re: Rome, Venice, Florence, or Milan

I would rank them in this order:

Rome
Florence





Venice





Milan

I love Venice but 2 nights is plenty and not the place I would choose to go for my first time if I only had 4 days. Rome and Florence have many more things to do and see. You could spend a month in Rome and not see everything. Florence is also great and very walkable. Additionally, you could do day trips to smaller Tuscan cities from your base in Florence. Also, in my opinion, you are very incorrect about Rome being touristy and Venice being chill/calm.

I would pick one out of Rome/Florence based off the main attractions and spend the entire fours days there. You can not go wrong with either.

If it were me and my first time, I would go Rome. It will be off-season and not as crowded as summer. Vatican, Colossuem, best pizza out of the listed cities, Carbonara, cacio e pepe...