Rome to Venice

The train is the only way to go. Quick and convenient. And you can buy the ticket the day before or even the day of without any problems. If willing to commit to a specific train at a specific day and time, you can buy on line to take advantage of any mini fare that might be available. Earlier the better for mini fares. No real worry about the train selling out.

www.trenitalia.com will show you all of the scheduled trains. Click on the British flag at the top of the page for English. More than likely you'll travel from the Rome Termini station to the Venice S. Lucia station. (use the italian names for your search, Roma and Venezia respectively) The only reason to buy early is to save money with "mini" fares. Otherwise, the day before or day of is fine, as there are frequent trains that essentially never sell out. I just randomly checked for a few weeks from now, and there are trains leaving at least every hour. The trip is a little under 4 hours.

I also am planning a day trip from Rome to Venice and here is what I have found. There is a train that goes there without any connection changes; it has more than one daily. Here is the information from http://www.trenitalia.com The Italian Train website. OUTWARD Train: Frecciargento 9402 date 22/06/2012 from Roma Termini 06:45 to Venezia S. Lucia 10:33 Fare: Economy (Adults:1) Price (outward): 39,00 RETURN Train: Frecciargento 9455 date 22/06/2012 from Venezia S. Lucia 19:32 to Roma Termini 23:19 Fare: Economy (Adults:1) Price (outward): 39,00 Total Price: 78,00 So you can take a day trip to Venice, this one leaves at 645 am and gets there at 10:33 am; and returning at 7:32 pm arriving at Rome at 11:19 pm. So a nice full day in Venice and by booking 2nd class the fare is 78 Euros, not bad to see a classic city. You can change the times to fit your schedule. Ciao,
Scott in South Carolina