My wife & I are starting our trip with 3 days in Paris & flying to Venice. Our plans are: 3 nights- Venice, train to Bologna - 1 night - rent car & drive to Santa Margherita Ligure - 3 nights , and finish in Florence for 2 nights.
Any input, ideas, suggestions on this itinerary would be most appreciated.
Thank You.

You'll probably be asked to give more specifics before you get any detailed help i.e. budget, requirements, type of travelers you and your wife are etc.

But I'll give you a couple of my suggestions anyway. My husband and I stayed at the Tourist House Ghiberti in Florence when we were there in October, and loved it! Great location, great room. Loved it. Also, if you are an art lover, you may want to book a tour with Context:Florence. They do very small groups (max. 8 people) and their tour guides are extremely knowledgable. I just love them and have always enjoyed my experiences with them.

I have some restaurant recs to if you want them. Hope you have a fabulous time. Are you sure you only want 3 days in Paris?

Thanks - we would love any restaurant recommendations. Unfortunatley it's a fast trip - 3 days in Paris is all we have.
Tentatively we're planning to try to do it up right in Paris & Venice then onto more modest accomodations the rest of the way.

Hotel Metropolitan in Bologna couldn't have been better for us. It's just down an alleyway off Via Indipendenza, one of the main arcaded streets leading to the central piazza. The hotel was clean and stylish, with friendly staff, and lovely breakfast garden in warm weather. Even being that well located for visiting the centro storico, it is was very quiet.

Hello frmullin, I don't when you are going to Europe but I would suggest that you make your hotel reservation in Bologna ASAP. Bologna often has lots of trade shows and consequently all of the hotel rooms can be booked.
Your trip sounds lovely!!

Hi, wherever you are planning to go in Italy, I would suggest going thro' this excellent resource http://italy-hotel.bravehost.com/ Apart from big discounts, you get to make a booking request first and reserve your accommodation. No need to pay at the time of booking , you can pay directly at the hotel of your choice.