jema

We are flying into Rome and then catching a flight to Venice. How much time should we allow to go through customs and catch a plane?

greg

Insufficient info.
Are you doing this with two completely different flight reservations?
Are you coming into Rome from outside the Schengen zone?
Do you have checked luggage to retrieve?

tuscanlifeedit

What time do you arrive in Rome?

(I've walked quickly through immigration and encountered no customs, coming off early flights into FCO. I only mention this because perhaps you can check international arrivals to see how much traffic there is at your landing time.)

bvlenci

If you haven't bought any tickets yet, don't search for separate tickets. Get a ticket from your starting airport to Venice, and let the airline decide on the connection. That way, if you do miss the flight, it's the airline's responsibility to get you on the next available flight. Also, in this case, your luggage will be checked through to Venice, so you won't have to collect it in Rome to go through customs; customs in Europe is at the final destination.

If you've already bought a ticket into Rome and are thinking of buying one for the flight from Rome to Venice, the responsibility is yours if you miss the connection. You'd have to collect your luggage and recheck it after clearing customs (which takes about 30 seconds unless they stop you). I wouldn't be happy with a connection of less than four hours, just to be safe. It would be quicker to take the high-speed train to Venice in this case.

No matter which is the situation, you'd go through immigration in Rome.

kybourbon

>>>(I've walked quickly through immigration and encountered no customs, coming off early flights into FCO.<<<

How long ago was that? Last time I flew into FCO from the US (a few months ago) it was easily 1 1/2 hours not counting getting my luggage.

ssander

It sounds like you have not bought your tickets yet, since you are asking how much time you need to connect.

So take other folks' advice and by a through ticket from one carrier. Even if you <strong>think</strong> you have allowed a ton of time for the connection, you're first flight might be delayed many hours. So you really do want the responsibility for getting to Venice to be on the airline.

Just my opinion...some folks love to live dangerously...and some folks have money to spare for any eventuality. When we go to Europe, we watch our budget, and don't take chances with flight bookings.

The idea of taking the train fascinates me. It takes 4:37 hours to get from FCO to Venice.

Not sure how long to fly, but you have to add another 45 min or so to get from VCE to the island. So compare flight time and convenience with an extra four hours. It might be a better choice depending on your connection times...and, as I said, you really need to allow a lot of time to be safe. (To be fair, you need to allow time for the train, too, if you want to buy a cheaper ticket in advance, since they are restricted with regard to missed trains.)

ssander

tuscanlifeedit

kybourbon, my last flight into FCO was probably close to 18 months ago, so your knowledge and experience are much more recent than mine.