Trying to make the most of our time!

All good places and a good time to be there. Venice and CT are in opposite directions (NE vs NW), however, and it's a significant trip between one and the other.

IMO Florence and Venice are must sees. CT is a great place to slow down and relax as part of a larger vacation.

For this relatively brief trip I would train from Rome to Venice. Spend at least one full day and a night. Train to Florence for two days, one of which includes the Uffizi and Academia (you should be able to get reservations one or two days in advance). Pick up a rental car for some hill towns as you work back to Rome for your flight or drop your car in Orvieto and train back to Rome from there.

The choice among Venice, Florence, or CT depends very much on what you like, because each of those is distinctly different from the others.What are your interests?

Also, how much time away from the conference will you have available to see Rome? I think it would be pretty disappointing to spend 4 days there and never make it to the Sistine Chapel or Borghese Gallery!

Three days in Venice is fine, IMHO. You mentioned that you were handicapped to some degree, and that might influence your decision on where to go. Depending on the degree and nature of your disabilities, Venice may be difficult to navigate for you.

We used an apartment in Venice, Florence and Rome and loved all three. You can find apartments with elevators in all three locations - we did - although you may have to go up some steps just to get to the elevator. I can post links to all three we used if that would help you.

Thank you for the replies. I have checked out other posts on the wall and realize we might be being overly optimistic trying to see Venice, Florence, and the CT along with fulfilling our conference obligations in Rome. We are thinking of flying into Venice on 9-20 and need to be in Rome at 5pm on 9-25. (Being moderately handicapped, I would like to get to Rome early on 9-25, possibly even 9-24.) I have heard that 3 days in Venice is plenty?? The conference will end on 9-29 and then we can take the rest of the week, either going to Florence or the CT.

We watch Rick Steve’s on PBS and I have some of his books. I already stated that we have had time in Rome/Assisi before.

Do you have recommendations where to stay in Venice, Florence, and/or CT? Would you recommend using the train or flying to the wherever we pick? With my husband just starting back to work we do not wish to be overly extravagant but also, it is not like we make this trip all the time, so we do want to make it as special as possible.

Thank You,
Cindy

Go by train to Italian cities and to the CT.Rick gives many sleeping recommendations for those 3 destinations in his books Florence & Tuscany and Italy. It's not the best way, for you to rely on the very few names that will come up here, you owe it to yourself to pick from a larger selection that can be found in Rick's books or on the viamichelin.com or venere.com websites.

Thanks again for the replies. Yes, Jeff I would appreciate the websites for the apartments, and any other suggestions of sites, restaurants, must sees, that anyone has.
Cindy

If you dont know the city well and are only two of you, Id go with a small hotel. Apts are good, but having some one at the desk to help with Q's and info is great. We were in a small hotel in Venice and loved it. Have fun; I vote for Venice 2 days and you can train stop in Florence and Pisa on the way to CT for a few days. Id also try to go before the conference, that gives you something to talk to others about ;)