Hi to all-

Since I will only be in Rome for 5 nights, my wife and I will take a train from Rome to Florence for the day. Can someone recommend the website that can show me which train to take, the costs, and the times? thanks.

Italian website is: www.trenitalia.com

If you want to book with another site: www.raileurope.com Their rates may be a bit higher but they have English speaking representatives in the United States that will write your tickets for you and can give you advice on the telephone.

If you book yourself, make sure you get the trains that go direct as there are some that stop in several small towns.

I wonder if you should rethink your plan to take a day-trip to Florence from Rome. You will spend a great deal of time 1-getting to train station in Rome, 2-traveling to Florence, 3-going back to train station in Florence, and 4-train back to Rome. And you would be devoting 1/5 of your entire trip to that project, with another 1/5 to the first day arriving in Rome and settling in to your hotel, etc.
I would spend entire 5 nights in Rome. If you must take a day in another locale, I suggest a train to Orvieto, about an hour each way, and there are many trains all day both ways.. Lovely city

Remus-

The more I write questions about what to do outside of Rome, the more I realize that I would need about a month to see everything in Italy. Maybe taking a day to Orvieto would make sense. My coworker just came back from there this summer and she loved it. Thanks for the tip...

I would stay flexible with any plans for a major day trip from Rome. If you are staying 5 nights that means only four full days in Rome, which is not much time. The city is much more enjoyable if you take your time there.

You can research the options for a trip to Orvieto or Florence so that you will know how to handle the logistics if you do want to leave Rome.

An ES or AV train to Florence only takes 1 1/2 hrs and cost will be 36€ one way. A train to Orvieto (no fast trains on this line) will take almost that long (70-80) minutes and cost 15€ one way. It's a very short walk from Florence train station (5-10 minutes) to the historical center which is very compact. An easy day trip from Rome. Traveling to either city would involve getting to and from the train station in Rome so I don't see why that would be a factor at all. From Orvieto train station you would need to buy tickets for the funicular and bus to get to the center which will take as long as the walk from Florence's train station to center.

Orvieto might take 10-15 minutes less total travel time which I would not base my decision on. Do you want to see a hilltown or a city?

Hi CJ,

You want www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html for train info.

A DAY IN FLORENCE:

Train to Florence SMN:
The Luggage Office is to your left as you leave the train.

From Piazza d' Stazione, walk up via Nazionale to via d'Ariento and the Mercato Centrale, wander through.

Take any street going NE to Via Degli Alfani and go right to the Accademia for The David.

Take via Ricasoli SE to the Duomo, the Baptistry and the Opera Museum (Originals of the bronzes on the doors)

From the Campanile, take via Calzaiuoli S (do some window shopping) to the Piazza d' Signoria. Look around, take a break.

Continue S to the Uffizi. Visit.

From the Uffizi, walk W along the Arno River to the Ponte Vecchio.

(You can walk up to the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens if there is time. Great views of Florence from the top of the Gardens)

If you have time, walk E along the S bank of the river to Ponte alle grazie and cross over to visit Santa Croce.

If not, go W along the Arno from Ponte Vecchio to Ponte S. Trinita and go right. Go left on Via d'Spada to via d'Fossi and go right to Santa Maria Novella. Look around.

SMN is across the square from the train station.

If you have time, take the no. 7 bus (you can find it at the SMN train station) up to Fiesole (0:20 hr 1E) to watch the sunset from the terrace of the Bar Bleu.

Be sure to have lots of gelato (in a cup, not a cone), take some wine breaks and a light lunch.

Train schedules, prices and tickets are at http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html
Call center from outside Italy is 39-06-68475475

Bus routes are at http://www.ataf.net/
Buy your ticket before you get on the bus. Stamp it in the yellow box on the bus.

Uffizi and Academia Museum Reservations
The easiest and cheapest way is to call Florence 1010987 (dial around number), 011 (U.S. international access code) 39 (Italy's country code) then 055-294-883 8:30-18:30 M-F and 8:30-12:00 Sat. Florence time. There is a long listing of press 1 for this and 2 for that--press 4 for bookings. You will get an English speaking operator and in 2-3 minutes YOU CAN RESERVE FOR BOTH. This is through the reservation service at the Uffizi and costs beyond the normal entry fee only about 3 euro for the service. This is MUCH cheaper than the commercial booking services.

You will not be charged for the reservations unless you use them.

Have a nice visit.

I've done daytrips to Florence from Rome a few times--actually pretty easy to do. No need to purchase these trains tickets from home--there are hourly departures. Wait until you are in Rome and know for sure that you want to make the trip. You might buy the tickets the day before so you know you have seats on the train you want and don't have to worry about buying tickets before departure. English version of the train site:

http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

Personally, for a daytrip I would skip the Uffizi (it can take up a lot of time) unless you are real fans of its art. Visit the Academia for David and a smaller collection of paintings--make reservations to optimize your time.

I've left Rome on a train just before 9AM, arriving Florence about 10:30AM, train back to Rome about 9PM.

I'm taking the Rome-Florence train on Jan. 15th...
What is the difference between first and second class?
And which would be the fastest trip?
Can I buy my tickets the day before?
Thanks!

>What is the difference between first and second class?

Not that much that it's really worth the price differential.

>And which would be the fastest trip?
Eurostar (ES in the timetables). The closest thing to low-level flight you're likely to experience.

>Can I buy my tickets the day before?
Yes although personally, I prefer to have reservations out of the way before travelling.

HTH
K

Thanks!
can I purchase my ticket online?
I read that I can only purchase my ticket in Italy...

Yes, it is possible to purchase your tickets online (altho many, including myself would say that's not necessary). You could wait until you get to Italy and buy the tickets a day ahead (or several days ahead).

I've never bought tix online, however you can run a search on this forum as there's often discussion on the 'how to's' and nuances of purchasing via Trenitalia.

http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/

As for the difference between primero & segundo classe ...... insignificant for the Rome-Florence route. More important is to opt for the fast/direct train by choosing one that takes about 90 minutes--these will be the Eurostar ("ES&quot or the Eurostar AV ("ES A&quot.

I think a day trip to Florence is a great idea for one of your five days in Rome - three days IMO is enough to see what most folks want to see in Rome.

>can I purchase my ticket online?

You can and in fact, I kept our information on my PDA and only needed to show the staff the ticket # on the PDA. Again, it's a matter of preference as to how you handle things.

Be forewarned: many people complain about the difficulty of purchasing successfully at the trenitalia website.

Again I think this daytrip is one you can decide upon once you are in Rome and can see if you have the time to spare. You can also decide based on weather or other influences you won't know about until you're there.

There should be absolutely NO problem buying tickets on the whim in Rome - two trains most hours plus slower regional ones.

In Italy I have always just turned up at the station and bought a ticket for the next fastish train, using a ticket machine (they have an English option). Much easier & you don't need to worry about missing a pre-booked train.

However, with only 4/5 days in Rome, I agree with those who'd say don't go anywhere else. Romne is big and there is a lot to see.

Your online advance booking cannot be for a date more than 60 days in advance.

While I don't usually like to lock myself in with advance bookings, in your case, since you want to make the most of a long day in Florence, you probably should book. I assume you'll want to take a really early train.

The early trains get crowded with commuters and business people who, just like you, will want to get there before 9AM:

The 6:30 departure (from Roma Termini) arrives in Florence (SMN) at 8:09, the 6:50 departure arrives at 8:27.

www.ferroviedellostato.it is your website for schedules and bookings. To know more about a train, first click on Dettagli then on the actual train number itself.

Or when landing at Rome's Airport you can book the train there at the airport train station - where they speak good English and lines are not that long

alternatively in Rome's main train station are rafts of automatic ticketing machines that are idiot-proof - i could use them - and it's all in english - weird how trenitalia's automatic machines are a snap yet their web site is a bitch.

If you decide to book in advance (online or at the airport when you arrive), select the Amica fare which is a 20% discount.