Slippery in Winter?

Great start to 2026 for you two, kinda jealous. I was in Rome end of this past February and did experience rain. My footwear all had good tread on the soles and I proceeded with the usual caution of walking uneven surfaces, plus in wet conditions. I didn’t have trouble but I was diligent about being focused, utilizing what railing or structure that might be available for safety. I might have felt a slipping motion underfoot once or twice but kept to ‘slow and steady wins the race’ and was fine. When walking down steep stone steps I really took my time. Enjoy your travels!

Hiking boots and layered clothing including a raincoat should do fine... Weather.com and Acccuweather.com can be consulted for weather variations in each month for European cities. Florence in January seems to be about 10C-15C daily. Venice floods most often during its winter depending on full moons (January 3 and 4, 2026), tides, south winds blowing water up the Adriatic etc. More common these days than decades ago, and still not too common... Otherwise it may be rainy in Northern Italy and cooler winds can blow down from the Alps. Have a great time.

Thank you both for the great advice! Your clothing suggestions look quite reasonable, and match what we were planning to wear. Would a taking a waterproof parka alone do, instead of taking a separate raincoat? We have only two carry-ons to hold sufficient clean clothing for thirteen nights, and we don’t want to spend valuable time hand-washing laundry in the hotel, so I only can take the parka that I shall take onto the plane.

It will be cold and sometimes rainy but the only possibility it will be slippery is if it snows, which is a rather rare event in all of those 3 cities. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but it is very rare. Just worry about cold and damp, especially in Venice. Rome is more like California weather, so be ready to peel off some clothes during the day because you might feel warm otherwise. Florence is only slightly colder than Rome.

Thanks for the advice! It looks like I’ll need to cram a second, lighter jacket into my carry-on for Rome in order to avoid overheating in the parka in places like the Vatican and other museums.

Mid-January could be cold in Venice so it might (or might not) be almost icy during the night in some untread corners and therefore slippery. But you should be fine with hiking boots. I always take a tiny thermometer on my winter trips. If you put it on your outside windowsill before going out it can be useful. Yes, I'm aware you get the 'official' temperature on your smart phone, but there are many microclimates depending on whether places are in the sun or in the shade.

That's good advice about the thermometer: thanks!

In reply to Roberto da Firenze's post above: Unfortunately, I have to assume that I can't take a second, lighter coat along (in addition to the parka that I'll wear on the plane) due to severe space restrictions in my carry-on. (We have to pack for a two-week trip, so I almost certainly cannot pack another coat!) I wonder if it REALLY would be unbearably hot to wear the parka all the time? I am pretty tolerant of discomfort when I have to be. I assume that most museums will have coat checks, but I am not sure about tours/tickets that combine the Vatican Museums, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel, since they include several places: in that case, I'd be wearing the parka inside, in addition to a light vest with an interior pocket.

you won't need a parka in Rome, probably. Can you leave it at your hotel during the day when you will be at the most crowded sites - and the Vatican Museums are the most crowded of all!!

If it has been cold by Rome standards you may find St Peter's somewhat cooler because of the very high ceiling - nothing to stop the hot air rising.

There will be considerable difference between Venice - including wind and cold, and Venice's churches are like walk in fridges - and Rome..

I would travel with layers.

OK! I suppose I'll have to wear an extra coat under my parka when boarding the plane, ha ha! (I can take it off once I am on board.) Thanks for the advice!

I have a jacket I just use for my (fortunately frequent, never summer) travels. It consists in two layers - inside a fleece which can be worn on its own with a couple of zip-up pockets. Outside layer is a waterproofish jacket type thing with lots of zip-up pockets. Both have hoods. The fleece zips into the outer jacket. It's invaluable for travelling off season because either just the fleece, just the jacket or both together cover pretty much the full range of temperatures unless it gets down to zero, in which case an extra layer below the fleece. Here in europe I usually fly Ryanair and the main pockets can hold an ereader on one side and a half litre bottle of water on the other. It goes in the washing machine after my longer trips and after several years is still perfect. It was from Decathlon here in Italy and cost less than 50 euros.

Thank you for the useful and original advice!