Sis and I spent a couple weeks in Italy back in 2000 (young and dumb…). The home base was our friends’ place in Modena, and we took day trips from there. We brought back a bunch of vinegar – great stuff. This time SO and I will be with them for a couple days, including a night or two in Modena and their country place in Serramazzoni.
BTW, my problem is not to find amazing places in Italy (I can spend a year exploring there), but create 9 day not too crazy itinerary. So something should give 
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I think something like that:
Day 1 - Rome walking (some tours or just Colliseum plus major places).
Day 2 - Vatican
Days 3 may be Pantheon in the morning and go to Sorrento.
Day 4 Trip to Pompeii and Vesuvius
Day 5 Sorrento and Amalfi -maybe swimming.
Day 6 - morning move to Florence. Enjoy City tour and relax.
Day 7 Uffizzi and relax (I think we will skip David…)
Day 8 morning move to Venice. Gondola .
Day 9 Murano and enjoying life.
Is it too much and too crazy?
3 nightes in Rome (with arrival one)
3 nights in Sorrento.
2 nights in Florence
2 nights in Venice (1 is before departure).
Should we spend more time in Florence and less in Sorrento?
My daughter got a custom made pair of sandals in Sorrento. Turquoise leather straps. This was over 10 years ago and she still wears them.
We did a very similar trip to your plan. We flew into Italy via Venice and flew out of Rome. We took the fast train from Naples to Rome. It was a really good way to do it.
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My view is, more time in fewer places: less time spent unpacking and packing up again; but I hate packing/repacking. Florence also has nice leather items; my wife got some very nice gloves, and gifts for friends, at the Florence Leather School, here, Florence Leather School.
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I usually agree and always try to do 2 bases max. But I have no idea how to do it with Italy.
Skipping Sorrento, Amalfi and Pompeii is like cutting all fun and soul out.
Staying only in Rome and Venice will not work. There is not much to do in Venice… I feel Rome, Venice and Florence are way too touristy.
Am I wrong?
One thought about planning for your college-aged kids: when our family was in Italy in 2022, I sent a list of some possible things to do to our kids, along with a proposed itinerary; and asked them to choose something that they wanted to do. That’s how we ended up taking a side trip to Modena to visit the Maserati factory (my son’s choice) and a side trip to Siena to visit a winery (my daughter’s choice).
I concur with your assessment about Venice, for sure: when I was planning our 2022 trip to Italy, I thought about a trip to Venice until I saw a photograph of a huge cruise ship in the main lagoon; it somehow seemed obscene, and I decided then that I didn’t want to compete with thousands of cruise ship passengers for the resources of Venice. Maybe another time, when the cruise ships aren’t around.
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Good idea… Will try. We had been to Sienna.
For now, I am trying that with DH. He is refusing to run around and has hard time to give out sites in Italy too. He wants new places and they just do not fit with kids. Hard to please everyone.
I feel your pain!
I will be following along! MY D23 will be spending Fall 2025 studying abroad in Sorrento. I’m excited for her. We plan to visit her for Thanksgiving. We won’t have the summer weather, but we also won’t have summer crowds 
Large cruise ships (over 25,000 tons) were banned from the Venice lagoon starting in 2021.
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i think heading south to amalfi/pompei is too much for this trip.
starting in rome and heading northeast through tuscany and florence and ending in Venice is plenty for a 9 day trip. Otherwise, you are packing/unpacking and travelling the whole time.
It pains me to say too, as I agree you are cutting out some amazing stuff. But, given your airfare parameters, save the rest for another trip.
Lastly, I know Venice provokes strong reacts and people seem to love it or hate it. We thought it was the most magical place and was the highlight of our last Italy trip. We spent 3 days there.
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We did 12 days in Italy (including a day of travel on either end) in 2023. My daughter was staying in Florence (studying abroad) and my history buff/mountain-loving adult son wanted to see Rome and Lake Cumo.
So we cut out Amalfi and Tuscany (both of which I wanted to see) and Venice in the interests of not trying to jam too much in. It was a wonderful family trip but even with a reduction of ‘wish list’ places - it was a lot of go-go and me struggling to figure out trains, best restaurants, etc.
My take away was when in doubt in the future I will do less switching cities and packing/unpacking. Just stay longer in one place and relax, enjoy the vibe. I’d also remove the responsibility hat from myself (in terms of figuring out every detail) and give that to the kids/spouse (more collaborative and less stressful that way) 
The good thing about Italy is almost every place is just amazing!
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We spent 4 days and one night in Venice last time (had early flight, so it did not make sense to stay in hotel for 2 hours) - that was the most memorable night (with no access to any bathrooms after 10pm…, who could know?)
So I am done with Venice , but DD wants to see it.
I don’t necessarily think it’s unreasonable to do 3 places in 9 nights, we do it and enjoy the flavors. However, I think the places you chose are too far apart, plus you are starting in the middle between Venice and the Amalfi Coast…too much time traveling. I would choos the big 3 (Rome, Florence and Venice). Leave the Amalfi Coast for next time. My then 28 and 25 year olds loved Venice.
I would do;
4 nights Rome (which includes the first night but everyone is true)
3 nights Florence (only a 90 minute fast train ride)
3 nights Venice.
It sounds a little rushed but doable. Working on your side is the fast train network between major cities. Most of the runs you’d take are 3 hours or less. I suggest you research the next level of detail to see what each day you need to travel will be like. The site I use for planning is the German train website Cheap Train Tickets | Timetables for Germany & Europe - Deutsche Bahn which has schedules for all of Europe. Create an hourly itinerary for the day and see if it works.
The only hiccup may be when you need two transit systems, such as Sorrento to Florence. The Circumvesuviana schedule is at 2025 Train Sorrento - Napoli - Circumvesuviana Train Schedule and in Naples the station is just downstairs from the Trenitalia station but I’d give myself some slack between trains since the Circumvesuviana is a pokey regional train and may be late.
I really like Sorrento and the area. If you get a chance go for an Aperol Spritz at the end of your day at the Foreigners Club (Circolo dei Forestieri) which has an outdoor patio and amazing views over the ocean and of Vesuvius. Don’t eat dinner there, food is mediocre, but the views are incredible!
As far as swimming on Day 5, in Sorrento itself there are no sand beaches; if you swim it’s by renting a chair at a floating dock in the harbor. Some nearby towns have beaches though. Or you could rent beach chairs in Amafi and change there to swim.
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I don’t think you need a whole day at the Vatican. Are you aware that you can do evening tours on some nights? We did that and it was fabulous. Way better than being herded like cattle in the daytime. Personally, I’d go to St. Peters in the late afternoon, then Vatican for evening, if you can work out the timing. We went biking in the park which was fun. The Pantheon isn’t more than an hour. A lot of Rome is just walking around and getting a feel for things.
Overall, the timing of your trips seems fine, except you definitely don’t need a whole day at the Vatican IMO.
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Italy is my favorite place in the world. I’d skip Venice, personally.
Also, I’d have each person pick their two must-haves and plan around those. Everything else is icing.
Agree that Vatican is not an all-day thing so maybe combine that with the Pantheon, which I loved.
I can’t imagine going to Florence and not seeing my bf David.
I always recommend Santa Croce in Florence as it’s less crowded than a lot places but is so beautiful and has so much history.
My fave gelato is Gelateria La Carraia, across the Arno from the Uffizi and a few blocks down.
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I love Venice! My mom grew up there. We spent 5 days there last year. We walked all over and tried to go off the beaten path. Also visited the beaches at Lido, Burano where we had the most amazing fish, and Murano. If you are wanting an amazing spurge dinner, I highly recommend “Local”.
I would also second not skipping Pompeii (I’d personally skip the Vatican before Pompeii) and another vote for Capri!
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I agree, I would never skip Venice or Murano. The vaporetto is great.
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