Perhaps it would be helpful to point out to her that they don't have porters at Italian rail stations (at least I've never seen one) and that you're on your own as far as getting the suitcases on and off the cars.

Reckoning, I think its a woman thing! My husband is always amazed at how much i pack!

well, I see my post from yesterday was deleted. I will pare it down to, why be adversarial?

You could buy her a nice cosmetic bag that includes little sized empty plastic bottles to fill with her shampoo, etc. Also maybe a set of those packing envelope cubes to help with neater more condensed packing. How about nightgown and robe that fit into a pouch, travelsmith catelog has pretty ones?

I agree with Christina on the size of the luggage. Your wife will need some warm clothing in March and a 24- or 25-inch rolling suitcase is not too bulky and it does fit in the overhead rack on trains in Italy. I moved around a lot -- up and down stairs and on and off a train -- with an expandable 24" and an over-the shoulder canvas bag as a carryon. An alternative carryon, in which you could share space, is a small (18- to 20-inch) rolling case that could be piggybacked to one of your suitcases. I carry on prescriptions, camera, sweater, tooth brush, paste, etc., underwear and pajamas in case my luggage is delayed. However, I met so many people on my last trip whose luggage was missing for several days that I've decided to add one or two lightweight tops.

I can get everything I need into my 22-inch rollaboard, but I prefer the 24-inch because I have space for the clothing from my carryon, gifts and other purchases when packing for the return flight. My suitcase weighed 25 pounds packed going, (probably lighter than a fully packed carryon size) so was well within the weight limits and was manageable for me.

I have some packing cubes but didn't use them. Plastic bags worked fine with small bottles of shampoo, conditioner, etc. that were tossed when empty. I also used the large zip-lock bags for underwear. There was a printed notice in my suitcase that it had been inspected by TSA so I was glad that I had chosen the clear bags instead of my pretty printed cubes that they may have opened and gone through.

There are many packing lists online. Maybe you could present "packing light" as a challenge with a reward of purchasing something special in Italy. Like a leather jacket to replace that extra sweater she wants to bring.

By the way, you might check the weight allowances for the airlines you'll be flying and let your wife know the limit. I was in line behind a couple in Rome whose suitcase (which had been shrinkwrapped) was overweight so they had to move aside, cut the wrap off and pull things out until the weight was acceptable. They were not happy! They wound up stuffing clothing into their carryons and carrying heavy coats and sweaters over their arms onto the plane.

You're giving your wife a wonderful gift and I hope you have lots of fun planning together.

Mom and I have been to Italy 4 times in the last 8 years and have a few rules. Each trip we swear we will bring only our rattiest undies and toss them as we go. Unfortunately, being mothers, the threat of having an accident and ending up in the hospital in shabby 'mutande' is too horrifying and we have yet to fulfill this dream. Also, fearing the disparaging looks from housekeeping as they empty the wastebaskets...We DO however, use ziplock bags, the big ones, especially if we are traveling from town to town. It's nice to pull out an entire outfit without disturbing everything you've brought, and replacing the contents with yesterday's soiled outfit, then hermetically sealing it so as not to influence the suitcase's entire contents with the afore mentioned mutande. One of us also carries a large empty duffle bag, folded up, inside her suitcase. At the end of the trip, we throw all our dirty clothes into THAT, and pack our newly purchased treasures carefully in our now empty carry-ons. I am sure we have personally contributed to the deaths of several Customs dogs, keeling over during bag inspection, but they knew it was a dangerous job when they volunteered.
My mother also packs packages of premoistened wipes for virtually every area of the body, but with our eyesight suffering the ravages of age, we are never quite sure if we are using the correct wipe for the correct body part. I would however, recommend Dove dry facial sheets: they pack light, give a good scrubbing around the whole bod, in a country where washcloths are scarce, and save you from schlepping a wet/used washcloth from site to site. Is this too much info? Here's one last bit: when I see I'm getting down to that last half inch of roll-on antiperspirant, I tuck that almost empty pup into my every ready travel kit, so that it is as light as possible, and eager to be used and abandoned during vacation. One cannot always find one's favorite brand in travel sizes, and it makes me feel like I'm already packing for that next trip. We do 10 days with a 22" and a small carry-on, and the most important thing we pack is our sense of humor and joy to be travelling together to our favorite place in the world. For the record, I am 43, she is 64.