Train is your best method of transport and I would go Rome for 3 nights then Venice for 2 nights and then Naples and back to Rome. You can catch an early train from Venice, change at Bologna or Rome and get to Naples mid afternoon. Take train or ferry to Sorrento for Amalfi Coast. Return Naples/Rome by train and get train from Termini to FCO. Trenitalia.com has all the train timetables.

For 8 nights I would select only 2 destinations. You have to take in consideration the jetleg in the first day and the time spent between destinations.
I would stay in Rome at least 4 nights.
All Florence, Venice and Amalfi coast are beautiful, but you have to decide what to see, based on your interest.

I would go to Rome and Venice. Don't understand me wrong, Florence is splendid, full with history and art, but in Rome you also will visit things like these. While Venice is something else, an unique city in the world.

It is very easy to travel in Italy by train. You can buy tickets when you arrive in Rome, for all your destinations.

See www.trenitalia.com to look at the trains schedule.

For this type of trip, avoid splitting your stay in Rome. Do simple math comparison between staying Rome 2 nights at the beginning of trip and then 1 night at the end vs. all 3 nights are the end of your trip. Compare how much usable time you get out with each arrangement.

Traveling directly to a destination, Florence, Sorrento, etc, on arrival is especially effective if your arrival in Rome is early in the morning and you cannot check into your room until later in the afternoon.

I agree that three destinations is too much. It's very tempting to want to dash all over the place to see as much as possible, but you won't see anything much at 100 mph.

As you know, Rome is in the middle of Venice to the North or the AC to the South and you'll waste too much time if you keep retracing your steps if you try and do all three with your current arrangements. Can you change your air ticket to allow you to fly into Naples and out of Venice or vice versa?

If not then choose the two you really want and if it's Rome and the AC, then fly into Rome, head straight for the AC for 4 nights, then your last 4 in Rome.

You can get a train to Naples from Rome, then the Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento, then the SITA bus to the AC to whichever place you decide to stay in. If all that is too much of a PIA after a long flight, then there's loads of info on here for drivers to take you from Rome to Positano or Amalfi etc.

My suggestion would be Rome 4 days, train to Florence, 4 days there and back to Rome via train for flight home. Venice is nice but I prefer Florence, I think there is much more to do and see.

You could save the Amalfi Coast for another trip and this would keep you from spending so much time on the road merely getting to your destinations. But if you want to do AC on this trip what about Rome, Florence and then on south. Forget the northern leg to Venice this time around. Of course you'll have to build your travel back to Rome into your last day and that would mean a substantial train ride followed by a flight home.

I agree that two destinations is better for 8 days. What time of year is your travel? It will be very hot in Italy in the summer so Venice might be nice.

Consider your interests and choose Venice, Florence or the Amalfi Coast. Travel directly to the location of your choice after arriving in Rome, spend 4 days and return to Rome for the last 4 days. Save the others for your next trip. We didn't get to the Amalfi Coast until our 6th trip to Italy and loved each of the first 5 trips.

Thank you so much for all the feedback it is really helpful.

So my plans are slightly changed. I am actually flying into Paris from USA and spending 3 nights there. I am then going to spend 8 nights in Italy. I have a flight booked out of Rome back to America. SO I still need to book my hopper flight from Paris to Italy. I think it would make most sense to END in Rome so I can just wake up and leave.

Where should I fly into? Florence is absurdly expensive to fly too. I really want to spend atleast a few nights on a beautiful relaxing beach! So I will plan on spending the last 3 to 4 nights in Rome. Any other advice on where to fly into and what to do to see some cool places and spend time on a great beach!??

Thanks!!!!

Also, If I do go to the AC and fly into Naples. What do I do from there? I want to be ON the beach at a great hotel. Do i need to arrange a train or ride from naples to the beach hotels? How far is that? I want to limit travel time!

Thanks

Have you been to a beach in Italy before? Just to manage your expectations - they really arent the soft sandy beaches you may expect. They tend to be either built around cliffs (Amalfi Coast) or generally quite rocky. Not to say they are gorgeous - they just arent what some people expect.

Some options:

1. Cinque Terre/Liguarian Coast - fly into Pisa or Genoa and take the train. This coast is again built into cliffs in some areas, but I believe you may find some sandy beaches - hopefully someone else can chip in - then train to Rome.

2. Amalfi Coast - Fly into Naples then take the train to Sorrento or the Amalfi Coast - again built into cliffs, not really sandy beaches - train back to Rome.

3. Venice - fly into Venice, not really beachy, but glorious - and then train to Rome.

I am sure others will now of other beachy areas.

Easy Jet has VERY affordable flights from Orly to PIsa.
THere is a train at the Pisa airport that goes directly to Florence SMN.

Here is a flight on June 10, 61.99 Euro. (you did not say what month you were traveling)
http://www.easyjet.com/EN/Booking.mvc

http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/
Put in your date Pisa ae- firenze
Non-stop train , 57 minutes.