Rome + Venice Itinerary Help/Tips

First, congratulations! And I understand the overwhelming.

Question 1. Open jaw or multi-city. Fly into your starting city out of the city you visit last. Makes it easier and less back tracking. I think that is the advice you will get from almost everyone on this site.

Question 2. I would say train for any trip under 5 hours. I say this because once you count the lead time you need to get to the airport which is normally out of the city plus the extra two hours before to check in and then the de-boarding you are looking at most airline trips taking a minimum of 4 hours, without flight time.

With Rome and Venice I can't give advice on Airbnb I have always stayed in hotels. But I would advise to stay near the city center. With Venice stay on the island in Venice 'proper' because you will be able to enjoy the city after the tourists leave. Yes things will be closed but the city seems to glow after everyone else leaves.

Congratulations! I would suggest flying into Venice, spending 3 nights, then taking the train to Rome, and flying home from there.

Most people prefer to fly into Venice and out of Rome. 3 reasons -
1. Venice is a more relaxing place to get over jet lag.
2. Most flights out of Venice are very early in the AM and since the airport is a bit of a distance, you may have to get up at 3-4 AM.
3. Rome tends to have a lot of flights out.

I love AirBnB. In Venice, we stay in Canareggio. This time in Rome, we are staying in Trastevere, first time, but highly recommended.

Just a few suggestions in response

• I would do whatever I could to minimize travel time to have more time in the destinations themselves; flying into Rome and out of Venice might be your best bet (tip: take carry-on only, as Rome's luggage delivery can sometimes take a lot of time)
• The train between Rome and Venice (Roma Termini and Venezia S. Lucia) is fabulous, takes about 3h45m, is comfortable and you get to see a little of the countryside going by. If you keep an eye on Trenitalia in advance you can sometimes find great deals on first class, which we recommend (a little two person with a table between you is a lovely way to travel, have a little snack on the way, etc).
• Our favourite neighbourhood in Rome is near the Campo di Fiori, but as long as you are in the historical centre you will be fine, as so many things are within walking distance. In Venice we stayed close to St. Mark's Square, as it is easy to find when you get wonderfully lost while wandering the side streets to avoid the daytripper crowds.
• Favourites in Rome: the Borghese museum (make sure you buy your entrance time in advance!) and Borghese park surrounding it. The Colosseum underground and 3rd level tour was great and informative. The Pantheon is an absolute must. We went up the Vittorio Emanuel rooftop to get the view over Rome. Castel Sant'Angelo was a favourite, as was the Basilica San Clemente.
  • Venice: stay in Venice, not on the mainland - Venice is best in the early morning and late evening when the crowds of daytrippers are gone. Grab a drink and listen to the music in St. Mark's Square in the late evening. Book an entry time in advance to get into St. Mark's itself; go up to the roof for the view over the square! Doge's Palace tour was great. Take a gondola ride in the evening at dusk to avoid the crowds of onlookers.

Europe is a wonderful place to travel, don't be nervous! Italians are wonderfully friendly, and appreciate if you speak some Italian (learn all of the 'manners' words; this is something I recommend to anyone travelling to non-English countries). You will encounter many english speakers, so if you get lost or need assistance it is easy to find. Pack light - cannot emphasize this enough - carry-on only makes life so much easier, especially in Venice, and faster getting out of the airport in Rome and into the city!

September is still quite busy, so make sure you save yourself time by pre-booking anything that can be done. Have a wonderful time!

Flights- yes, it certainly does matter, especially on such a short trip. Book a multi city ticket into one city and out of the other. It may be more expensive than a round-trip, but you save the time and cost of backtracking to your original city.

As for which one to fly out of, I'd go with Rome. Many of Venice's departures to the US are early morning, and it can be a PITA to get to the airport really early in the morning. But you'll have to look - it depends on which city you're flying home to.

Train is the best way to go between Venice and Rome. It's a high speed train that will take you from the center of one city to the center of the other. When booking advance tickets on the Trenitalia website, use proper Italian place names- Roma Termini and Venezia S. Lucia.

We never stay Airbnb, so I'll let others comment. Rick's guidebook can help with neighborhoods. And it will be a wealth of information when it comes to attraction information and itinerary planning.

Tips- don't wait too long before applying for passports. Don't forget to notify your bank and CC companies that you'll be using your ATM card and CCs outside the country.

Hey! Congrats!! We are heading there in 3 weeks for our honeymoon and are flying into Venice and out of Rome!
I found some great deals on the train company ITALO ( 50% off!) and were able to get Prima (1st class) for far less then it's competitor's regular seat rates.

I can share our accommodation information with you once we get back but we did a hotel for Venice. I had a hard time finding Airbnbs that would work with our arrival time and felt a hotel was far less stressful for our stay here. In Rome, we are using an AirBnb in Testaccio. Our trip is about 16days long with stops in Florence and Alamfi so we really wanted something that was central to the city but would also provide us with a more laid back authentic atmosphere.

For Venice, we using the RS walking tour and climbing the dome. In Rome we are following his walking tours as well and going to the Vatican Museum, Coliseum underground tour ( definitely keep up with COOPCulture website so you know when your tickets will go on sale so that you can book a tour if interested.Going through the official site is way cheaper then the tours offered elsewhere. We are also doing an Airbnb experience, archaeologist for a day in Rome which I'm SO excited about! We registered for Airbnb gift cards through Amazon which worked out perfectly for both accommodations and their experiences.

Have fun!