Mrs Old and our 21 yr old daughter will be making their first trip to Rome in a couple of weeks.
They fly into VCE and stay 2 nights at the Metropole. They have purchased the Venice card with airport inc.
By train they go to Florence and spend 2 nights at the Plaza Lucchesi. Someone has recommended the daughter would love a restaurant called Zazas (sp?). They are considering a walking tour of Florence because they arrive on Sunday and leave on Monday and "David" is a must. The walking tour includes "David". On Monday they will make a quick trip by train to Pisa to see the leaning tower, again a MUST for them
Then to Rome by train for 3 night at "Art By the Spanish Steps". Main interests there are the Vatican, Catacombs, and ancients sites such as Colessuem (sp) and Pantheon. They are thinking about a dinner cruise on the Tiber.
Any recommendations or thoughts? Anyone familiar witht he hotels?
An

Someone has recommended the daughter would love a restaurant called Zazas (sp?).

That would be Trattoria da Zaza in Piazza del Mercato Centrale. Nice but you can do a lot better in Florence as food goes. I'd go to Zaza only if I couldn't get into Latini or Osteria del Cinghiale Bianco. Reservation is essential unless you want to be wait in line forever.
Icecream at Vivoli is a must

there are 3 or so flavors of venice card. the metropol is close to the VCE boat parking place, but still 3 or so bridges to climb. do not hire a porter in venice. the cost is at least 6 euro a bag. maybe mor by now. even the purse counts as a bag.

skip pisa. it takes a whole day. maybe only 6 hours total, but seems like a whole day. you can get just as good a price on t shirts in venice at the foot of the bridge. go to piti pallace instead. have lunch on the balcony of fort belvedere(I think that's the place).

go to library and get fodors, and a couple of more relatively current guide books and read them.

pack a lunch for the train. you can bring wine if you wish. have the hotel get train tickets for you, or you can pick them up in venice at the travel agent that sells train tickets(only one or two sell train tickets).

I have not gotten guides to go to vatican, but I understand they can cut the lines. buy the line cut if you can. it also closed very early when we were there.

but read the guide books. my wife and I go wierd places compared to the real world and everybody falls in love with some thing or place in each of the cities.

our favorite off wall thing is probably an Enoteca in Bologna that we love, or the Pizzera in blue collar castello where lucio sings old venician songs every evening.

They are thinking about a dinner cruise on the Tiber.

The Tiber is not the Seine. Skip this cruise.