lflowtravel

Hi, Can you tell me if 3 hours is enough time on a Sunday in March at the FCO airport to go through customs & catch a train to take to Florence? We arrive at 17:25 @ FCO and need to catch 19:20 Train @ FCO.
Or
get to Roma Tiburtine for a 19:55 train to Florence.
Thank you!

tuscanlifeedit

Is there a train from FCO to Florence? I didn't know that.

If you need to get to Termini, I would say that three hours ought to be enough, but this is one case where I never buy my train tickets ahead of time: if I'm landing and need to proceed to another city, I feel much safer just buying my tickets when I arrive in my landing city.

The ticket agent at FCO can help you with the tickets for the next leg, and if you have all the information printed out, they will probably advise you on whether you ought to take the Termini or Tiburtina train.

Anyway, that would be the way I would (and do) arrange it.

lflowtravel

Thank you

greg

One key info you have not posted is whether you have checked luggage. Your timing is most impacted by luggage retrieval. Here is rough idea of how long things take at large Italian airports.

The sequence on landing is:

1. Passport control: (<b>1 to 20 minutes</b depending how who else landed at same time.
2. Luggage retrieval: (<b>30 to 60 minutes</b The digital displays at luggage ares show which sub-contractors are handling your flight as well as where in luggage delivery process they are at.
3. Customs: (<b>5 seconds</b> if you have nothing to declare). For some reason, this few seconds step is what many people worry about and not the more time consuming luggage retrieval.

PalenQ

and the walk to the airport train station could take 15-20 mins or so - seems you have plenty of time. for Tiburtina you take not the Airport Express that goes non-stop to Termini I believe but the local regional train - a regular train costing much less than the Leonardo Express train - does not go to Termini I think just Ostiense and Tiburtina and all stations in between the airport Tiburtina probably.

Back to Tuscan's Q - I heard there are now a few FCO airport to Florence trains but can't see them in schedules - are you taking a direct train from FCO to Florence or changing in Termini or Tiburtina to a Florence-bound train?

Thanks - curious.

bvlenci

There are new direct trains from Fiumicino airport to Florence and Venice. One leaves at 11:08 and one leaves at 15:08, and I think those are the only two. It was one of the conditions of Etihad airlines for buying up a big quota of Alitalia.

I wouldn't buy tickets in advance for a train that I might not catch if my flight were late. Trying to figure out which train you could take is almost impossible with all the variables involved, including the possible delayed arrival of the flight. The tickets would be worthless if you missed the train.

I suggest you just buy your tickets on arrival. There are very frequent trains to Florence, and you'll catch the first available train; if you buy your tickets now, leaving a large margin for error, you'll probably end up hanging around the station waiting for the train whose tickets you bought, while two or three others leave without you.

The last time I tried at Fiumicino airport to buy tickets for a trip that went beyond Rome, I had to buy them from the travel agent across from the ticket window. She sold me both the tickets into Rome and the tickets from there to my final destination, for the same price I would have paid at the station or online. This was a little over a year ago, and I don't know if it was temporary.

PalenQ

thank you bvienci! Always spot on about anything about Italian trains and willing to take time to share advice that has helped many navigate the fog of Italian trains - kybourbon ditto - these two tirelessly give pertinent currently spot on advice - I have learnt so much - Fodor's is so fortunate to have two Italian train gurus to help clueless or nearly so folks.

Brenkjtravel

Take the high speed train it will cut your time in half.

Mimar

Immigration for non-EU citizens took an hour or more the last time I arrived at Fiumicino. So you need to allow for that also.

And I agree. Just wait and buy your train tickets after you arrive. It's annoying if you allowed a lot of time and then have to wait around. And it's even more annoying if you miss the train for which you have tickets and have to buy new ones.

lflowtravel

Hi thank you everyone!
I will not be checking a bag and I believe train from FCO to Florence.
It stops at Termini then we Have 15 minutes to switch trains to Florence.
I sure hope it all goes well.

gentle

you will be cutting it short as im returning to rome on tuesday from australia and as soon as you get out from picking up your luggage make your way to a ticket operator cost 7.50euro p/person about 10 minutes then if your able to use an auto machine cost is 57euro p/p (im guessing you have your tickets) at main station dont forget to validate ticket in yellow box. The fast train may only stop in Firenze and be going onto Milan so check number.

PalenQ

Most high-speed trains Termini-Florence go direct sans stopping except maybe and maybe not at Rome Tiburtina - they are a lot faster than the local trains that stop several times and go much slower on older tracks.

kybourbon

>>>your way to a ticket operator cost 7.50euro p/person about 10 minutes then if your able to use an auto machine cost is 57euro p/p (im guessing you have your tickets) at main station dont forget to validate ticket in yellow box. <<<<

This doesn't make sense. There are no tickets 7.50€ on this route. The Leonardo from FCO to Termini is 14€ (30 minutes) and the local train from FCO to Tiburtina is 8€ (45 minutes).

minitravel

Hello all
There are direct trains from FCO to Florence. General view from many posts is that we should buy tickets for the fast trains when we get there but the price difference is significant buying early versus then. 17€ vs 43€ per person. Has anyone bought in advance and not had a problem? IFlowtravel - any tips since you've just been? How long to get out of the airport - really over 2 hours? We are travelling in August into FCO and need to go to Florence same day. We arrive in FCO at 10:45 am. Any tips and advice is much appreciated! So confused so first time on a forum. Thank you!

kybourbon

>>>17€ vs 43€ per person. Has anyone bought in advance and not had a problem?<<<
>>>We arrive in FCO at 10:45 am.<<<

Since there are only two trains without change from FCO to Florence, you would have to take the one that departs at 15:08 as you wouldn't make the earlier one. Otherwise, you take the train from FCO to Rome Termini and change to a train to Florence. Buying in advance on arrival day is risky since flights can be delayed, but you would save a few euro. Tickets for the fast trains are train/seat specific so you ticket would become worthless if you missed your train.

PalenQ

If you miss the specific train your 17 e ticket is on well you are out only 17 euros - vs waiting until buying full-fare tickets at 43 euros anyway. Take the chance - 17 euros is not much to risk and the potential savings would be much more.

kybourbon

I would not hang around FCO until three to catch a train that didn't require a change. If you plan to use the Leonard to Termini, there is no discount for that train so advance purchase doesn't help really (except to save a minute or two of buying a ticket at the airport station). If you book the Rome/Florence part in advance, you need to allow enough time to trek over to the train station at FCO, catch the train (departs every 30 minutes and travel time is 30 minutes). At Termini, it can be a bit of a walk to your next train (depends on track #). You might want to allow enough time to eat lunch or grab some food in Termini to take on the train for lunch. There are quite a few fast food places along with a grocery or two (they have some ready made items you can buy).

minitravel

Thank you so much all. This is great advice! Just a quick question.

Re: kybourbon response: you bring up a valid point. But when I calculate hours to catch the train at termini: say 2 hrs to get luggage, get through immigration etc based on earlier responses. Leonard to termini is 30 min. Grab food at least 30 min. 30 min contingency. Total time is 3 hrs 30 min. Assuming 10:45, I would get to termini at 2:15. Only 45 min to 3pm anyway. Would you agree timing about right? Is it really 2 hrs to get out of airport with luggage and immigration?

Based on other responses, I will buy in advance. Agree. The question is go to termini or from FCO?

Thanks all. As you can see, a novice traveller I am!

tuscanlifeedit

Interesting; based on other responses, I would not buy the tickets in advance. Too many variables.

Based on my own experience, I would not (do not) buy advance tickets for moving on from my arrival city.

minitravel: when does your flight arrive at FCO? You aren't the OP on this thread, so I'm confused.

minitravel

Hi Tuscanlifeedit. We arrive at FCO at 10:45 am. We have a direct flight from Toronto. No stopovers.