1st time to Italy
 

My brother and I are going to Italy on Monday and will arrive in Venice Marco Polo Airport and we would like to take a train to Rome. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.
We plan on staying in Rome for 3-4 days then taking a train back to Venice and staying there for 3-4 days also. Need help with trains, hotels, and places to visit while we are there.

Thanks

Do you mean <i>next</i> Monday? 27 June?

Good Luck! That is cutting things really REALLY close.

Yes leaving on the 27th of June until the 6th of July

From Venice Marco Polo, take the local bus to Venice Mestre train station (It's on the mainland). You can catch a train to Rome there. Check schedules and prices here at trenitalia.com.

Thanks, ellenem

Get yourself a good guide book or do a search here on the internet for what to see - completely depends on your interests!

I'd definitely start looking for hotels NOW! You dont give a budget so I am going to assume you have a fairly inexpensive one and suggest you start your search here: www.eurocheapo.com

yeah wanna stay cheap. thanks jamikins

As you have less than a week to plan, get on to the hotels now (it's the high season, therefore very busy) and the availability may determine whether you go to Rome first or stay in Venice first. I'm assuming you're flying in and out of Venice. If so, and your hotel choices dictate you stay there first then go to Rome, make sure you're back in Venice the night before you fly, rather than trying to come back from Rome on the same day you fly - no need to add stress to a journey by cutting it too fine.

Getting from Marco Polo to Venice, either for a train to Rome or to stay, can be done several ways, but the ATVO Airport Bus will probably suit you best. It costs Euro4 and goes from the airport to either Mestre (which will suit if you take the train straight to Rome) or to Piazzale Roma which is near the Santa Lucia station in Venice and an easy walk/Vaporetto to other areas in Venice.

Hotels in Venice - jamikins suggestion for website is good as it will show you availability and prices for many properties. As you are only there a few days, try to stay either around Piazzale Roma or in Dosoduro, Castello, Cannareggio, etc, rather than Lido or Mestre. This will allow you to walk around areas you'll want to see at night, rather than having to take trains and boats in and out all the time.

Hotels in Rome - again hard to suggest without a budget, but the same website will help. Rome is a little more spread out than Venice in the sense of what you'll want to see and do, and if you stay more central you'll be able to walk around as well as use the bus and (small) Metro system.

Sights - if you don't already know what you want to see in each city, then grab a guide book and do some reading on the plane over! You can also do a search on these boards for each city and plenty of posts will come up with advice. Even just looking at the tourist information website for each city is a start! Without knowing your interests, it's hard to suggest what to see, but as you have limited time, and it's your first trip, aim for the "big ones" and go from there.

While I'm thinking of it, you should know that something called Church Dress applies to all visitors to churches, chapels and the like in Italy. This means men have to cover their shoulders and legs (yes, long trousers/pants) and women to cover their shoulders and below the knees. It's a little trickier in Summer due to what tourists wear during the day for sightseeing (ie shorts) so to get around this, you can take a pair of long track pants or jeans to pull over your shorts/change into, or a sarong or skirt to wrap around you before you enter a church. This rule applies to the Vatican Museums (incl Sistine Chapel), St Mark's Basilica and any other church you may wish to enter to sightsee. I won't go on, nor debate the merits of sightseeing clothing (please no!), just keep this in mind when packing and on the day if you choose to visit these places so you won't be caught out and refused entry.

Now plan faster!

madamtrashheap.. thanks for the tips. we like sight seeing.

Well, sight seeing is really only useful if you know what sights you're seeing, so I'd get that guidebook today, right after you book your accommodations.

will do and thanks.

If you give a budget people may be able to make recos on hotels or hostels. What specific amount do you want to spend and what are you willing to give up to get it - AC? private bath? elevator vs stairs?

Cheap can mean different things to different people. There was a guy looking for hotel rooms for $50 for a family (he came from asia and had no idea of european costs).

Although you didn't give a budget, let me suggest Hotel des Artistes in Rome. Not expensive, and a friend stayed there with his teenaged daughter and said it was nice. It is in the neighborhood of the Termini train station. So it is a little further from the principal sights, but walkable. Look for it on the Internet.

If you buy a Roma Pass at the Forum or other site nearby you get free admission to those spots plus one other, and free bus transportation for three days, which should be right for you.

You realize, I hope, that moving from Venice to Rome and back will eat up a full day each way. So that cuts 2 days off your sightseeing time. However, you will get to see a lot of Italy from the train.

Gotta love your last-minute traveling! My son is the same way and his zest for travel doesn't requre long-term planning.

Good luck in your travels and post back on your trip!

Look into changing your ticket to fly into Rome and out of Venice (or vice versa). Yes it will cost you money but so will the extra train trip in terms of $$ and time.

If you can't change I would reconsider the trip to Rome and spend the time up north in Venice, Padova, Verona, etc.

If you don't like that at least save yourself a little time and only go so far south as Bologna or Florence.

If in the end you do Venice and Rome, have fun. You're young, you're with your brother, you'll have a great time, and it will probably just wet your appetite to come back later in life. Rome is fantastic. Try to push through the after effects of the previous night and get up early for things like the Forum and Vatican before the huge crowds come. Take a nap mid-afternoon and then rev it up again at night.

Have fun!

thanks everyone for the suggestions and help

Hi Jay, I just want to mention per Roman family members of my son-in-law whom he has talked to several times these last days that Rome is very hot and quite humid. None of them have a/c in their houses so they are miserable. You no doubt have reserved a hotel room, I hope it has a/c but if not I just want to give you a warning. Getting up and sightseening as early as possible would be a good idea before it becomes unbearable. If you do have a room with a/c the afternoon would be a good time take a rest although I imagine at your ages that isn't too appealing. Evening, and you will find people are all about in the evenings when it is somewhat cooler, will hopefully be bit more liveable. Anyway, have a wonderful time!