A little over 2 weeks left before leaving for Italy!!! We are trying to decide how to fit in as much as possible. This is our tentative itinerary:

Venice - 2 days
Cinque Terre - 2 days, spend a couple of hrs in Pisa on the way to Florence
Florence - 3 or 4 days
Siena or Cortona - 1 day
Rome - 4 days

Did we miss a must see town? We are flexible in changing our plans. It's so hard to make these decisions when there is so much to see! I would love to hear about your favorite places/things to do while in any of these areas. Please be as budget-friendly as possible.

Are you going to Italy in two weeks without hotel reservations?

We have Venice and Rome taken care of. Trying to figure out the rest. Any suggestions?

We are going back for our 15th trip to Italy in a week--for 3 weeks--and we still have not seen it all. In your time I would suggest a max of 4 destinations and add more time to Venice since day one is a loss.

Wow.. 15 times! That is awesome. That is good feedback. I know that I am trying to fit too much in, but can't decide on what to leave out. We are somewhat following Rick Steve's recommendations. Have you spent much time in Cinque Terre area? Is this something we should include? How would you suggest that we narrow it down? I forgot to mention that we are 2 very energetic females with a lot of energy!!

The outlier to me is the CT just because of the travel logistics--it will take time to get there. Given 13 nites to sleep in Italy, I would do:
Venice--3
Florence--2
Tuscany--3
Rome ---5.

Plan your next trip now and include the CT and the lakes. You will return.

Thank you bobthenavigator!

And I'd ignore Rick Steve's advice.