Nearly every 2nd day on the move is far to much, any reason on stopping at Lake Como, not usually the usual stop, and instead of staying at Siena, stay another nite in Florence and take the bus/train out to Siena and use the xtra time in Rome
 
 

Pretty rushed. I would cut Lucca (though I’ve never been there, so what do I know). Also, you could get by with either Cinque Terre or Como. I’d actually say Como over CT as both have water, but only Como has mts. Probably less tourists too.

Lucca is nice, but can be easily seen as a daytrip from Siena. Florence and Rome deserve more time. You mention that you want to spend less time in big cities because of crowds. I haven’t been to Italy in August, but I imagine that all of the places on your itinerary will be crowded at that time since they are all very popular.

Murderous itinerary.  Cut back and actually SEE something other than a train station.  We made the mistake last year of moving too quickly through Italy – even though we had 3 days in Florene, 2 in Venice and 5 in Rome.  There is a lot to take in and relaxed is the best way to absorb it.  Pick whether you want to see Siena or Lucca.  Lucca is easy to drop in on between Cinque Terre and Florence (even stop at Pisa for the photo – an hour should do it there!) but really it is a walled town that’s nice but not a must-see.  I’d personally prioritise a full day on Cinque Terre (shower after the walk is necessary!!) then head to Florence.  You must not be an art-buff or you’d have 2 weeks in Florence so spend 2 days then bus down to Siena.  You can get a bus to Rome from there or train to Naples/Amalfi area.  If you cut out the Como region (up to you) you could get a faster train straight to Florence (3 hour trip total) and use it as a hub – go to Cinque Terre via La Spezia for a night and Siena is only an hour or so by bus from Florence.  Play on Rail Europe to find a time-economical path so you can spend more time on the ground in towns than in transit.  You just can’t do everything so you will have to be like us and plan another trip.

If you’re budgeting the amount of time the train ride takes, its probably too rushed.

You won’t really get to see anything like this.  Try to give each place at least three days.

OK, gave it some thought, and after long deliberation, decided to skip cinque terre (and a lesser degree of delberation allowed me to drop lucca).  doing so gave me a day in rome, and an extra day in the amalfi coast.  with the extra day there, i think it’s worth the extra travel time to stay in positano instead of sorrento, isn’t it?

Anyway, does this look better?

1: arrive venice 11:30 am from paris
2: venice
3: 4.5 hour train to varenna (lake como)
4: lake como
5: 3.5 hour train to florence
6: florence
7: florence
8: 1 hour train to siena
9: siena
10: 5 hour train to positano
11: amalfi coast 
12: amalfi coast
13: amalfi coast
14: 3 hour train to rome 
15: rome
16: rome
17: fly back to the us

still probably a little rushed in venice/lake como.  thoughts?

It sounds like a great trip. I spent about as much time as you in Venice, Florence and Rome, and I think that was adequate. It doesn’t seem rushed at all. Have a great time.[][]

This updated itinerary of yours looks MUCH better. This is realistic. I would suggest taking a day off of Florence and adding it to Rome. Florence is nice but I saw just about everything I wanted to see in one day. Rome has so much to see it is unbelievable.