Hello All - looking for some help with my itinerary for Italy and want some recommendations on time to spend at each city. Below are my thoughts but I have never been to Italy so I'm not sure how realistic all of this is. My trip can be between 20-22 days roughly. I believe I can do day trips to Venice, Verona, and Cinque Terre from Florence so my stay there would be longer but I want 3 days just for Florence. All advice is welcome!! My trip will be next year so I am just getting started with planning ideas. It will be me and my mom and our budget will be around 20K altogether.

Milan - (only wanting to see the Last Supper here)
Lake Como - 1-2 days
Venice (day trip)
Verona (day trip)
Cinque Terre (day trip)
Rome - 3 days
Florence - 3 days
Tuscany - 4 days (unsure where to stay so would love recommendations)
Amalfi Coast - 4 days
Pompeii (day trip)

which month?
Venice in a day seems a bit of a waste

What time of year is this trip? How are you flying? RT? If so, considering flying into one city and out another.

Personally, I feel Verona and Venice are too long from Florence to be considered viable daytrips. It's best to make a day trip within 1-1.5 hours of your base. Now, as someone who has been to Verona as a day trip (from Venice), it can be done BUT, I would have preferred an overnight there. There is a lot to see in that city.

Also. Venice for only a day hurts my heart. The city is really magical and only spending part of a day (a rushed one at that) in it is robbing you of that city's charm - especially after the day trippers left.

I have not been to CT but have read on here that it as a daytrip from Florence is not the best option. I hope others chime in, though.

Right off the bat, you need to think of your itinerary in terms of night's rather than days. 3 nights at a location will net you 2 days of sightseeing, 2 nights = 1 day, etc. Also, figure on your time in transit cutting into your days. Travelers underestimate how long it takes to check in/out of lodging, the transit, finding and getting lost to new lodging, etc.

With that, if you insist on doing long daytrips from Florence (i.e. above), you need more time IN Florence. I think 3 full days of sightseeing is pretty good for the city itself. Florence is also IN Tuscany. If you're wanting to explore other Tuscan areas, you need at least a night or two additional, more if you are doing those long day trips to Verona or Venice (which, I need to reiterate would be a mistake, imho).

Milan: for Last Supper, you have to purchase tickets in advance and they sell out quick. What are your plans for this? I had to do a organized day tour to see it. It cannot be a "let's just stop here and see it" attraction.

If you have 3 full days (4 nights) in Rome, that would work fine, I'd want another day personally but 3 is a good amount. I cannot comment on the Amalfi area as I have not been there.

This seems a bit too ambitious. Although lovely, I would consider cutting Lake Como and your day trips to the CT and Verona to allow for more time in Venice and Rome.

Venice is not a goos day trip from Florence as it is at least a 6 hour roundtrip. It is wonderful to spend the night in Venice listening to the competing orchestras playing in San Marco Square - a highlight of our trip that I'll never forget.

If Lake Como, CT and Verona were locations you really want to see, I would then consider removing the Amalfi Coast for this trip.

On a short trip of a week or so, you can go at a fast pace. After that, it does not work. You get exhausted. Places start to look alike.
Anytime day trips take more travel time than they give sightseeing, it is time and money spent and wasted. So, absolutely no day trips to Venice or Cinque Terre. Verona as a stop between Milan and Venice is OK, but you really need at least 2 or 3 nights in Venice.
Several places (Siena, Lucca, Pisa) can be easy, quick day trips from Florence. Perhaps you want to stay in the countryside, rent a car or do tours in rural Tuscany?
What do you wish to do on Amalfi Coast, Lake Como and Cinque Terre? How much of your trip do you want to be water or coastal?
Is the Last Supper super important to you? Como? They require going to Milan and skipping it would make the rest of the trip a lot easier. Verona does not offer any more than Rome, so could be skipped, IMHO.

You have roughly 3 weeks. A 1/2 day or more will be used each time you move place to place.
Laying out the trip in days is OK if you are clear on travel, but nights might work better for you. Do not count arrival or departure days as sightseeing days.
This is not a suggestion of places, or any particular order, only a way to start laying out the trip and being realistic about travel logistics.
Just doing the Rome/Amalfi/Tuscany bit for an example.

Arrival Day (1 day, jet lagged, timing, etc. not counted as sightseeing day)
Rome, 4 nights (3 days). This is a very, very short time for Rome), just going with your time.
Travel to Sorrento via Naples by train (3/4 day of travel, count as 1 day of trip)
Sorrento, 5 nights (4 days)
Travel to Florence (1 full day of travel)
Florence, 4 nights (3 days)
Rural Tuscany?, 3 nights, (2 days)
Travel to (Venice or Cinque Terre, etc) (at least a 1/2 day of travel, count as 1 day of trip)

Cinque Terre, 2 nights, (1 & 1/2 days)
or
Venice, 3 nights (2 days)
If you do both, count on using a whole day of travel from Cinque Terre to Venice.
Continue with Travel days, next stop, etc.

Departure day (not counted for anything)

If you have done both Cinque Terre and Venice, at that point, you have used approximately
16 days for sightseeing and
4 &1/2 days for travel between places without Verona, Milan or Como.
Now, you can re-consider and start to narrow down.

How do you plan to travel for your one day trips?

Thank you for your responses - I felt it was too much when I was planning it all out. I don't want to feel rushed in each city - Our plan is for May or September of next year. Flexible on that part. Thank you for the information on the day trips.

How many days in Venice do you recommend? I planned on getting tickets for Last Supper well in advance as I have read it sells out.

I'm thinking of cutting out Lake Como and Cinque Terre. We really want to do the Amalfi Coast for 4-5 days. My must do's are Milan, Florence, Rome, Venice, & Amalfi.

Thank you - this is so helpful!

Yes we were wanting to also do rural Tuscany and rent a car. Last Supper is a must for my mom otherwise I'd nix Milan.

Hi. I think everyone has their personal wish list / preferences when visiting Italy. As a Brit, I have the luxury of going there every year and have been to all the places you’ve listed either as a holiday destination or part of a touring holiday by car or train, so here’s my 6 pennies (cents) worth. I’ve included most of the places on your wish list.

Fly into Rome 5 nights
Allows time to recover from jet lag and sightsee. My favourite hotel is the Hotel Nazionale near the Houses of Parliament. Square is pedestrianised and you can easily walk to many of the main sites, plus there’s a superb ice cream place around the corner.

Take train to Sorrento 4 nights.
Book a hotel in the centre. You can take take the boat to Positano and Amalfi as a day trip and go to Pompeii and/ or Herculaneum by train for the day. You can also take the ferry to Capri for a day trip or just enjoy some R &R.

Tuscany/Umbria 4 nights
if you are happy to drive then take train back to Rome and rent a car. Drive to Orvieto or Spoleto for an overnight stay.
Following day drive to Castiglione del Lago on Lake Trasimeno. Visit Todi on route.
stay for 3 nights at Residence Castiglione and use as base to visit Siena, Cortona and Assisi.

If you don’t want to drive then miss this out and go to Siena by train for 3 nights and do some day trips from there.

Florence 4 nights
Drive / Train to Florence in the morning. Book a central hotel. Return car if renting.

Lake Como or Lake Maggiore or Lake Garda for 3 or 4 nights
Train to Como or Maggiore via Milan. You could leave your luggage at the station and make your visit to the Last Supper.
If you stay in Desenzano on Lake Garda, you could consider doing day trips to Verona an Venice by train, otherwise just chill and take the ferry across the lake.

Fly home from Milan

For your must-do list and with 22 nights, here is a possible itinerary:
Fly into Venice, 4 nights (3 might do, but you will be dealing with jet lag)
Milan, since you only want the Last Supper, 2 nights
Florence, 3 nights
Tuscany, 4 nights
Rome, 5 nights
Amalfi Coast, 4 nights, maybe base in Sorrento, which is technically not on the Amalfi Coast but has good connections to get around
Fly out of Naples

Note that tickets for the Last Supper go on sale a certain number of days before the date you are looking for. They generally sell out that day. If you miss out and only have one possible day, you should be able to take a tour. This is not necessarily a bad thing! I missed out because I went in to buy a ticket on the date I thought they were going on sale and it turned out they had gone on sale the day before and were sold out. I took a tour that also included a couple more places I was interested in, and it was great, with an excellent, knowledgeable guide.
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It sounds like a wonderful trip, how nice you are taking your Mom! I think it is great you are eliminating some of the destinations.

You have picked 2 great months for your travel options, we love May and September! In May, everything is so green and fresh, and flowers blooming everywhere. I think the hospitality workers are fresh and eager to see tourists again.In September, you have the beautiful, fall colors and it seems like a more relaxed vibe after the summer crunch.

A big part of your decisions might be based on the best airfare and the least complicated routes to get there and back.
If you go in May, a good route would be Naples-Rome-Tuscany-Florence-Venice- Milan. That way the warmest location would be during the coolest part of the trip. If you go in September just the opposite, ending in Naples, in the coolest part of your trip. Of course, flights and connections, might not work that precisely, and getting a car for the Tuscany portion, would be ideal. Enjoy!

In Tuscany, if you like the countryside, you can visit:
- Chianti area, Montefioralle, San Gimignano, Monteriggioni
- Val D'Orcia area

If you like thermal baths, Val d'Orcia and Siena are full of them (Rapolano, Petriolo, Bagni San Filippo..)