re: Italy Vacation November 2017 - May 2018 Timeframe

I'm not going to get in all the specifics, but we did 10 days in Italy this year. We stayed in Venice 2 nights, Florence 3 nights and Rome 4 nights. Flew into Venice and departed from Rome. We went to Pompeii as a day trip and I recommend that. You can only book train tickets like 3 months in advance. If you book a month or so in advance the train tickets are pretty cheap.

Your way out from your time frame so you have plenty of time. Go to tripadvisor and find hotels in whatever city with the best reviews at a good price. Hotel David in Florence is a must in my opinion.

For resturants check the reviews before you go to one. There are so many tourist traps that it's sometimes hard to know which ones are or not.

The main museums there you need to reserve the tickets before you go. Get Rick Steves book and download his audio Europe app so you dont have to buy the audioguides at each museum. Florence and Rome are not that expensive. Venice on the other hand can be pretty expensive.