Hi everyone! I will be traveling to Venice and Rome Italy very soon in July. I have made an itinerary with things I am interested in seeing, however it is my first time going to Italy so I would like to ask others for their suggestions. In your opinion which are must sees and do you feel I could remove anything unncessary from my list? I realize that my itinerary is pretty packed. I will spend 5 days in Rome and 2 days in Venice. While there are many attractions in Rome, I have heard that Venice is more of an attraction as a whole...for this reason I did not spend a lot of time creating a Venice itinerary. If anyone has any suggestions on what to see or do in Venice for 2 days or what to eat, please let me know!! Thanks so much.

Rome Itinerary
Day 1:
Colosseum
Palatine Hill
Roman Forum
Capitoline Hill
Altare della Patria
Mercato di Campagna Amica

Day 2:
Trevi Fountain
Pantheon
Piazza Navona
Campo de' Fiori
Piazza Venezia
Via del Corso
Piazza della Repubblica

Day 3:
Vatican Museums
Vatican gardens
St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter’s Square
Castel Sant'Angelo
Trastevere

Day 4:
Borghese Gallery
Villa Borghese
Piazza del Popolo
Spanish Steps/Piazza di Spagna
Via dei condotti

Day 5:
Rome side trip- Tivoli Gardens (Villa d'Este)
Hadrian's Villa

Sounds like a great trip. A few thoughts;

Mercato di Campagna Amica: may not be a permanent fixture and in any case, it is a small local farmer's market. If you are cooking you may enjoy this, but I wouldn't chase it down unless you're absolutely sure of the location and that you can use produce. There is good food shopping in Rome, in any case, in lots of stores and other markets.

Piazza Venezia
Via del Corso
Piazza della Repubblica: large streets and public squares; I would concentrate on nearby major attractions and not make on these.

Vatican Gardens: not the best gardens you'll see. Have to have tickets and a guide. I wouldn't visit again. Too much to see and do in Rome.

Trastevere: it's huge. Try to have a couple of goals. Do you like churches? St Maria in Trastevere and Santa Cecilia would be my goals in Trastevere.

Since you mentioned a market in Rome, I think that the Rialto Market in Venice would be a better choice and is really quite something to see. Check for opening hours.

A trip to Venice needs to include, IMO, a visit to the Basilica San Marco.

Have a great time.

I agree. I don't think you need a daily itinerary for Venice. But you might want to list the things that are of most interest to you, just so you don't miss something you wish you'd made time for.

Take a vaporetto (bus boat) on the Grand Canal (i think that's #1?). Walk everywhere. Get lost. Eat those cute sandwiches you'll see in glass cases in cafes. Drink espresso or cold white wine at a stand-up sidewalk bar.

After spending two "days", however you count "days", in Venice, where are you going?

>>Day 1:
Colosseum
Palatine Hill
Roman Forum
<<<--- you will probably be exhausted by this point. Even earlier on hotter days.
Capitoline Hill
Altare della Patria

>> Day 2:
Trevi Fountain
Pantheon
Piazza Navona
<<<--- These are great evening walk venues. Except for Pantheon which does have closure time, Trevi Fountian and Piazza Navona are always open and gorgeous when flood-lit at night. Trevi Fountain is insanely crowded most of the time, even more so during the day but without the charm of flood-lit fountains. Doing these during the day is less romantic and eats away from other places you need to do visit during the day - double whammies.
Campo de' Fiori
<<<--- This is morning - early afternoon venue. Not much to see later in the day for the market part.
Piazza Venezia
Via del Corso
<<<--- What are you going to see here? You will be crossing and walking on this street naturally during the course of your stay.
Piazza della Repubblica
Mercato di Campagna Amica

>>>Day 3:
Vatican Museums
Vatican gardens
<<<--- Are you going to be on a tour?
St. Peter's Basilica
<<<--- If your are not on a tour and therefore don't need to be there at a certain time, enter well before 9 am, such as 8 am, to beat mass tourists. You can pretty much walk in with a few minutes security check at that time. If you want to climb the dome, go through the Basilica and immediately take elevator and then climb up the dome. If you are in Vatican museum tour that let you enter Basilica from the side door, you avoid the security wait to enter Basilica, but you will not avoid the crowd inside. For that, you need to enter Basilica as early as possible.
St. Peter’s Square
Castel Sant'Angelo
Trastevere

Book those Rome to Venice train tickets as early as possible - up to 60 or 90 days I believe online yourselves to nab limited number of discounted tickets - at either www.trenitalia.com or www.italotreno.it/en - two competing rail systems operating similar trains over same tracks and using same stations - take whatever it cheaper - for lots on insights on Italian trains check www.seat61.com - superb advice on booking your own discounted tickets - BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. Too bad you can't add a day to Venice - giving time to head to outer island, etc.

Thank everyone for the advice!! You all gave great suggestions. I have taken out the things that are basically streets or public squares, as like mentioned, I will pass by them anyways. And I will also consider the time of day that I go to some of the attractions. Thanks for the venice suggestions as well. Much appreciated.

Thanks for the info on the train tickets, luckily I already have those purchased!

I very much appreciate the detailed suggestions!! Will definitely take everything like the time of the day I go to each place into consideration. Oh and I am going from Switzerland to Venice and from Venice to Rome!

Thanks so much for your suggestions! You have helped me eliminate some things off of my itinerary such as Mercato di Campagna Amica, Piazza Venezia,
Via del Corso, Piazza della Repubblica (since I will pass by those streets anyway), and Vatican Gardens. I am now doing more research on what there is to do in Trastevere. Thanks for the suggestions in Venice as well. I will look into it!

The Rialto market in Venice is fun, but closed on Sundays and the fish market is not open on Mondays.
If you are arriving by train, the view of the Grand Canal as you exit the station is a real knock out. Give yourself a few moments to pause there; you are looking at Venice’s main street.
Ride the No1 vaporetto (water bus) from the station (Ferrovia) down the Grand Canal to the San Zaccaria stop which is just past San Marco, take a walk around the Piazza, and go back to the Piazza late at night or early morning for a completely different experience when there are fewer tourists around.
The Basilica is certainly worth visiting, a little Byzantine jewel box, and the Doges palace, once the centre of political power in Venice is alse worth visiting. The Palace needs something like two (if you are brisk) or three (if you engage with the place) hours.

Not much in Travestere sights except church - known for its restaurants - some sweet riverside Tiber walks nearby. Don't miss famous Mouth of Truth thing not too far away = best to combine with Forum but not far from Travestere: https://www.rome.net/mouth-of-truth