Italy/Austria itinerary check

The overnight train from Venice to Salzburg, looks like Penance for a serious sin.

Perhaps you found something I did not see, but it looks like the choices have you arriving at ~ 4 AM-6AM or leaving Venice at 3PM and arriving at ~10PM.

I would be inclined to give Rome more time than Cinque Terre

I agree with Joe that one more day in Rome and one less in the Cinque Terre is a good idea. It does look like (I did a random search) you can leave Venice at 22:52 and arrive Salzburg at 06:15 with a change at Padova. Details here on Deutsche Bahn. Note the train does not run every day.

Assume you are flying out of Vienna? What month are you traveling?

It's about 360 miles from Venice to Vienna, and I'm thinking the train also changes to a bus (or vice versa). Distances are often farther in Europe than most travelers realize.
I'm not about to spend 10 hours on an odyssey when I can catch a 1 hr. 5 minute flight on Austrian Airways.
The train ride from Vienna to Salzburg is very do-able, however.

Vienna is much further east than may people think. As Prince Metternich once said, "Asia begins at Landstrasse" (just out of the former Vienna city walls).

So you plan to fly back to the US from Vienna?

Honestly, don't bother with Vienna if you only give it two nights, which equals one day. Also, seriously consider taking the train during the day from Venice to Salzburg. It is a lovely journey and night trains are the worst.

Too many stays, I recommend eliminating one.

3 nights in Rome is absurd. Have you done any research on what there is to see in Rome. You could spend a week and not see it all.

Also, Rome has fewer nights than CT. Sorry, that is ridiculous.

Two nights in Vienna, another one with too little time.

I don't think it is all that bad. Yes, I'd add another night to Rome and take it away from CT.

As far as a night train is concerned, I would do it. Gives a bit more time in Venice, but instead of the night train to Salzburg, take the night train to Vienna. As was mentioned earlier, of the two night trains to Salzburg, one drops you at 4 am, and the other requires a train to Padua to pick it up and it still drops you in Salzburg at 6 am. The Vienna night train gets you to Vienna at 8 am, so at least your hotel will have its doors open to drop your luggage. That way you can get 2 1/2 days in Vienna, then a late train to Salzburg. Fly out of Munich, which will give you more flight options home than Vienna. You can get to Munich airport in 2 1/2 hours from Salzburg on the train.

A night train is not everyone's cup of tea, but you will not be able to know your self unless you've tried it at least once. I've taken night train both into and out of Venice. Having done it, I probably would not do it again, but it did save time on the trip by traveling overnight and gave us basically 4 days in Venice spending only 2 expensive hotel nights.

What time of year is this trip?
Are your flights already booked?

I agree take 1 from CT, add to Rome. 3 nights there with first day jet lag is only 2 days.

Not a fan of night trains, don’t expect to get much sleep.

I’d take a night from Salzburg and give to Vienna
Both are lovely but Salzburg has fewer sights and is quite small compared to Vienna.

Hello, I would take the 4th night for CT and give it to Vienna. Essentially every place would have three nights. And, I would switch the itinerary to begin in Vienna and end in Rome (unless you’re trying to attend a specific festival.). Vienna is much easier to ease into with jet lag, and this would give the non-jet lag days for Rome. We really enjoyed Salzburg (been there multiple times) along with all of your other destinations. I wouldn’t want to reduce any of them to just two nights, considering your longer train rides cutting out actual feet-on-the-ground location time.

Speaking of train time, I should also inquire- are you sure you want to cover two countries in this trip? Any chance you could have a second trip and just focus on beautiful Austria in a few years? There’s so much to enjoy in both of these countries, and I see so much transportation time. I aim for 1-3 hours maximum between locations so that we’re enjoying our next location by noon. Just sharing this planning thought to consider if the lost extra transportation time is worth what you will gain; only you can assess that decision. Have a great time!

I just want to thank everyone for their thoughtful reply’s! You all have given me a lot to think about! I guess the reason why we chose the locations we did is because me and my daughter have certain things we definitey want to do in these locations and it will be a once in lifetime trip. She will be off to collage after this trip so want to make it special. Will consider adding a couple of travel days in there to avoid being on the go too much. Also will add one more day too Rome and subtract one from CT. I will also consider changing departure city too Munich like someone recommended. I liked that idea!