Trying to do to much?

I would do all of your trip,after cruise in the north or south of Rome so you aren't rushing from place to place.

Three or four locations in two weeks is not excessive. If a few days means three nights or so in each location, I think you are fine.

great to plan but you will notice when you are doing too much

5 places in "a couple of weeks" yes, too much

Might be doable if you were going in one direction, but starting in the middle and going both north and south has you spending too much time backtracking/traveling.

Suggest you choose north or south from Rome, not both ( or add more days)

Looks okay with a long travel day, but you should count nights. I would plan three nights in Roma since you are arriving there, presumably after a long flight.

it might be easier to fly out of Milano if you want to end your trip on Lago di Como, to decrease backtracking, but plan to spend the last night in Milano if your flight leaves before noon.

I don't think it's so much the number of places as the travel time from one to the next. Take into account the amount of time it takes to change locations. Add 2-3 hours to actual travel time. The more luggage you have, the longer it can take to pack/unpack and it can take longer to get to/from train stations. Depending on where you stay on the Amalfi Coast, it can be a long journey from Naples to the AC, then even longer from the AC to Sienna, then longish trip to Como. Take some time to estimate how long each move will take, remember you have to get door-to-door and drop off your luggage before you can begin sight-seeing in your new place. A general rule of thumb is that you use about 1/2 day for each move.

Different strokes, Roy.

If you're set on seeing a bunch of places, this plan looks fine. But what I've learned in 3 trips to Italy in the last 7 years is...do less, enjoy more. If it were I, I'd spend a week in Rome and a week between Naples & the A.C. They're not very far apart so you won't even lose a full day in travel. Take a day trip from Rome to Orvieto. So much to see without running all over. The slow traveler's bible...

Enjoy your planning!

I can't visualize this. Write it down day by day, including travel time. Where do you fly out of?

Any time we spend less than 3 nights I feel like we are moving too fast, with very few exceptions. It seems that we literally lose a day every time we move about. I know that two-hour train trip seems short, but there is the lead time to get to the station (after you have packed and checked out), then time to get to your new digs, figure out where you are and get oriented. With any luck, when we do this, we are having a late lunch about 14:00 and then have a couple of hours to see or experience something. If we stay at least 3 nights, then we have two full days to plan more thoroughly. Once you have repeated that pattern about 3 times in a row, you begin to wonder where you are and forget where you have been. And somewhere along the line, you have do laundry.... For big cities, like Rome, stay at least 4 nights. 5 is better.

Here is what I would do.

Arrive Roma on your cruise ship. Rent a car and drive to Tuscany. Stay in an agriturismo or a smaller town like Montepulciano or Greve in Chianti. Make sure they have parking. Day trip, but do not drive IN Firenze nor Siena.Stay 5 nights.

Drop your car in Firenze and take a train to Naples and then on to Sorrento. Use this as a base for 4 nights. See Pompeii, day trip to Amalfi Coast

Train to Roma. Stay 5 nights. Fly out of Roma.

Total 14 nights.

IMO, it is early for Lake Como in April.

Are we trying to do to much?

It's the age old question. What exactly is too much? I can tell you this: you'll know it when you do it.

Your itinerary is way too much for me. Too much travel by train, too many long distances, too many stops and starts, and too much challenging terrain. If you don't know how transportation works, if you don't understand the lay of the land, squeezing too much in can cause an awful lot of stress and exhaustion. And I haven't even mentioned how you deal with something when it goes wrong.

Trips like these become nothing more that a bullet list trip. You get to come home and say to someone, "Oh, I've been there!" Yippee. Beyond that, it isn't very satisfying or memorable.

Many of us started our travel to Italy by squeezing too much in. It's very common to think one might never return. I'm not sure when people change their approach and become slower travelers. I imagine everyone has to find out for herself/himself.

THANKS for all of the input. Give me a lot to think about. So Lake Como is not good in April, to cold?