You absolutely need to go to Rome. Most people aren’t “museum” people. It’s so alive, tons of restaurants. Take some tours to understand what you are seeing at the colosseum and forum. I actually like it better than Florence.
Venice is a must. I’d stick with the big 3, plus a Tuscany tour from Florence.
I have a really stupid question. Do you carry your passport with you all the time? We’ve only ever been on a river cruise, so of course we felt safe leaving it in the cabin. We are going to Italy this fall on a private tour and I wonder about this. I guess any hotel has a safe for guests. I’m nervous and worried after reading here about all the thievery. On our river cruise, when we were in Nuremberg, we were all waiting for our bus and I became aware of a man suddenly milling about amongst our group. I just started staring him down and he wandered on. I feel sure he was looking for an easy target.
You’re supposed to have your passport with you but it’s probably safer in a hotel safe. Just make sure you can retrieve your number in some way no matter the circumstances.
Don’t let the pick pocket talk make you nervous. Enjoy your trip! It’s much better to be forewarned and have nothing ever happen than get caught unawares.
Other than in Russia where we had to have our passports with us, I typically leave it in the hotel safe.
Thank you, conmama! As I read more and realize we’ll be there 10 days, I’m thinking Rome, Venice, and Florence (where D is). D will be in school during the week (I assume) so we’ll probably (I guess?) do day trips from Florence while she is in class. Hoping to do a long weekend on either end of the trip so we can see Rome and Venice as a family!
The trains are so great in Italy that it’s so easy to travel. I wish the US had similar options.
It was a long but not arduous day to take the train to Venice for the day if you find out that there are other places you want to see in the weekends your daughter is free
Thank you, deb922!! It’s helpful to put together a few different scenarios!
It depends on when you are planning to travel. There is a big difference between Italy in August and Italy in October. Here are some insights:
Record heat this summer, with temps @ 95-100 F
Do your homework @ taxi and train strikes. There have been 2 so far in July and another taxi strike planned for July 20-21 (or around there). Taxi’s are expensive, also.
Make sure your hotel has AC.
Buy museum tickets way in advance and be prepared for long lines even for ticket-holders.
There are beautiful places to see that are not in Rome, Florence or Venice! The scenery on the Amalfi Coast is beautiful. There is record-breaking tourism this summer along the coast, as well as in Florence and Venice.
Check out Verona (especially if you are a fan of opera, as well as Romeo & Juliet), Sienna, Luca,and Orvieto. You can get great rentals in Orvieto. Sorrento is beautiful and this might be a good place to stay, then travel each day. Consider doing a wine tour through Tuscany. I also like the alps region with using Cortina as a base for hiking and sightseeing.
Florence
The “Uffizi Gallery Small Group Tour with Guide” was wonderful!
Our favorite restaurant was La Buchetta. Authentic Italian, excellent food and wine.
Rome
Recommend:
The “Walks guided tour- Borghese Gallery Tour & Tickets: With Bernini, Caravaggio &
Raphael”. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and passionate.
Chef in a Day - Cooking classes in Rome with Chef Federico Alessandri. He also offers a cooking class in Umbria which sounds even better. Google Casale-Alessandri. The cooking class was a highlight for my family (adult kids in their 20’s)
Do not recommend:
The “Get Your Guide-Colosseum Underground, Arena & Forum Tour” and the “Walks-Pristine Sistine Early Entrance Small Group Vatican Tour”. The tour guide makes all the difference, so it’s a bit of a gamble with these tours. We scheduled these at the last minute; the tours with the best reviews on Trip Advisor were booked. Book in advance and stick with the highest rated.
The Borghese was my second favorite thing that we did in Rome. It was amazing! Unforgettable. Wish we had done a guided tour but the audio tour wasn’t bad.
The best thing we did was the before hours tour of the Vatican. We got so lucky and the Sistine Chapel was not crowded and we spent 45 glorious moments there! Just quietly admiring, our tour guide told us we experienced something very special and we did!
I just came back from Italy with my family. My daughters and I wore our jewelry and carried our regukar handbags. We didn’t feel any more unsafe than in NYC. Someone mentioned to me that my bag was unzipped and I told her that I didn’t think anyone would be able to find anything quickly in my bag.
We ate outdoors most of the time, and we were very careful to have our bags not be reachable by people. I always carry my bag on the inside of sidewalk so it couldn’t be snatched by someone on a bike. If I am standing I would have my bag in front of me. I am so used to it that I don’t even think about it any more.
We did some major shopping while in Italy. When we left it was worthwhile for us to to claim VAT (10%+ tax free). We left out of Rome, but the procedure is the same at most airports.
Put all of your purchases in one bag (preferably a carry on), but can also be your check in bag. Before you go through security, go to the Tax free area (clearly marked). The best way to get money back is via credit card, not cash. You’ll need to stand in line for each tax free agency. Once they reviewed your documentations, you may or may not need to go to the custom to examin your purchases (it’s random). My daughters didn’t have to, but I was an unlucky one. They asked to see one item I purchase, after I showed it to them, they stamped my ticket. I then went back to the agency and they credited my CC. The whole process took about 30 min. It took less than few days before I got the money.
Many restaurants and some shops are closed from mid July to the end of August. Please do some checking up on the status of the places you hope to dine or shop. Also, remember that many stores are closed between the hours of 12 and 4 or 1 and 4. They may differ.
The museums we wanted to see offered online pre-purchase of tickets.
And museums are closed randomly… definitely look up where you want to go on any particular day.
We were in Sicily in October when the weather is normally lovely but we arrived in a hurricane – had to wade through the airport parking lot to find our car. Rain for much of the first week, but we still had a great time.
Someone might have already mentioned this but to visit Venice you now need to make a reservation and pay an entry fee starting Jan 2023
Any hotel recommendations for Florence?
We stayed at Hotel Firenze Number Nine and loved it, especially the location.
This thread has really forced me to start thinking and planning. After lots of internal back and forth thanks to the great suggestions here (Florence and Tuscanny! Cinque Terre! Rome!!!) I have landed back on our original plan…8 days in Campania.
Plan to travel in early May (hopefully will avoid some of the heat and crowds), will fly in and out of Naples and make our base in Sorrento. On our list of must-dos: Pompeii and/or Herculaneum, Mt. Vesuvius, Capri, Amalfi, Positano, the Path of the Gods and avoiding being pickpocketed 
.
No plans to rent a car, hope to get everywhere via train, ferry or taxi.
First trip (longer than an overnight) for my H and I without the kids since 2004 
We stayed there as well. Great choice!