Venice, Florence, Rome

For Rome definitely book a guided tour for the Colosseum and Vatican. We did both last year, do the earliest one you can for the Vatican. We did the underground along with the Forum for the Colosseum. We are going back to Italy this June and are doing Milan, Lake Como, Venice and Florence. I've booked everything myself. We are doing a couple of guided tours, but I mostly bought tickets through the venues themselves (Last Supper, David, etc.)

Rome, yes. Everywhere else, no. Though especially in Florence, make sure to book your tickets for major museums online. Even without a guide, there's a separate line for people who already have tickets versus people who need to buy tickets, and the former is orders of magnitude shorter.

I've been to Venice several times since 1973. On the most recent trip Mario Piccinin taught me the great enjoyment of getting out into the wider region which has supported the lagune city for centuries. He and his American wife operate a wine/food tour company - LINK

He can arrange wine buying from a vinyard and shipping ... not cheap but fantastic selection.

For Venice itself no guide is needed unless it's a food/drink tour. Read up on the sights 1st and take the water bus everywhere. If you fly in/out of Venice, splurge and get a water taxi across the lagune.

Florence, no guide needed.

Rome - we looked at lines waiting at Coliseum and immediately bought tour tickets from a street hawker (nice Irish kid). Our plan was to ditch the tour once through the group entrance. The guide, however, was excellent. We spent almost 3 hours with her. An art historian and licensed guide living in the gig economy, she was picking up some extra cash.

Honestly man just follow the miles of other tourist in front of you.

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We did David in Florence and Vatican in Rome.
Vatican tour was cool, got to skip the line.
Same in Florence. Did the David tour and the Santa Maria del Fiore tour all in one.
If this is your first or only time going, I would do a tour.

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All great advice.
Half of the "tour guide" is saving you time by skipping lines.
The other half is quickly navigating, finding good spots to eat, with some history mixed in.

Should you get a tour guide?
Florence, yes. Rome, Absolutely. Venice... Meh.

I think we had to do a guided tour of the Vatican to skip the huge line. We did another guided tour of crypts and catacombs, but I think that was the only way you could get in too. Other than that, we did self tours everywhere else.

Genius! Thanks a ton