Venice a good idea in Dec ?

Go to one of RS tours that include Rome and Venice and look down on the very bottom right hand corner to "Tour Weather" - click on that and it will show you the average temperatures for the year.

Venice is always a good idea.
"Extremely cold" may need to be quantified. You live in Virginia and I have been in Virginia (Arlington) a few times in January and I Have seen the Potomac river frozen solid a couple of times. There is no way Venice will get as cold as Arlington in January, even on a very bad day. Expect temperatures in the low 30s F at night and 40's to low 50's at midday. In the event of Bora wind conditions, minimum temperatures may drop to the 20's.

I've been there in December, not at Christmas but earlier in the month. Although it was chilly I far prefer that to the steaming, stifling heat of the summer months there which I have also experienced. The good thing is that the crowds were much thinner in December - summer crowds in Venice are quite unbelieveable...you can hardly move in some parts of town which I really can't stand. In December the weather was grey, cloudy, and we did have some rain but I really didn't care. Venice is Venice and is wonderful even under a grey sky!

Well, if you have never been before and want to go to Venice, I would just grab some warm clothes and enjoy it while I had the chance. You could be surprised with nice weather, but if not you will have seen Venice during a time when most tourists have not. I was there in Feb. and dressed in layers and liked it much better than in the summer. It will probably be chilly in Rome as well.

Another vote for Venice in the winter! We've been twice in December and love it. You may get rain, but you may also get brilliant sunshine. I'll take 45 degrees and sunny over 85 degrees any day. I used a raincoat with a zip-out liner, gloves and a scarf, and Smartwool socks worn inside my Gortex walking shoes. Bring a small umbrella, too.

I was in Venice in February (about the same average temps as December) and even when it was chilly and drizzling, even the locals were eating gelato. If you alternate that with creamy thick hot chocolate . . . . And there were a couple of balmy, sunny days when a light jacket was almost too much.

Thank you all so much ! I am so grateful for all your responses. We will definitely keep our reservations in Venice !! I agree Dec in Rome is much better than Dec in VA , we will dress accordingly and enjoy this historical and beautiful city :)

In Dec of 2010, on a trip to Italy and being in Venice in the beginning of December, we had the following: sunny weather, super fog, super rain, super cold, then Not so cold, then the waters would rise and lower. All of this happened in a day. I would not have wanted any different because all of the varied weather made Venice magical. When it rains, museums will keep you dry. the fog was so thick that you didn't know you were approaching the Rialto bridge until it was 5 feet from the vaporetto. The fog was mainly in the morning, cleared up by mid morning. I loved it.