Your Do Not Miss Sights

Might be good to post your list, or at least the most important places for you. Everyone's ideas of what to see can be different.

I was thinking without posting my list people would name some places that might not be so popular but were something special. Let's just say mine are the usual tourist sights. The coliseum, Uffizi, the Cathedrals, churches. I love all art...creativity in general...I'm a writer. I enjoy history and origin stories. Assisi and Siena are on my list. I'd just like everyone's take on what they enjoyed most (or disliked) even if it's already on my list.

Get lost in Venice...stray off the main streets and wander...that is where you will find Venice.

For Florence, I think you'll be glad to see the Brancacci Chapel, the Museo San Marco, and the Bargello. You might also want to check out the Accademia Museum in Venice, since a lot of its art pertains to the history of Venice.

Don't miss the Guggenheim Museum in Venice. Small, great collection.

You didn't mention how long your trip is. You have the Big 3 cities listed, plus two top side-trips.
When I'm paying tourist-city prices for hotels, my first priority is to see all the local places that sound especially interesting to me. If there is extra time, I look for some places that are smaller or different in some key way. In that spirit, I offer these suggestions for possible side-trips:

From Rome: Orvieto. It's very popular (thank you, Rick!), but probably not as crowded on weekdays as on weekends, because a lot of the day-trippers I saw seemed to be Italian. Edited to add: The cathedral is a fine one, and there are two good museums in town. The tourist office does one or two walking tours as well.

From Venice: Padua (Scrovegni Chapel--which requires an advance reservation--and large old town, just made for wandering) and Vicenza (some Palladian architecture, with a more intimate feel than many of your other destinations, as well as fewer tourists).

My favorite not-many-Americans-there destination was Ravenna, but it's sort of awkwardly located and not really suited to be a day-trip from any of your overnight stops. It would be a 4-hour roundtrip from Florence, for example. But the city would make a very nice overnight stop. Ravenna gets into the guidebooks primarily because of its incredible medieval mosaics, but the historic center is very lovely in itself.

Edited to add: There's a thread about the Domus Aurea running in the Italian forum. I haven't been there, but it sounds really intriguing if your time in Rome happens to coincide with the days when touring the site is possible.

Our favorites, and most memorable to us, were
The Cathedral in Siena, Ravenna for Byzantine Mosaics(we made the trek in 1.5 hours each way and well worth the effort)
Statue of Marcus Aurelius in Rome, awe struck by it. Capitolini Museum. Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equestrian_Statue_of_Marcus_Aurelius

Other things we liked a lot, Barghello Museum Firenze(take note of hours its open as they are different) I think this gets missed a lot but its such a beautiful place and so easy to visit, relaxing. Would return.

Shopping at the Florence Leather School for handbags, I love mine, everyone of them.

I'd like to know what your do not miss sights or towns for Rome,
Florence (Tuscany area), and Venice are in case there's just something
I must see that's not on my list

Eve, more information would be useful as it's less important what WE think should be on the list versus what YOU are interested in and the amount of time you have in each city. I can do art museums and churches all day long but you might not care for either of those things. We also have no idea what's already on your list.

So, what dates do you arrive and depart each city, which attractions have you already listed, and what other sorts of things do you think you might like?

Not to be too picky, but I can't help it: most of the mosaics in Ravenna are from the Early Christian period. For a short time, Ravenna was one of the capitals of the Late Roman Empire (Justinian and Theodora).

We've given up on what we "must see". We loved Lago Maggiore (thank you Roberto) and would go back there if we had time - most everyone else goes to Lake Como. There is a little mosaic museum in Florence covered by the Firenze card (back in 2013) that was deserted and we probably spent two hours there, it was beautiful and very different.
We stumbled across a little neighborhood pizza place in Rome, we hugged and kissed upon leaving on our third visit there.
Do not feel like you have to go everywhere on the "list". Soak it in, you might be back or maybe not. But it's okay.

I don't know how much time you have at each city, you are visiting, but here are some things I really enjoyed that may not be on the "must see" list:

Rome: Sunset at Monte Pincio near Piazza del Popolo. Offers great views of the city looking back toward St. Peter's, which is well in the distance.

Florence: Catch the bus up to San Miniato al Monte in the afternoon, visit the cemetery (including the grave of Carlo Collodi, author of Pinocchio) and listen to the Gregorian chant that usually happens around 17:30, admire the great views of the Florence from the church, walk down to Piazzale Michelangelo for more great views of the city, and then walk down toward the river through the large rose garden next to Piazzale Michelangelo.

Venice: Visiting the old Jewish ghetto and touring the synagogues there.

"I will be traveling solo by public transportation. Oh, and I'm making all plans myself...no travel agent."

I am doing the same thing you are doing. I also have never visited Italy. Tell us how your trip went. Here's my supposed itinerary so far.

Arrive in Rome, 9:15am
Train to Florence.

Galileo Museum (end of 491-492)
Walk by Piazzale Michelangelo (page 497)
1st night
Walking Tour, 3 hurs
Florence Synagogue
2nd night
Uffizi Gallery (made a reservation)
Palazzo Vecchio (491), climb tower
3rd night
Academia (made a reservation)
Duomo museum; possibly climb the Duomo’s dome (page 472) or the Campanilo Bell Tower (page 473)
4th night
Take train to Pisa. Pisa walk, 541-544
Leaning tower (546)
5th night
Bargello museum (made reservation, page 492-493)
Pitti Palace (495)
Incidentally walk by Piazza S.S. Annunziata, piazza della Republica square, and/or other monuments.
6th night
Train to Naples.
Possibly guided tour or Naples walk (page 956)
On San Martino (974)
7th night
Pompeii (990), Possibly guided tour.
Herculaneum (1006)
8th night
Archaeology museum (950)
Capodimonte Museum (976)
9th night
Take train to Rome
National Museum of Rome (884), (ticket good for multiple sites for 3 days.)
Dolce Vita Stroll (includes Pantheon) – page 817- 1st line of 820, and/or Heart of Rome Walk – page 820-830.
possibly Museo dell’Ara Pacis
10th night
Colosseum/ Palatine Hill/ Roman forum guided tour.
Walk by Victor Emanuel monument (850). Ride to the top if time.
Walk by Trevi Fountain (858)

11th night
Great synagogue of Rome/ museum (858). Possibly some kind of Trastevere and/or Jewish ghetto.
Piazza del Campidoglio (847), Capitoline Museum (849)
12th night
Borghese Gallery (made reservations)
13th night
Vatican museums (reserved a guided tour)

Edit: every time I post a supposed itinerary, it is a little different because I keep rearranging and changing my mind about when I am doing what as I make more reservations and look at when places are open, and so on. Its the list of sites and not the order that people might be interested in; beyond a certain amount of detail, any more planning doesn't make a difference except to you for your plans and me for mine.

Thanks everyone for your great advice! I arrive in Rome on April 11 and depart Rome April 21. I'll be staying in Florence April 14 to April 17. April 17 I'm traveling to Siena for a day and then back to Rome. I've reserved a Vatican tour, the Galleria Borghese, a Rome Catacombs tour, a Rome off the beaten track tour, the Florence Academia, the Uffizi, the Museo Duomo in Florence. I'm still set to reserve the Coleseum Underground on March 20 (hopefully) and the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence is open Easter Sunday so I'm looking into that as well as the Bargello. Easter morning in Florence will consist of me arriving early to grab a close spot to see The Exploding Cart. Venice is up in the air at the moment. It's the one place where I don't have to see anything in particular. I just want to get lost and take the city in. I chose to take the train from Florence to Venice on April 15 just for the day. I know that Venice deserves so much more but I figure I'll come back some day. I just couldn't pass up the chance to see the city even if it's only for a day.

OK, so your itinerary looks something like this?

April 11 -Arrive Rome/partial day
12 - Rome
13 - Rome
14 - Florence partial day: Accademia, Uffizi, Duomo complex (make sure to do the baptistry)
15 - Venice - day trip
16-Florence: Easter Sunday. Palazzo Vecchio, exploding cart, Bargello
17 - Siena - day trip
18 - Rome: partial day
19 -Rome
20 - Rome
21 - Fly Home

Florence is full: I don't think you have room left for much else but per Dave's suggestion, I would try to get up to Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato if you can, although I'm unsure about the church's schedule on Easter Sunday. San Marco is a personal favorite but I'm not sure where you'd fit it in?

You will have 4 full days and 2 partial days in Rome with 4 tours (Vatican, Catacombs, Off Beaten and Colosseum Underground) planned + the Borghese. It's unsure what days the tours are scheduled for or what the "Off the Beaten" tour will cover but some additional suggestions?

Tack the Palatine/Forum onto the Colosseum. Your entry ticket covers all three.

Pantheon and Piazza Navona

Piazza del Popolo and Santa Maria del Popolo: do these the day you do Galleria Borghese; walk all the way through the park either to them or from them. There's a very nice view from the Pincio gardens overlooking the piazza at the west end of the park.

Santa Maria Maggiore

Aventine Hill: climb up past the municipal rose gardens (which may be in bloom) to old Santa Sabina and the little orange garden next to the church; nice view.

Santa Maria in Trastevere and surrounds.

Walk across Ponte Sant'Angelo on your Vatican day and admire the Bernini-designed angels; my favorite bridge in Rome! :O)

Eve--

To do this on your own first time out is commendable. Research is key and you seem to have done that well. And April--from a tourist standpoint--is as good a time to travel as any. Bravo!

But remember this. Don't let any outside source or person influence in advance what you think about a given attraction, or where to visit. They don't know you. You might like the thrill--as I did last week--of taking a daily early morning stroll in Rome along the Tiber then stopping at a tiny tabacchi shop cafe for a morning espresso. By the second morning the guy was dialing me up with a caffe as soon as I entered his shop. He knew I was a tourist but treated me like a local.

Don't forget to give yourself time to have solo experiences like that. Checking off the attraction checklist is down on the list for me.

Jay's response started me thinking: I want must-haves (experiences) rather than must-sees (although there is considerable overlap), I don't think stopping in a bar two days in a row and the barista recognizing you can be put on a list, but it makes a great memory. I think these are the personal highlights of a trip, and I hope you have lots of them!

Thumb up, Jay and Zoe! Those unplanned, unexpected gifts have been the icing on a yummy cake!

Zoe, I'm a man of simple tastes! Shall I go on? I don't care, I will.... :)

Just got back Thursday--this was our second time in Rome. First time seven years ago was a look-see, hop-on-hop-off, gotta-find-that-gelato-place-I-hear-it's-great type of thing for 2+ frantic days. I knew there was tons more to Rome--as you, Zoe, have said on numerous occasions in your great posts.

When we were in Salerno two years ago at a B&B, we met a retired couple, also from Chicago, but they choose to spend their winters in Rome instead of our frozen tundra, a wise choice. He's a native but had worked in the US for the last 40+ years. So they rented an apartment up on via Nomentana north of Porta Pia, an area I can guarantee you the tour groups don't visit.

So we had our little apartment for six nights on Campo de' Fiori, which is a touristy-type area but this time of year tolerable. The market was open every day, another RS poster Robert had told me about one of the vendors with the best fruit, and he was right. Not a ton really local in winter, but oranges and grapes from Sicily, strawberries from Basilicata--wonderful. The Roscioli bakery provided great breads and rolls, and amazingly a little Express 'supermarket' just off the piazza--if you want to call a place 15 feet wide and 150 feet deep a supermarket--had no less than 10 kinds of prosciutto or speck. Come ON!

We would take the 62 bus up to Nomentana (oh, Eve, have fun with the Rome bus system, 'workable chaos' comes to mind) and with our friends had the luxury of visiting off-the-beaten path places like Mussolini's mansion in Villa Torlonia, which is now in disrepair but very, very cool. Or the 4th-century churches of St. Agnese and St. Constantia, which were deserted but wonderful. Just seeing a different, non-tourist neighborhood gave me great perspective over the throngs--even this time of year--near Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain. Oh, take a selfie, oh, throw the coins and don't fall in. I couldn't get the heck out of there fast enough. But even in heavily-traveled areas there are underappreciated gems. The Baths of Diocletian--right across from Termini station for Pete's sake--was fabulous.

Yeah, Zoe--you want experiences, but you don't necessarily know what the experiences will be until you get there. All's I'm saying to Eve is to put herself in position to have them.

Rome - St. Peter's. Pantheon. Colosseum. Forum. San Clemente underground excavations. Capitoline Museum. Gelato and Pizza. Piazza Navona at dusk.

Venice - St. Marks. Wandering the back canals and getting lost.

Exactly, Jay, being open to a bit of surprise is likely to reap rewards. Not saying don't do the top ten (or in Roma the top hundred), but just stopping unexpectedly to look at an angel on Ponte Sant' Angelo can be a great moment.

By the way, I always toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain - the one time I didn't, I didn't get back to Roma for twelve years! 😩

To echo what others have said, its the unplanned experiences that often make your trip great. For Rome, Spending some time in the piazza outside of the Pantheon can be magical. Have a cappuccino and absorb the scene. Taking a walk from Piazza del Popolo to the Spanish steps is also a great opportunity to wander and see the city.
Bill

Jay and Zoe, thank you so much! You are so correct! I want to experience everything. The sights, sounds, smells of Italy. I want to get lost (which shouldn't be too hard for me). I can't wait to happen upon a restaurant filled with locals or to discover a gellateria filled with flavors I've never even thought could be ice cream. I am super excited! So much more than any other trip I've been on. Italy has been on my bucket list for over two decades. I had planned a trip to Italy in 2000 only to have it fall through so this has definitely been a long time coming.

Don't know if they still make it (check the RS store) but the laminated Streetwise street map of Rome helped me keep my bearings at all times.

Thanks for the clarification on the Ravenna mosaics, Zoe. I should be more careful about the way I toss around the word "medieval". Alas, I'm very weak on history and am all about the aesthetics. Maybe I should just say things are "very old"!

I second what Jay and Zoe have said. When I think back on past trips, it's most often the simple experiences that come to mind first. The ringing of the church bells, the sounds of children playing in the piazze, the smells coming from the homes in the narrow lanes at lunch time, the clanking of cups and saucers in the morning as you enter a bar for coffee. These are the things that make me want to rerurn. Enjoy!