We visited Rome and Naples last year and loved Naples. Had some of the best meals of our trip and they were less expensive than those in Rome.
You have 2 extra days in your option 2. The first time we went to Italy, I just had to go to Positano. So we skipped Florence. Started in Venice 2 nights, Rome 4 nights, Positano 3 nights, Naples one day and night. Now I really wish we had just taken the train back to Rome and spent the last day and night there, since I disliked Naples. We didn’t do Florence until our second trip.
I still say you are doing way too many cities. You need to cut one. You said you had 9 nights. You are spending too much time traveling. It’s ok to leave something out for next time.
Rome: 3 nights, 3 Sorrento, Venice 3. I’d say you are cheating Rome a day, but since you are traveling so far to Venice, 2. Nights isn’t enough.
Our family split on Naples. My husband and I liked it, my son hated it because of general grittiness. (Of course, he also hated Lisbon because of the graffiti.) I suspect it depends on where you stay in Naples. We stayed in a B&B up in the hills, in a neighborhood that was rather dirty. I liked it because it also had a funicular that took us down to the seaside and some wonderful restaurants, but I think it is what turned my son off.
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I love the variety of opinions on here.
If it were me, I’d only do Rome, with a guided day trip to Pompeii, and Florence, with a guided day trip into Tuscany. Fewer places you get to know better, and being there longer allows you to stay out of the touristy places as you have more time to explore and enjoy and don’t feel like you have to be in the thick of things. Dh and I did eight days in Florence for our 30th anniversary. He had never been to Italy so I felt bad that he didn’t make it to Rome or Pompeii, but he didn’t want to spend so much time packing/unpacking and traveling between places. Best trip of our lives.
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Too many beautiful parts of Italy, too little time. The struggle is real ; )
We’ve done the stay put in one place and do day trips type of vacations along with the move ever 2-3 days vacations. We’ve enjoyed them both.
OP - I don’t think you can go wrong with whatever you choose but I like option 2 better. (Naples felt too gritty for my taste too).
Word of caution about travel down the Amalfi Coast - the road is breathtakingly beautiful but it’s slow going. Even though the distances are short, it takes a while. IMO, Sorrento will give you enough of a feel for the Amalfi Coast.
PS. We enjoyed traveling by train through Italy. It felt like part of the vacation. We packed a nice lunch to bring with us, upgraded to “first class” for the long trips, and sat back and enjoyed the views.
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I typically like to do at least 2 cities. However, our London trip was just 7 nights, and we decided to just stay put. It was really nice for a change not packing and unpacking in Europe.
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That is exactly what we did in London many years ago. And we run out of time!
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Just to chime in specifically on college kids’ opinion of Naples. We only went for the day and my kids HATED it. And we were in a pretty decent part of town - went for pizza on our way to Positano and my kids could not leave soon enough. It is VERY gritty. My kids are not sheltered for context, called it the armpit of Italy.
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Yep, the armpit of Italy is how I’d describe it. I also hated the pizza. We went to the famous one, people are outside 30 minutes before opening.
The crust is so soft and limp, people roll it like a burrito to eat. I told DH that any frozen pizza in the U.S. was better than that.
I also didn’t like the pizza there.
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Dd said that she wants Amalfi, Florence and Venice and does not care about anything else 
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As a a result, we are moving to option 2 with the following plan:
Day 1 - walking around Rome (all major places but Vatican.)
Day 2 Vatican (museum, St. Peter’s etc.)
Day 3 - morning go to Sorrento (check in hotel) and then go to Amalfi .
Day4 - Pompeii and Vesuvius, back to Sorrento.
Day 5 morning go to Florence (via 2 trains) arrive in afternoon. Walking tour.
Day 6 Florence Uffizzi.
Day 7 Florence - Academia, relax.
Day 8 morning get to Venice. Gondola lesson (possible).
Day 9. Murano.
Day 10 flying back.
3 nights in Rome, 2 in Sorrento, 3 in Florence, 2 in Venice.
Dd said she prefers self exploration vs tours, but I think we will need some tours.
We definitely will download Rick Steve’s audio tours and probably will do some walking tours.
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I do not know about Naples’ pizza, but we literally couldn’t swallow any pizza in the USA after trip to Italy… We even tried “authentic” Italian places in expensive places like M street in Georgetown… Yack…
I am not a pizza person but there is nothing better than real simple Italian Margherita pizza made in front of you.
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Seeing at this year is a jubilee year, I would definitely think about a tour for the Vatican. You can do a tour first thing in the morning before the museum opens.
The Vatican is incredibly busy all the time, I’m afraid the crowds this year will be intense.
No other advice than that. We were very happy with Walks of Italy.
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I was going to also say you will need to book tours for the vatican, Uffizzi, etc. In Italy the tour guides get to skip the line with their groups. If you aren’t with a group you will spend all of your days waiting on lines.
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During our eight-day trip to Florence, I got a tour of Tuscany recommended by Rick Steves for dh and myself and our host. My host kind of turned her nose up at the idea but agreed to tag along. She thought it would be schlocky, but she loved it SO MUCH that when her adult children came to visit later that summer she booked another tour with that company, and her kids loved it.
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If you do the Vatican, start with the museums but make sure you know about the back door exit from the Sistine Chapel (at the most distant point of the museum loop) that takes you right into St Peter’s. Tour guides use it but anyone can go that way and it saves hours of lines.
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When we visited the vatican we did a tour which was early in the morning. Our tour group were at the front of the line when they opened the doors. She rushed us through all the museum area straight to the sistine chapel to do that first. Since they had just opened, most people were still in the early parts of the building and we had the chapel mostly to ourselves. We were able to spend some quality time admiring all the artwork. We then went back and started at the beginning and did our tour. When we got to the chapel the second time we understood why she had rushed us earlier. It was packed and you were being told to keep moving, a much lower quality visit from the earlier one we had gotten.
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We’ve traveled many trips with our adult kids (now in early 30s, we include spouses too). Italy is a favorite. What works for us is to book a central location walkable or close to transit.
Usually it’s an Airbnb type rental. We don’t need to be joined at the hip. Have breakfast together and sometimes bring in other meals. Major tours/visits we do together, but sometimes the “kids” head out on their own.
I too found Naples gritty. We stayed in Positano and hired a car to the rail station in Naples to go to Rome.
Love Florence and took a deep dive last trip. Did the earliest booking of the Uffizi using Rick Steve’s (free) podcast. I have museum ADD, which is odd as I was art major 
.
Also love Venice. We left our bags at our Florence hotel and packed backpacks for two nights there. Our hotel offered a water taxi from the rail station. A bit of a literal stretch for this short lady to get to the dock at low tide, but I made it. Our hotel also offered a free taxi to Murano. It was sad because of the Russian gas embargo. This was October 2022, maybe better now? I don’t know.
Look to see if the ferries are running, that’s a nice way to see the Amalfi Coast line!
In Florence take a taxi to Piazza Michaelangelo and see the city from that view. There is a restaurant there you can have lunch. I promise you, you won’t regret it.
In Venice, we did a cichitti bar crawl
Recommended by Rick Steve’s and others on TripAdvisors. We did it with our adult sons and everyone loved it. It’s only 90 minutes. He’s hilarious, my kids really liked him. Took us t the oldest bar in Venice, plus 2 more stops.
I also think it’s worth the $$$ to take the water taxi from the train station to your hotel, but make sure you tell them to stay on the grande canal as much as they can.
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We booked an evening tour of the Vatican - you get in after they’re closed for general admission. Highly recommend if you don’t like crowds. You can prepurchase Uffizi and David tickets to skip the lines (buy them directly from the museum NOT through a 3rd party). My kids aren’t big on tours and those worked just fine for us.
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