Oh no! Not in Italy. Unless Italians changed in 25 years. They drive like there are no any rules, especially people on motorcycles. We prefer trains 
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I was not saying you do the driving, you hire a driver and they take you between cities (not within cities). Our driver from Rome to Florence was lovely and the roads were fine and the trip uneventful.
We also frequented the Foreigners Club in Sorrento - great drinks and fantastic view. You can also go to Herculaneum as a day trip from Sorrento and we liked it better than Pompeii. It’s smaller, has fewer people and tells a story.
We have driven in Italy and it’s quite easy, especially now we have GPS. It’s the case in most European countries, except for countries that drive on the “wrong side.”:). But trains are very efficient and pleasant.
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I’ve been getting tickets from Italy for the past 2 years. One was for something like 47km in a 45km zone. Which was especially hilarious as the whole time Italians were zooming by us regardless of speed limit.
I think at least a couple of the tickets were from Florence when exiting the city, the gps directions apparently took me through a no-visitors zone or two. And several I literally have no clue since they were all in Italian.
I’m not even sure if I paid them correctly tbh since the payment website was also in Italian. Maybe that’s why they keep sending more tickets, now that I think about it.
Driving in Italy is the gift that keeps on giving.
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Agree with anomander - we were based in Florence and spent a night in Cinque Terre to see some ‘cliffside coastal beauty’ (similar to Amalfi coast). I loved it!
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We went to Viareggio for few summers when my girls were young. I loved the vibes there, reminded me of NJ beach towns.
Not many tourists go to the eastern coastal towns in Italy. We used to go to Ancona. It was a lovely local town.
I agree with this. We also did Pompei with a very good guide, and it was an amazing experience. Pompei is not at all like a museum, rather you can feel what it was like to live there and see how things really haven’t changed all that much over the centuries. I would like to go back again as so many new villas and other buildings have been opened in the past few years. We had lunch at a restaurant/winery on the slopes of Vesuvius, which was touristy but beautiful and lots of fun, and then we climbed Vesuvius, which is an easy hike. We stayed in Naples for that part of our trip, coming from Florence, but that was in part because we wanted to see the New Year’s fireworks (highly recommended!). We did not go south along the coast because it was too cold, so after Naples we took the train up to Rome. The Italian trains were very good and fast, so even though we had only 10 days, we were able to do a lot.
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OP, when you figured out your cities, let us know. I can give some of my suggestions at that point.
It looks that travel from Sorrento to Florence is a challenge. Water will most likely will not be warm enough for swimming (at least for kids) .
Here is modified suggested itinerary with Naples as a base instead of Sorrento. That would allow us to see Naples and spend more time in Florence.
Day 1 - Rome walking (some tours or just Colliseum plus major places) + Pantheon
Day 2 - Vatican.
Days 3 in the morning go to Naples. Spend day there.
Day 4 Day trip to Pompeii and Vesuvius
Day 5 Day trip to Sorrento and Amalfi -maybe swimming.
Day 6 - morning move to Florence. Enjoy City tour and relax (maybe visit David)
Day 7 Uffizzi and relax
Day 8 morning move to Venice. Gondola .
Day 9 Murano and enjoying life.
This way 3 nights in Rome, 3 nights in Naples, 2 nights in Florence, 2 nights in Venice.
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For Venice - there is a nonprofit that offers Gondola lessons in the quiet canals plus a nice history lesson too - our teens really enjoyed that morning and one of our kids is a crew athlete - so fun for us to see her trying a completely different way to move a boat. I just went along for the ride and the wonderful company and views.
Like others have said, hiring private guides is worth it. We have used guides in Rome, Venice and Florence and we never had issues driving a rental car - just always would train just a bit outside of the city for pick up and drop off.
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Can you pleawe provide link? That would be awesome!
I think your new itinerary looks good. It may be premature to talk about hotels, and I don’t know whether you are a small hotel fan, but in Rome, you might want to look at a place called Inn at the Roman Forum. We loved this hotel, which was in a residential neighborhood but just a three-minute walk to the Colloseum and also close to the Forum and other sights. The hotel recommended we visit the excavation of Nero’s palace, which is also within a few minutes’ walk, and it was fascinating. We visited the Vatican one morning and then walked back via the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain. The Pantheon was not our favorite, for some reason. In Florence, we stayed at another small hotel named Palazzo Magnani Feroni, which we also enjoyed very much. It was located a few minutes from the Ponte Vecchio. For Pompeii, we booked our tour with Private Tours of Pompeiii and our guide was Lello. Lello was terrific, and it seems he may also have his own business under Tours of Pompeii with Lello & Co. I don’t have a hotel recommendation for Naples, as we stayed at a B&B up on top of the hill that was chosen entirely for purposes of viewing the fireworks.
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here is the guide we used in Venice too Doge’s Palace & St. Mark’s Basilica | DiscoveringVenice for St Marks and Doge Palace.
Thanks. With big crowd we prefer Airbnb. It gives us more space and kitchen (not fan of eating out 3 times a day.)
Well, the only place I actually ever disliked in Italy was Naples. I would stay in Sorrento, and do that as a place to tour from. I thought Naples was ugly, gritty, graffiti ridden and lacked the charm of everywhere else I’ve been in Italy.
I have to agree with this. Worth the visit to get some pizza but I would stay elsewhere.
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And I thought the traffic was bad in Rome!
So should we stick with Sorrento even if we will spend more time on trains?
I’ve never been in Naples. So I do not have an opinion. Should we try to spend last night in Naples just to cut travel time by 2.5 hours next morning on the day to Florence? Or should we just try to pack trip to Amalfi into the day of arrival to Sorrento. I am afraid it would be too much, but maybe ok.
I hate to have one more base…
Then option 1:
3 nights in Rome/2 in Sorrento/1 in Naples/2 in Venice
Option 2: 3 nights in Rome, 2 in Sorrento. 3 in Florence, 2 in Venice…
I do not think we get much energy in Florence after travel from Sorrento with connection in Naples. There is no direct train from Sorrento to Florence…