trying to see many areas...help

You should do Milan only if your daughter is really into fashion. Otherwise other cities will be a much better choice (Rome, Florence, Siena).

It's a long way from Venice to Sorrento and will eat up a lot of your time traveling. But if you do it, yes, Sorrento will be your best base for Capri, Amalfi, Naples.

Milan & not Florence? Bad idea! Milan is a big industrial city so skip it and spend those nights in Florence or in one or more Tuscan cities. For direct flights, Milan and Rome are the main ones although you can fly into Pisa and possibly other places direct from a few cities like NY.

Sorrento is not near the Tuscan area. So add some of those nights to the above.

Stay in Sorrento. you can do day trips to Naples (Circumvesuviana train), Pompeii (same), Amalfi (bus), Capri (ferry). We did that and it made it easy not to have to constantly pack bags.

Stay in town if you want to see towns. Cars are a nightmare. By staying in town, you can walk around and do shopping and enjoying the people in the evenings. Farms are a hassle for getting to town. B&B vs hotel is not a big deal as it is here as most hotels are fairly small. I'd base decision on location, price, and recommendations on the particular place rather than on whether it is hotel or B&B.

Thanks for all the info so far. We were going to Milan for one reason and that is that my daughter is going to school for fashion marketing and advertising and is set on it, but I might can convince her otherwise.

So how about flying into Venice, then onto Cinque Terre, Florence, then to Sorrento for Capri and the amalfi coast? Any feedback? Could we do it in 12 days?

Alisa

Alisa, ditto to Michael. If she's into fashion then Milan is a must. The problem is that you're going to the three furthest ends of Italy, so you'll feel like you're in transit a lot. Even if she is into fashion, you're still only going to enjoy about 24-36 hours in Milan.

If she's going to school for fashion marketing, you HAVE to go to Milan. It's one of the fashion capitals of the world. Remember that the average traveler is not into fashion, so Milan wouldn't have that much appeal to him/her. But since this is a gift to her for graduation, you've got to do Milan. (I'd throw in Paris as well.)

Here's a thought. To minimize travel time, you might want to consider substituting the CT for Sorrento. (Look at a map and you'll see the problem with wanting to do Milan, Venice and Sorrento.) Or maybe go to Lake Como instead of Sorrento? Or if you have to do Sorrento/Amalfi (and I can't believe I'm suggesting this), drop Venice and do Milan, CT, Florence, Rome and Sorrento. Then you're pretty much doing a straight shot down the west coast.

With her interest in fashion, she might enjoy Rome as well.

I echo Michael's comments on fashion in Milan and it looks like a fit for your daughter. Also, not sure where you are flying into or out of. Two full days in Milan should be OK unless you can really dig into the fashion area. I would suggest two full days in Venice as well. This may mean a 3rd night there. You can then train from Venice to Naples in 6.5hrs to 8.0hrs (depending on the run) with 1-2 train changes. Half the train changes are in Rome. To get to the Sorrento area, you will have to change to the Circumvesuviana train (not difficult). With 5-6 nights in the southern region, you might consider dropping Capri and instead, day tripping out of Sorrento as mentioned above. You might even pick up a night or two in Rome as you transition through.