Tight connection in Rome airport

I don't think you'll make it. Think you should check Easyjet.com or go to the Vueling website to change to a later flight. There are several options to get to Palermo. FCO baggage will be the real problem as most International flights come down #4 baggage claim and an hour wait is not unusual. You only go through PP control on arrival however no one can tell you how bad security will be to re-enter the terminal.

That is very very tight. I think you mean passport control/ immigration not customs which amounts to nothing. Can you change your Vueling flight to a later time?

If you cannot change your flights to give you more transfer time, it is likely your only hope is to have only carry-on. ( and that assumes your original flight is on time.)

If the flights weren't on separate tickets, I'd say you have time. This scenario is extremely tight, though. I'm not going to call it impossible, but if your first flight is late at all, your odds of making that second flight are slim.

Nevertheless, I am rooting for you. I'd check on the cost of budget flights to Palermo, though, just in case you don't make the connection.

My first question would be 'do you speak Italian?'

Our first trip to Europe 8 years ago began with a Chicago/Rome leg, then an hour-forty-five layover before a short flight to Catania, Sicily. Both legs were on Alitalia.

I'd probably do much better now, knowing a little bit of the language and also how Roma Fiumicino airport works (or doesn't work I should say) but we ended up standing in the wrong line for about an hour. By the time we realized this we really had to run to catch the Catania leg--ten times more stress than two jetlagged neophytes needed! And maybe I'm generalizing, but the airport workers seemed to be much more concerned with their stylish looks and flirting with each other rather than helping foreign travelers.

There...I've said it, about my countrymen, no less!

In my multiple experiences at FCO the thing that always took me the longest is the baggage claim, so you can shave off quite a bit of time if you travel with carry on only. If you don’t know how to pack light, this is the time to learn. I didn’t either many years ago, but then one year AirFrance lost and never recovered my luggage and I discovered that is not the end of the world. You can do laundry practically anywhere in Italy, there are laundromats everywhere. Also you can buy cheap Chinese made T-shirts at many street markets and simply throw them away two days later. It will still cost you less than a single night in any hotel. Just pack the essentials that aren’t as easy to replace (like pants if you are a large size, since those are harder to find in Italy where few people are large).

Passport control is another place where there’re could be a long line. I don’t experience that since I use the EU line that has no line, but there is a way around. When you arrive go straight to the policeman standing around and ask if you can use the EU citizens line and explain you have a tight connection. He will almost certainly help you and send you to the EU line. If there is no standing police to ask (rare) simply go to the EU line without asking. pull out the US passport only when you are at the window and if he tells you you are in the wrong line just show your tight connection ticket and beg for forgiveness, he will understand and let you through.