Traveling during Easter 2013

I was in Venice Easter weekend this year. It wasn't crazy at all. There were more church bells ringing Easter Sunday than I've noticed in the past. Piazza San Marco was packed on Good Friday, but I didn't hang out there more than necessary. Other areas didn't seem terribly crowded.

Rick loves Cinque Terre. Personally, I did not like it that much. The towns are cute, but there's not much to do and it's VERY touristy. So is the Amalfi Coast, but somehow it didn't bother me as much. Amalfi Coast has more to see and do, there are some very nice churches, museums, and you can go to Capri, Pompeii, Herculaneum, etc., if it strikes your fancy. But with 10 days, I would stick to the "big three" especially for your first trip because both of those areas are a bit out of the way. I did CT on my 2nd trip to Italy and Amalfi Coast on my third. But that's just me, I like to spend more time in places and my first trip when I did Rome, Venice, Florence, I had 4-5 days in each and it still wasn't enough for me personally. But only you can decide what you'd enjoy most based on the sights in each place, your style, etc.

I'll echo what Debra said and add that you should stay out of Rome until after Easter Sunday, if you're hoping to avoid insane crowds. The Monday after may be a holiday, as well. I would try to do one of my between cities journeys then, so as not to waste any of the good touring days. Also, I don't know when Easter falls next year; but even at its latest possibility (late April?), the weather is extremely variable, making both the 5terre and Amalfi Coast iffy choices.

I just spent Easter Sunday in Rome even went to Mass at St. Peters the Superbowl of Christiandom. Save Rome for the end of the trip after Easter, if possible, if you're not on a religious pilgrimage. Rome's sites are all very crowded the week before Easter and several days after. Also, expect many restaurants to be closed on Both Easter Sunday and Monday after Easter we made a dinner res. on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday before we left the US probably 2 weeks before. I understand Venice is not so bad, and Florence has a pretty amazing celebratioin on Easter if you'd like to be there for that....just make sure you have dinner plans for Sunday and Monday and go to Rome at the end of the trip. Weather-wise, the Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre will both probably be pretty cold at that time of year, and this seems to be a pretty "heavy itinerary" for only 10 days!
It takes at least a half day to change locations, by the time you check out of hotels, taxi to train, train to new loca, taxi to hotel, check in, etc. It may be better to just do Florence and Rome, or Venice and Florence and just really enjoy those two cities? Really, arrival day from US and departure day from Italy don't really count, so you're looking at only 8 days on the ground why waste so much of it on the train? IMHO

Hi Susan, I visited Rome for the first time during Easter in 2006. I actually had a great time there and didn't think it was particularly crowded. I was there from Saturday to Wednesday, so I missed the Good Friday celebrations.
I'm not religious at all, but I did go to the Easter Sunday Mass at the Vatican and found it to be incredibly interesting. Granted, I had no idea what the Pope was saying, but the atmosphere was pretty memorable. It was outdoors, standing room only. I stood on the outskirt of the crowd, so I did leave during the mass (not sure if that was appropriate... oops). People seemed to just pile in and out casually. It did required some advanced planning on my part because certain places were closed both Sunday and Monday. Back in 2006, the Borghese was opened on Sunday, so I went there right after the mass and spent the rest of my day at the Borghese Garden. It was lovely. On the Monday after Easter, most museums are going to be closed, except for churches and ancient sites. I spent the entire Monday at the Colosseum and churches nearby. Workout completely fine. There will still be a lot of tourists around, so if you stay near those areas, you can find restaurants that are opened that day.

Easter or not, 4 places in 10 days is too much. Pick 3, and it's still a lot, but at least doable.