Italy in August by train

We arrive around noon on Thursday. A friend recommended we actually
not stay IN Venice when we go there.

So in reality, you have 7 FULL days to work with. Arrival in Milan will be a jet-lagged partial, and departure day will be a partial as well. Honestly? I don't think you have time to stay in 4 locations. You will lose 1/2 a day every time you make a physical move between cities/hotels, and you don't have that sort of time. Venice, Florence and one night in Milan prior to departure would probably be my recommendation + a day trip from Florence to Siena.

I would disagree with your friend about Venice. The historic center is where its all happening so I'd very definitely stay there. Did they give a reason why you should stay elsewhere and where that should be?

9th - arrive in Milan, train to Venice
10th - Venice
11th - Venice
12th - transfer to Florence/Florence
13th - Florence
14th - Day trip to Siena
15th - Florence
16th - transfer to Milan/Milan
17th - depart from Milan

If you feel that you HAD to do the CT:

9th - arrive in Milan, train to Venice
10th - Venice
11th - Venice
12th - train transfer to Florence/Florence
13th - Florence
14th - Day trip to Siena from Florence
15th - Train transfer to CT early in the morning
16th - CT with transfer to Milan late in the afternoon.
17th - depart from Milan

I agree with Kathy. Her's is a better schedule. You should consider flying into Venice and home from Milan. Probably save time and money. It will be hot and humidity at that time in Italy. You may find it helpful to follow local custom and take a nap in the heat of the day. You should ask your friend why because I would not make the same recommendation. Nor anyone else here.

A friend recommended we actually not stay IN Venice when we go there.

Are you sure this person is truly a 'friend'. That makes about as much sense as buying Super Bowl tickets and then sitting in your car in the parking lot and listening to the game on the radio. With as little time as you have, adding extra time to get to/from "Venice" from 'not IN Venice' is counter-productive.

Do you have your Last Supper tickets? Are they early enough to be able get to the airport in time?

Add me as another vote for Kathy's "plan A".... If you add CT you really are "trying to pack it all in", and the enjoyment will likely suffer.

More days or one fewer locations.

Kathy nailed it. Her “Plan A” is the best option. Stay in Venice or waste your time with coming and going. Venice is at its best in the early morning and after dinner, especially in the heat of summer.

For The Last Supper get your tickets from TickItaly.com. Getting them direct from the venue is hopeless. Yes, you will pay more, but at least you will get to see it.

Laurel's comment is very much to the point. Arriving in Venice together with the bus and cruise day trippers means you get the worst of Venice.

Stay IN Venice get up early, visit Piazza San Marco, visit the fish market, leave the center (visit Castello, visit Murano, Burano, etc), get back in the late afternoon, relax, have dinner somewhere, go to Piazza San Marco to enjoy the music. If your budget allows sit down and have a cup of coffee or a bottle of wine.

See https://europeforvisitors.com/venice/

Agreeing with Frank: if possible, flying into Venice and out of Milan will save you some time. It would also be nice not to have to make that long-ish train trip from Milan (Malpensa, I assume?) on arrival day if possible.

Of course, given airline pricing, you may have a screaming deal flying in and out of Milan. I've done it and the train ride from Milan to Venice is rather relaxing after a long flight.
And everybody has a "friend" who gives them really bad advice. Staying IN Venice is a must.

What kind of "friend" recommends NOT staying in Venice???? OMG!

Frank's advice is practical, and since you are new on this forum, I advose you that the air tickets should be bought through a multil-destination search function, not as single flights.

The suggestions have been SO helpful. The main reason we're going to Italy is I want to wake up in the morning, throw open the shutters, and see the lake and have "Enchanted April" movie moment. We're flying the Dubai airline. The guy who helped me book and lived in Padua and said hotels in Venice would be much pricier than staying elsewhere. However, I love the morning coffee idea. Sounds perfect. Also read one review that The Last Supper is SO reconstructed it may not be worth it. Our flight doesn't leave until evening. I'm probably more interested in fashion than the disciples...sorry! I like the idea of resting on the train to Venice. This trip originated as a train adventure in Switzerland, evolved to Paris to Geneva...and ended up with flying in and out of Milan. My work prevents us taking more time. We're in our late 60's so we do want to RELAX, have fun, people watch, eat, drink and make memories.

On a week-long trip to London we visited Paris for one day. Just going to the D'Orsay and seeing Van Gogh made it all worthwhile. We've learned not to do so much. Thus...I appreciate the comments and welcome any others!

You are going to see no lakes in your itinerary. In any case Enchanted April was shot in Portofino, on the Ligurian Sea. If you stay in Portofino I can tell you that even Venice will look like a bargain.

I would go with Kathy’s suggestion A without Cinque Terre. You may be able to squeeze 2 nights at the CT, if you stay only 2 nights in Florence and 3 in Venice (or viceversa).

So with your 8 nights, you could do:
3 Venice
2 Florence
2 Cinque Terre
1 Milan

Or
2 Venice
3 Florence
2 Cinque Terre
1 Milan

OH dear....one of the main reasons of going was to see water! Originally we were going to first go to Bellagio or Varenna. (Obviously I haven't very far into Rick's book!!) That's why I substituted CT.

Any thoughts about Varenna/Bellagio. I like Roberto's schedule too....but perhaps limit Venice. We're taking a little driving trip this weekend so I'll STUDY and perhaps have better questions!!

Thanks everyone!!

I have another question. Just discovered some B&Bs in Venice are closed the first two of August. Would we be better off making Venice our last stop so we can afford to stay close to the center of things?

You all have been SO helpful!! Thanks. Karen

The only problem with staying in Venice at the end of your trip is scheduling return flights. There are very few if any direct flights back to the US from Venice. That means a very early flight out of Venice to connect to a returning US flight somewhere else in Europe. You have better flight options out of Milan. The difference being that you might have to be at the Venice airport around 4 or 5 am while a returning flight from Milan could be closer to noon.

PS How about completely your profile a bit so we have some idea of where you are coming from. Huge difference it is New York rather than Des Moines.