And I forgot that we were thinking about Napoli as well!

When are you going? And how will you be traveling within Italy? Those things will affect where you should go.

For 12 days, I would choose only 3-4 of these cities/areas. Look at what the main attractions are in each place, and then prioritze accordingly. Also, look at grouping these geographically--Milan/Venice/Cinque Terre or Rome/Napoli/ Amalfi Coast. If you are only using trains/public transportation, I would stick to cities. If you are renting a car, cars are expensive and pretty much useless in cities, so the countrysides would be more viable. Please give us a little more information about your interests.

You don't have enough days for your list. How many nights do you actually have in Italy?

Thanks for the reminder! Forgot to put that in.

We are thinking about April 22 to May 5 this year.

Thanks Bellarosa and kybourbon! This is very helpful!

We will have 12 nights and 12 days in Italy. So I absolutely understand that I definitely don't have time to see them all. Just want to see what experienced travelers recommend in terms of which areas to look into.

We are planning to use mostly public transportation, so it sounds like cities are the way to go. We're interested in exploring less touristy areas and more scenic places which is why I mentioned the Almafi Coast.

In this case, it sounds like we only have time for either Milan/Venice/Cinque Terre area or the Rome/Napoli/ Amalfi Coast. What are everyone's thoughts on that?

You've done a good job narrowing down your trip. Have you bought your plane tickets yet? If not, for the second option, fly into Naples if you can, Rome otherwise. And fly out of the other city. Or roundtrip Rome if necessary.

For your first option, see if you can fly into Venice and out of Milan. Or vice versa. However, if it's necessary to make a connection from Venice, those flights leave very early so you lose time on the ground. Plus I'd do Venice earlier - fewer tourists - and the CT later - better weather.

Start with Venice- what better introduction to glorious Italy. Take train to Pisa- a city that often gets overlooked and there's much more to it than the leaning Tower. From Pisa you can take the train to La Spezia for the Cinque Terre. or I'd suggest another stop over between Pisa and La Spezia at the lovely Lucca, a walled city. You can hire bikes and cycle on top of the walls.

I don't think you really have 12 nights.
22 - depart usa

Opps. Accidently hit post before I could correct it. Sorry. You do have 12, but your first day will be jet lagged so don't plan much for that day. I would eliminate Milan unless there is something you are really interested in seeing there.