I've visited Italy twice, the first time I flew into and out of MXP, the second time out of VCE. I visited Rome, Milano, Firenze and Venezia, Venice is a beautiful city with great shopping and overall a very unique atmosphere. Keep i nmind once the sun sets the city goes to sleep, at least when I was there (Feb and early April). The outlying islands of Murano, Burano etc, etc are extrmely cute and charming, very romantic. The first time I stayed along the grand canal- high priced eventhough it was Feb (low season), the second time I stayed in front of the Mestre train station (considered to be mainland Venice). Much cheaper and just a train ride away from Santa Lucia station.
Florence is nice if you enjoy the museums and the Tuscan atmosphere. If you go to Firenze you have to hit the Ponte Vecchio.
Rome is a must see, I absolutely loved it. All the museums and all the sights including the Vatican city- which even in low season took forever to get in. I can't imagine how long it would take to get in during the high season (summer).
Milano is basically the fashion capital in italy but other than that it's a big industrial city - I would skip it. Overall Italy is a beautiful country, remmeber Italians eat dinner late (for American standards) and avoid restaurants with large tourist crowds- these are usually bad tourist traps. I traveled through Italy with Tren Italia which is quite reliable. On my airline FCO is a pain in the rear end to get into, especially in the summer flights are usually heavy, VCE is a bit easier to fly into. Unortunately we canceled MXP.

Enjoy Italia!

Regards,

Chepos