To add Croatia to our itinerary or not?

I forgot to add that if we did do Croatia we would look at renting a car to go from south to north so we could visit the lakes on the way to Zagreb. Perhaps even adding a day to the itinerary if we wanted to take it slow.
Also I seem to be finding it hard to get a direct flight in Dubrovnik (don't want a layover) so looks like flying into split and backtracking would be better.

Thanks

You are sort of all over the place so I cant really help but just for grins I will throw out a few things that may or may not help.

We were in Dubrovnik a few weeks ago and Dubrovnik was like Venice: A Dead Town. Disneyland. But it was beautiful and I don't regret going. We then headed south to Montenegro and stayed in Perast on the bay of Kotor. Stunning, beautiful, few tourists. Fishing in the bay, meals on the edge of the water and spectacular views complete with tall sailing ships. We drove over the mountains and through villages on the way to Titograd, visited a prosciutto maker and ate his wares along the way ..... priceless. From Titograd we flew to Belgrade for about $75 and it too turned out to be an unexpected surprised. We only stayed one day so we could make another $75 connection the next morning to Budapest and I wish we had planned a few more nights.

Three -- or even 5 -- days for Croatia is not a good return-on-investment of time or money needed to fly. You cannot cover Zagreb, Plitvice and Dubrovnik in less than a full week, and that is pushing it. You might be able to "do" the north in 5 days, but Dubrovnik is not, IMO, worth the effort. You will do better in Italy.

Other thoughts:

• Cut Venice - if you only have one night, it is not worth it. Give Venice 2 nights (better 3) or skip it.

• Amalfi Coast - minimum 4 nights as it is a bit of a long trip even from Roma. It takes at least 4 hours to go Roma to Sorrento, and that does not count getting to/from hotels to train stations. There's good hiking in the Sorrentine Peninsula too. Check out Positano or Ravello, maybe even make time to hike the Sentiero degli Dei.

• You can take a night train from Roma to Venice. Tickets are sold on www.Trenitalia.com.

Thankyou so much for your replies.
I have taken what you have said on board and will stick with a simple Italy itinerary.
New itinerary looks like this:
Venice 2nights
Rome 5nights
Almalfi- (use sorrento as base most likely) 3nights or should I take a night off Rome and add it here?

I'll guess I'll just have to come back to go to Croatia another time.

If you are "not super into art or architecture (or museums)" I would seriously ask why consider Italy at all.
OK, I guess you do have some pretty good scenery and some pretty fantastic food.

Perhaps drop Venice, and include more scenery with the Italian Lakes, Cinque Terre and Tuscan countryside.
By train ... Switzerland >> Lake Como >> Cinque Terre >> Tuscany >> Rome
Fly from Rome to Vienna.

I probably wouldn't do Italy if it was up to me but for my husband it is on his wish list. He is interested in the big sites like collasseum, Pompeii and other ruins etc.
He isn't a big history/museum person but roman history really fascinates him. He is also into the outdoors and natural beauty so maybe I can convince him to drop Italy and do Croatia but I doubt it.

I'll suggest dropping Venice and see if that could be a nice compromise.
Doing CT might save us some travel time as heading to Almalfi is Further south so we would most likely have to fly out or take a longgg travel day to Austria.

One reason I though Almalfi would be nice is the proximity to Pompeii but with all the other history in Italy I'm sure hubby will be content to save that for another time.

I'm so all over the place trying to plan this trip. I need to work out a rough / yet changeable itinerary so I know where we start and end and I can book tickets and take time off work.

I wouldn't try to add a separate country for such a short trip. 11 days will only give you a taste of all the wonderful things Italy has to offer. Save Croatia for a time when you can do it justice!

Add a day to Rome and do a day trip from there to visit Pompeii and the much smaller but better-preserved site of Herculaneum. They're both fantastic.

If you love nature/sports/hiking then consider the Dolomites (just 2.5 hour train ride from Venice where you can pick up a car and enjoy some of the most beautiful and unique mountain trails in Europe.)

P.S. Don't miss the National Museum in Rome next to Termini Station. We spent nearly 4 hours inside looking at the gorgeous collection of roman finds. Some of the best in the world and I dare say almost as good as the collection at the Archeological Museum in Naples.

If I had your timeframe I'd do the following:

5 days in Rome (with one day trip to Pompeii and Herculaneum or Mt. Vesuvius)
2 nights in Venice (you'll be happy you didn't do a 1 nighter!)
3 nights in the Dolomites
1 night in Milan or the Lakes District before you fly home

Back2Italy, they are going on to Austria after Roma. Milan makes little sense.

If your husband loves the outdoors, take him to the Val Gardena in the Dolomites for 4-5 nights. If he is really a hiker/mountain biker type, I'd spend two nights IN the Alpe di Siusi and 3 in the village of Ortisei. Google "Val Gardena" and "Alpe di Siusi" for impressions. Come back if this appeals and we can help with details. In fact your trip might be quite right for you if you "only" do Roma (day trip to Pompeii) and the Dolomites. September -- earlier the better -- is still lovely there. But some of the lifts start to close so your actual dates are important in cementing this.