It'll be our first trip to Italy this Oct/06.We will be visiting three cities: Venice, Florence and Rome. Our plan is to fly from Vancouver,B.C.( canada)into Rome and immediately take the train to go to Venice. We've been told that taking the train maybe very confusing to new travellers. The alternative would be by air. My research indicates that I have to go to another airport to take Ryanair and then takes a bus to get to Venice. I would really appreciate if someone could shed some light on what would be the best way to go from Rome to Venice. And it also appears that travelling by air is not more expensive than by train ( 1st class).

Taking the train will be easier than flying, especially since flying on Ryanair involves getting from the Fiumicino airport to the Ciampino airport.

If you can handle your luggage on your own, the easiest thing would be to take the airport train from Fiumicino airport, where you'll land, to Stazione Termini, Rome's main train station. There's a direct line that makes the trip very regularly. Then, you can simply hop on your Venice train.

I don't see any reason that the train trip will be confusing. In fact, you'll probably find it wonderfully relaxing after a long trip on the plane.

It's not confusing to take the train but it will be a very long day/night of travel and a waste of a day (IMO). The train from Rome to Venice takes about 5 1/2 hours anf that does not count the time you need to get from the departures terminial, getting your bags and then getting to Roma Termini for the train. I would suggest looking into flights directly to Venice...

Better suggestion? From Canada don't go directly to Rome. Instead book so you land in Dublin then catch the direct Ryan flight from Dublin to Venice. It would all be on the same ticket (if you are flying Ryan from Canada). That way you could avoid the hassle of a Rome/Venice train trip after a long plane trip.

The other option would be to arrange your schedule so that you start in Rome, go on to Florence and then end up in Venice which makes the most geographic sense. Check with your airline about an "open jawed" ticket where you fly into Rome and out of Venice. These used to be wildly expensive but with code sharing, etc nowadays you might find it's actually cheaper!!

I'm doing the same thing, sushi...but with a few modifications...
We're flying from Edmonton to Toronto, and then we will stay overnight at a hotel close to the airport and then fly Toronto to Rome the next day. After several days in Rome, I'm taking the train to Venice.
THEN, I fly out of Venice to Toronto, have a lovely dinner with a couple of Slowtravellers there, then stay overnight at the same hotel and fly back to Edmonton the next day, feeling refreshed and not jet-lagged at all!

That might sound a bit long-winded for a trip, but staying overnight in Toronto both ways saves my life! It's a pretty intense, long and tiring combination of flights if we do it direct from Edmonton. Hopefully, Sheena or Janie will post here, as they will have better information for you than I do, as they also fly out of Vancouver. I booked open-jaw on Skyservice, for example...they let you fly into Venice, out of Rome, or whatever combination pleases you!

We'll be in Rome and Venice and we've planned a few get-togethers for other Slowtravellers, so please check these links out and join us if you can...we'd love to meet you!
Here's
the link for Rome, and here's one for our get-together in Venice.

“I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early.”
~ Yogi Berra
Brenda

If you're already committed to your transatlantic flights, you might look at www.alitalia.it (not .com), Alitalia's site in Italian, which often shows low one-way airfares between the main airports of Rome and Venice.

Wow, thanks for all your suggestions. In terms of what we've got planned, it looks like I'll be taking the train.

BGE: It'd be nice to get together with you and some of the other Slowtravellers. I'll have to check on my dates and schedule to see if the timing will work out!

Have you thought about staying the night in Rome and going to venice the next day? After a transcontinental and trans-Atlanitc flights you will be tired and want to crash and burn. You can take the train from Fiumincino to Termini train station in Rome. That is where you need to go anyway for your trip to venice. There are a ton of inexpensive hotels around termini in Rome.
http://en.venere.com/hotels_rome/via_veneto/?sort=price&view=map
http://en.venere.com/hotels_rome/marsala_termini/?sort=price&view=map
Some people have said that the area around termini is unsavoy after dark. I have been in Rome twice in the off-season when it gets dark at 5 pm and have not noticed that there were even a lot of people hanging around. maybe it is different in the summer? Anyway if you are tired you won't be walking around much, just sleeping. In the morning or next day you can disembark at termini to venice.

The train ride from Rome to Venice is beautiful. It is a great way to see the countryside...but if you go right after your flight you will be asleep before the train leaves Termini. An overnight in Rome would give you a chance to acclimate and have some sushi
Sandi