Order of cities - HELP!

Don’t do a day trip to those southern sites. It would be too much.
How many total nights do you have in Italy? 6? 7?

One week is barely enough time for Florence and Rome. I think it would be unwise to go anywhere else on this trip.

I assume you are departing out of Rome?

I'm curious how many days you are planning on staying in Florence, and what you plan to see/do there. And how many days does that leave for Rome? Rome is a complicated city to visit, with wonderful sights to see scattered all over. I'd strongly recommend that you make a list of the major sites you want to see, figure out which ones are close together, and put together a logical plan on what to do each day. Otherwise, you'll end up spending a lot of time getting from one site to another.

When is this trip ?
Where are you coming from?

One week is not enough time unless you want to be very rushed

You need to be in Rome the night before your flight home so you should end in Rome

You would need 2 full days ( 3 nights) in Naples area to visit the 3 sites you listed

7 nights? Or just 6?

Florence 3- that’s half a jet lag day and 2 full days
Rome 4

Consider Ostia Antica rather than Pompeii

One week only, stick to Florence and Rome.
I have been to Rome twice for a total of 12 days and still haven't seen it all.

Assuming you're flying in & out of Rome...

If you can handle the jet lag...I agree that I'd immediately take the train from Roma Fiumicino directly to Florence SMN station. About 90 minutes. Best to stay somewhere close to the station--depending on the time of year, you may want to book something very soon. Stay in Florence that night and the next 2 nights.

Then train back to Rome. Base there for the remainder of your trip. If you are set on it, you may take one full day and do Pompeii. If you do it right, you can leave Roma Termini station by 9AM and be back by 6-7PM. There are threads on this forum on how to do this efficiently, so go a-searchin'...

Otherwise just enjoy Rome. An alternative to Pompeii would be a daytrip to the Umbrian hilltown of Orvieto.

Enjoy your planning!

Thanks for chiming in! I will do my best to answer all of the questions. Coming from East Coast US and will sleep on the plane so not overly worried about jet lag. We adjust well, admittedly we only know that traveling west…eastern travel will be new.

Not counting the flight night, we will be seven nights. Day eight is a quick breakfast and small site of some sort - maybe just hanging out on a piazza - before the flight.

This is a true major sites tourist trip:
Rome:
Collesseum
Pantheon
Forum
St. Peter’s (Vatican City)

Florence:
Accademia
Uffizi
Duomo
Cooking class (recs welcome!)

Naples area:
Pompeii
Herculaneum
Vesuvius

Thinking of driving Rome to those southern sites so we can go at our own pace. Maybe do a speed run through them and just do a day trip from a Rome base?

Honestly, I am really overwhelmed by the whole thing and wish we had a month!

7 nights-2 locations
Good luck sleeping on the plane over, we’ve never been able to with about 20 flights to Europe from East Coast

You do not want to drive in the Naples area

Tuscany countryside yes
Florence and Rome no

Are you aware of the Jubilee this year?

All of the major sites need prebooked timed entry tickets

You will need to be at airport 3 hours prior to departure

Yes. We will miss Jubilee but are ready for crowds if we hit them.

Holding on Colosseum tickets in hopes of underground tickets a month ahead.

This is a true major sites tourist trip:
Rome:
Collesseum
Pantheon
Forum
St. Peter’s (Vatican City)
Florence:
Accademia
Uffizi
Duomo
Cooking class (recs welcome!)
Naples area:
Pompeii
Herculaneum
Vesuvius

I understand wanting your boys to experience as much of Italy as possible but that’s A LOT to try and pack into a week. Florence needs at least 4 days at the minimum to see those sites, especially the Uffizi and accademia. Rome the same. 3-4 days. Going to Naples and Pompeii afterwards and driving? Train would be better, but, yet, again, there’s the issue of lost time since you’ll only be in country for a week total. Stick to one large city and a smaller city.

“We will miss the Jubilee”. How’s that? The Jubilee is for the entire year, not just the summer and hotels are already filling up fast, if not filled up. Rome is expecting more than 50,000,000 tourists and pilgrims this year. Sorry, but that’s an unrealistic vacation plan. Skip the south and Rome and stick to Florence and smaller cities in Tuscany. With 7 nights you’ll not have time for more.
You also don’t state WHEN you’ll be traveling to Italy. Someone else said good luck sleeping on the plane. Ignore that. I’ve been traveling to Italy for more than 25 years and always sleep on the plane and never suffer jet lag but you’ll be traveling with two boys which will make things a little more difficult and stressful.

With a 130PM flight you should be to the airport by 1030AM; thus you would need to be on your way to the airport by ~ 930AM.

Not sure what site seeing you can do that morning.

Does ALL the family sleep well on overnight flights? Going East is not the same as going West as it relates to jet lag.

The plan to go to Florence the arrival day is good.

Trying to include Naples and the associated activities there is extremely ambitious. You will probably survive doing it, but its doubtful it will be seen as an enjoyable experience.

Stick to Florence and Rome. For your Pompeii like experience go to Ostia Antica.

The adage, 'less is more', is applicable.

Naples area: Pompeii Herculaneum Vesuvius

Thinking of driving Rome to those southern sites so we can go at our
own pace. Maybe do a speed run through them and just do a day trip
from a Rome base?

Honestly, I am really overwhelmed by the whole thing and wish we had a
month!

Yes...if you had a month you might be able to do all these things peacefully and not be running around checking items off your list. You talk about a pace...but the pace you spell out here is frenetic, 180 degrees from the Italian mantra 'la dolce far niente', meaning 'the art of doing nothing'. Every place you mention will have crowds, and crowds mean delays. I guarantee almost everything will take more time than you expect.

Please--do not drive from Rome to Pompeii, or anywhere else on this trip--you will regret it I would think. The train is by far the most efficient way to go, even to Pompeii & back with Rome/Naples, Naples/Pompeii on the commuter Circumvesuviana line. As I stated upthread, it's a 9-10 hour roundtrip and is doable, but that takes one full day off your Rome visit.

I think you could do it all. ( Although I agree with others that you could also easily enjoy 2 stops)
Florence 3 nights- early train to Naples, maybe can get to Vesuvius this day
Naples 2 nights
Rome 2 nights
This does short change Rome, but it will be at the end of your trip and you will be over jet lag and able to make full use of your time. I'm not quite sure that you can make it to all 3 of your Naples priorities with this, but to only have two nights in Florence would not be worth while

Thanks again, all, for the input.

We have decided on three nights in Florence, train to Rome, day 2 there as a day trip south, and one more full day in Rome before the flight out the last day. This should be a good balance for us, albeit quick paced. We are not ones for taking it slow anyway…! This may very well be a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing, so we are going to get everything we can. :)

Tips for restaurants, don’t misses, etc. welcome.