18 days in Italy Itenerary help
 

It's hard to pick which cities to visit and which I have to leave out due to length of vacation. Wish I could have a month minimum. However, after some research and thinking of our interests (scenery, beach, water, food, wine, history) here is our loose itenerary:
Day 1 Thursday Aug 29 - arrive Venice
Day 2 - Venice
Day 3 - train from Venice to Florence
Day 4 - Tour to Chianti (thinking Vespa tour)
Day 5 - Florence
Day 6 - Train to Salerno, bus to Amalfi
Day 7 - Amalfi
Day 8 - Amalfi
Day 9 - Amalfi
Day 10 - Amalfi
Day 11- 17- Rome
Day 18 - fly home
Any suggestions to itenerary?
I am convinced we want a good amount of time in Rome and Amalfi and just sample the main highlights of Venice and Florence. What advice I would like are experiences from travelers for things you will not see in most forums. Tiny restaurants, places locals go, day trips from Amalfi or Rome, etc..some days we just want to wander. Any experiences with restaurants, lodging etc would be helpful. also, we travel on a budget, but will splurge every once in a while on a dinner etc..

I think this plan generally makes sense given your priorities. Depending on when you actually arrive in/depart from Venice and Florence, you may need to be quite selective in which of the highlights you try to see, but it sounds like you already know that. Enjoy!

Your Florence day is Monday when some of the main museums are closed.

Overall, this looks pretty good, though the first part seems a little rushed. Consider adding a day in Florence (though you'd need to lose a day in Rome to do this). Right now, you only have one full day in Florence. The other option would be to scratch the Chianti tour to give you enough time to enjoy the beauty of the city.

If you switch days 4 and 5, you can be in Florence on a Sunday when more museums are open. I Think you are short-changing both Venice and Florence but that is up to you. If it were me, I would take a day from Rome and one from the AC and add to Venice and Florence. Otherwise the trip looks OK as long as you realize you will lose a half to a full day moving from place to place.