in Venice, 2 full days in Florence and 3-4 full days in Rome. CT makes more sense than the Amalfi since it's close to Tuscany. Here's the itinerary I would recommend: Day 1 : Arrive in Venice Day 2 : Venice Day 3 : Venice Day 4 : Train to Florence. Sleep in Florence Day 5 : Florence Day 6 : Florence Day 7 : Florence (day trip to San Gimignano) Day 8 : Train to Pisa, see the tower, then continue to Cinque Terre. Sleep in CT. Day 9 : Cinque Terre. Day 10 : Train to Rome. Sleep in Rome. Day 11 : Rome Day 12 : Rome Day 13 : Rome
Day 14 : Fly Home You can pm if you need more help. Best.

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. This was extremely helpful and I'm looking forward to our trip in a few weeks!