Visiting Pisa did nothing for me, so I say no to going out of your way to se it.

You should go out of your way to see Siena. One of my favorite cities in Europe.

bvlenci The kids want to climb the Duomo, so should I buy the Brunelleschi Pass.
You mention the museum plus Baptistery & Donatello's statue of Mary Magdalene,
how do I buy the tickets ? Thanks for all the suggestions, I really appreciate it.

Thanks, bilboburgler , SusanP , shelemm for your advice, I appreciate it.

I was trying to book the Duomo pass, it goes till configure but does go to Review & pay.
I dont know what I am missing. There are plenty of slots, please help.

I was able to book Duomo tickets on my phone.

Great! Which pass did you get?

bvlenci , The boys wanted to climb the Duomo so they got the Brunellischi Pass.
My daughter & I got the Ghiberti pass.

Should we get guided tour for Pompeii, I saw Askof tours had good review
If you have used a tour guide can you recommend it ?

I've been there both with and without a guide. I actually prefer it without a guide. The guide took us to places that were very popular but didn't really interest me, and skipped some places we would have liked to see. You absolutely can't see everything in one visit, so choices have to be made. We were with a group (our local ski club) so we had no say in what to see. If you get a private guide, you can tell him what your priorities are.

One of the very popular sites is the former bordello, or whatever it was, with the "dirty pictures". There was a long line waiting to get in there, so we wasted 20 minutes awaiting our turn. The plaster casts of victims are also a big draw which I would have gladly skipped.

Without a guide, you waste some time trying to find things, but I always saw fascinating random things, even if I didn't know what they were.

I missed this earlier post.

I believe the museum is included in all the passes.

The Baptistery is much older than the Duomo and has very beautiful golden mosaics in the vault and on the walls. It was the original church on the site, if I remember correctly. It's perhaps my favourite of the treasures of the Duomo. However, they're doing restoration work, so the mosaics on the vault are hidden from view just now. If it's included on your pass, it's worth going in, but I don't know if it justifies the cost of a higher-priced pass.

Please recommend Italian restaurants in Rome & Florence.
Can we use credit card everywhere ( taxi, restaurants etc).
Do we need cash, best place to get it ?
How much to tip as we have a tour in Pompeii, ( ruins, lunch at vineyard
& horseback riding ) just to get an idea ?
So looking forward to this trip, thanks to the awesome
fodorites for your help.

You can use credit cards in most places, however it is good to have some cash. The tipping question opens a whole can of worms on here but if you are tipping be aware that there is no "add a tip option" on the credit card machine so you need cash for that. If you are American you do not need to tip the same amounts you would at home, in fact tips are not expected in Italy really although in some very touristy spots they have come to expect it just because there are lots of American tourists who tip. You can leave the small change when getting a coffee for example, and maybe 5% or so in a restaurant if you were happy with everything.
The standard thinking is that waitstaff in Italy get paid a living wage and have public healthcare, paid holidays etc but there is no minimum wage in Italy, just industry standards and when I talked to friends who live there and found out what waitstaff are typically paid I started tipping in restaurants and bars if I was happy with the service.
If you are doing a tour that the owner is taking you on I wouldn't tip, some people might be offended by that. If it's an employee and they did a great job then sure maybe a tip but nothing too over the top. For horseback riding I would not tip and if lunch at a vineyard is part of a tour then I wouldn't expect to tip there either.

Get cash from an ATM attached to a bank.

In Rome we ate twice at Ristorante daLu' in Trastevere, it was very good.

KG, Taverna Agape is just on the outskirts of Pza Navona, right beside a sympa fountain. Good food and wine.
Sitting outdoors would be a good idea.

When we were there, they gave all the female guests a free bonus, metal clasp-clip thing.
We had no clue what it was at first then gathered that maybe it was for attaching one's bag/purse to chair rims for safety from theft.
Maybe...
I am done. the fountains

RCG, I saw this place mentioned somewhere, maybe Gambero Rosso. What did you think the strengths of the kitchen were, if you recall? I'm taking my mom to Rome, Venice, and Torino on what she is calling her last overseas hurrah next month. I am trying to make things really easy for her but still include a little fun for me. We're staying in Trastevere so this could be a good address for us.

Hi Leely, the restaurant is in a quiet part of Trastevere with a lovely patio/courtyard out front- we sat once there and once inside. It was 2022 so unfortunately I don't remember what we ate, sorry. I only remember that the food was fresh, delicious, beautifully presented and that the service was really great-that lovely mix of friendly but professional.
Also it seemed to be a neighbourhood place, it wasn't all tourists, some yes, but not all.
I hope you and your mom have a wonderful time on her last overseas hurrah!

Thanks, raincitygirl ,@zebec for the recommendations .

Kindgirl there are loads of good restaurants in Florence but here are a couple I enjoyed in November: Trattoria La Casalinga, Via dei Michelozzi, 9R, this is in Oltrarno - the other side of the river from the historical centre. Ristorante Buca Mario, this one seems to have become extremely popular, definitely need to make a booking, nice family runs this. In the historical centre near Piazza di Santa Maria Novella at Piazza degli Ottaviani, 16r.
Osteria Santo Spirito, Piazza Santo Spirito,16 R. Oltarno as well.

Angel Roofbar on top of the Hotel Calimala in city centre is a nice place for drinks at sunset, we had a very tasty charcuterie board there.

I want to thank all the wonderful people on this forum for your
suggestions. Its been 2 weeks since we came back from our
amazing trip.
We reached Rome around 8 am, and booked Leonardo Express
for our travel to Florence. The apartment was amazing.
Florence-- We visited Uffizi Gallery on 09/18 & had a good time.
09/19- The kids climbed The Duomo & were back to pick me up. We had
a good time visiting Santa Reparata & Duomo Museum.
09/20 -- We took the high speed train to Rome & a taxi to the apartment.
We were in Rome for 6 nights & really enjoyed the sights.
We visited the Vatican, Sistine Chapel & St. Peters Basilica. The Vatican
tour guide was okay & we could have done on our own too.
Pompeii tour was wonderful , not so much the tour guide. We were then
taken to the winery for lunch & had a wonderful time. After relaxing we
were taken to the stables & the kids loved the horse back riding. I opted
out even though I had paid as I didn't think I could do it.
We also enjoyed our trip to the Colosseum & Roman Forum.
We walked to most sights like Trevi Fountain, Spanish steps , Piazza
Navonna. BTW, the Trevi Fountain is cordoned off for cleaning, a week
after we visited. Lucky us.
We had wonderful lunch & dinners on most days, & loved the sandwich,
pastas & gelatos.
On 09/26 @ 6 am, we took the train back to the airport for our 10.30 am
flight home to Texas.
I will be back for help & suggestions for my next trip. Thanks

Kindgirl, Just saw your post. Glad it was so fun. I posted separately couple months ago about tour guide that we used for Pompeii, in case others review this post. Luca Zoppo was probably the best tour guide I've used. Personable, conversational, felt like he was guiding us as he would a friend. LucaTourGuide.eu I found him just by searching web. He is on Tours By Locals and others, but I asked and he confirmed, that he has to pay them a percentage if book other than his site. He's from Naples. Great guy, great tour.