Best way to travel from Rome to Venice

Are you planning on rolling right off the plane and onto the train? Personally that seems like a lot on top of an international flight and I would recommend thinking about staying one night in Rome before heading to Venice.

Either way Rome airport is an hour outside the city and then Venice is another 4 hours away after that. Fast trains can be purchased at a discount ahead of time but the discounts come at the cost of flexibility. If you're going directly to Venice then I would wait and purchase the next train as you arrive in Rome Termini. If you're going the next day you can buy the earliest ticket that you feel like committing to at a discount.

Venice is amazing and aside from dock>boat transfers for the local "buses" on water the city itself is flat aide from bridges.
Venice to CT is a solid 8+ hours from door to door as you are crossing the country coast to coast at almost it's widest point. You might consider Venice > Florence and then onto CT afterwards if an entire day of travel doesn't thrill you.

Pisa and Siena are both easily reachable via train and while Pisa is flat Siena is a hilltown and requires a certain amount of up and down as you go around the city. Train from Florence to Pisa (and maybe consider Lucca as well) and then train or bus from Florence to Siena. The bus drops you off more centrally than the train which is on the flat but there are escalators and buses up into town.

Assisi is hard to get to and IMHO too far for a day trip from Rome. If you really want to see Assisi I would detour to Perugia between Florence and Rome and stay there and visit Assisi from there before proceeding onto Rome. Note that this will mean taking the slow trains for this segment rather than the fast trains the run only between big cities like Florence and Rome.

You'll want to use the official site of Trenitalia which is the state train company of Italy: https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html
They also have an app for use in country that also let's you track trains in realtime and validate tickets etc. Use the Italian city names for best results when searching on train sites: Roma for Rome, Venezia Firenze for Florence and get used to 24 hour times for train use.

.Italo is a private train company that runs only fast trains between big cities. https://www.italotreno.com/en

Local train tickets - called regionale - do not come with seat reservations, never sell out and always the same price so buy them when you need them. Tickets in the app need to be purchased a minimum of 5 minutes before the departure time and validated in the app a maximum of 1 minute before the departure time. Paper tickets are available from train machines and these should be validated in the stamping machines as you approach the tracks.

Hope that helps, have a great trip!
=Tod

If you have occasional mobility concerns, just remember that in order to access trains you have to climb three steps, and the luggage you have is yours to manage, unless you find on the spot a pitiful soul helping you. Most 60+ people have no trouble in it, but if you state the concerns it means we should consider them.

Also curious how long this trip will be. It feels like a lot of hopping around, going from one side of Italy to the next. If I were you I'd try to focus in one region and stick to it. For example:

Rome (4 days as planned)

Tuscany
- Stay in Florence (2h train from Rome)
- Day trips to Lucca, Pisa, Siena, and other charming Tuscan towns (San Gimignano, Volterra, Monteriggioni) -> each of these trips would take you the whole day especially if you had to deal with trains/buses to get around

Venice
- Stay in Venice: there is A LOT to see for 2-3 days of relaxed visiting
- Take day trips to Murano/Burano/Lido/Verona/Padova

Assisi is a whole different region (Umbria) and quite isolated from the rest of your itinerary (trains 2-3h from Rome, ~4h from Florence), so a day trip might be quite a challenge.

As much as Cinqueterre is nice, again another region and I would leave it out unless you can dedicate some time to it (not a day trip!).

Hi "miuccia",

Thanks for the reply and helpful information.

To answer your questions:

Mobility issues involve the occasional, unpredictable flare ups involving hip/IT/quads/hams making it difficult to race from one terminal to another in a timely fashion. I'm okay with hill climbing. I'll avoid / work around stairs if need be.

Will will be in Italy for 13 days.

:-) WL

Wow, hiredman / =Tod!

Thanks for the reply chock full of helpful information. I'm going to take this info into account when planning.

:-) WL

I appreciate the advice, lachera!

Good news that I'm okay (even on a "bad" day) dealing with a few steps. Whew!

:-) WL

Hi danroc -

You've given me plenty to ponder.

CT looks absolutely idyllic. However I've heard that Florence is not to be missed - whatsoever. Venice is high on my priority list.

It's fun to have options!

:-) WL

You mention having 13 days in Italy but can you clarify that by telling us how many NIGHTS you have on the ground in Italy?
And share your dates since some major venues are closed on Monday-itinerary might need to work around that

I also want to suggest, as tactfully as possible, that you have not done enough detailed research. It does sound that people with specific mobility issues might have difficulty with a fast-paced schedule through too many locations, with too much physical activity almost "required" for many of the locations.

Besides the excellent description of Venice touring that you've received, I'd note that light-hiking is one of the principal features of a Cinque Terre visit. Standing in line is, alas, a big part of tourism today. Note that the Vatican requires long in advance ticketing, and an hour in line before security screening when you get there. Yes, there are some high-cost Imperialist options, unknown to me.

It is unclear whether you are going to Florence for the height of Italian Renaissance art, or simply to see Tuscany. Tuscany without a rental car requires very specific planning, with a limited number of possible destinations. Bus schedules may be less frequent in shoulder season, not sure.

I don't know if your city list is intended to be in some order, but because you mention Pisa and Cinque Terre, you don't seem to have looked at a map to see where those cities fall on the broad map of Italy. This is not like driving from the mall on one side of your home town to the mall on the other side of town! You may need to eliminate or change some sleeping locations in order to make the most of 11 or 12 nights of tourism. It would also be nice to be flying home from your last destination, if possible. Even if that makes it a two-segment trip. (Multi-City ticket purchase tab on the airline website, or "open-jaw" in travel agent parlance. NO, it does not usually cost extra. And you save two train tickets, plus maybe a taxi or two.)

EDIT: Did I read that the Pieta is not currently on view at St. Peter's?

Thanks again for the pro-tips everyone!

I may have overstated the severity of my mobility limitations. I am still fairly agile. As such I'm confident I can navigate stairs and inclines of varying degrees.

I appreciate the thought that went into your suggestions. Consequently my husband and I have some helpful info on which to base our decision.

Will likely pick your collective brain as we solidify our plans.

Happy trails!

:-) WL

Too bad you didn't post a little earlier. But for other readers it would make enormous sense to fly into Venice and come home from Rome. More convenient, probably cheaper, and save at least a good half day of sightseeing.