We're planning to visit Florence in May/June 2010. I intend to book a direct flight to Rome then take a train immediately to Florence and stay there the first night of our trip. Is this easy enough to do? We've never been to Italy.

An alternative would be to fly to Rome then take a connecting flight to Florence. Is this possible? If so, is it better than taking a train from Rome?

You can connect to Florence through a number of European cities, depending on the airline, including Paris, London, and Frankfurt. I'd compare the options for schedule and price.

I have flown through both Paris, Milan, and Rome with connecting fights to Florence, I have also flown to Rome and immediately taken the train to Florence. for me it all depends on the schedule.

Here's how the train has worked for me: Our flight landed at FCO at about 7:30 AM. Our luggage came through quickly (not always the case) and we were buying our tickets to Rome and Florence at the FCO train station by 8:30 AM. The 8:37 Leonardo Express shuttle train from FCO airport to Roma Termini train station got us to Rome by 9:10. We had just enough time to connect at Termini to a 9:30 ES (Eurostar fast train) from Roma Termini to to Florence Santa Maria Novella train station. (It was key that we had purchased tickets for this train at FCO so we could just find the train platform without having to stop and purchase tickets.) Our train arrived in Florence just after 11:00 and we were in our hotel room by 11:30.

You can also fly non-stop from the US (NY) into Pisa, which is much closer to Florence than is Rome.

Steve,

You most certainly can fly into Rome and train to Florence relatively quickly.

As ellenem states, you will train from the airport on the Leonardo Express to the main train station in Rome, Termini. Trains depart every half hour on the "5's (9:05/9:35/10:05, etc), according to the website:

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD

ellenem also gives good advice about buying your Rome to Florence ticket at the airport, before you board your first train. This saves you time when you get to Termini.

Here is the Trenitalia site with info on trains running from Termini to Florence SMN (Santa Maria Novella):

http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html

Just type in your departure and arrival destinations. Note that dates are logged differently in Europe, many with the day, then month. As is the case here. Hours should be indicated in military time. i.e. 2pm is 1400 hours, thus you would key in 14 for the hour.

Note that some trains are "locals" and will take longer to arrive. Look for the Express trains. They run about 1-1/2 hours from Termini to Florence.

You will find train travel in Italy to be very easy and quite delightful. I am one of many on this site that will tell you, depending on when you are going, it is not really necessary to buy before you arrive in Europe. If you are going to do so, please read all the rules/regulations about changes and refunds.

One final piece of advice. Don't waste your money on "first class" seats. 2nd class is perfectly great, in my opinon. (and others on this board have agreed). Lots of room, outlet plugins for your electronics, tables, hooks for coats/purses, lots of room for luggage. And most Express trains will also have a "food" car. You can get drinks and light fare, such as sandwhiches, etc.

Have a wonderful time! You will absolutely love Italy!

Paula

PS We are going back in April and are landing in Rome at 8am. We are training right to Venice and then winding our way back to Rome later in our trip.

Yes, Pisa is closer but because Rome-Firenze the trains are Eurostar ,the train ride takes about the same time. The advantage could be that Pisa airport has a train terminal right next to the airport (is connected by a covered walkway) and has 5 trains a day from that station directly to Florence. http://www.pisa-airport.com/aeroporto_di_pisa_221.html

However, as far as I know there are no nonstop from Chicago to Pisa, I know there are from NY.

I've also flown the direct Delta flight from JFK/NYC to Pisa. In my experience, the direct flights from JFK to Pisa do not run all year and when it was in operation, it only flew four times a week.

The train ride from Pisa Airport to Florence takes about 1 hour 20 minutes. The Pisa Airport is small so it is quick and easy to buy a train ticket just outside baggage claim, and then walk to the other end of the airport where the train is waiting. This train is an R train, making local stops with a cost per ticket of about 7 euros. Certainly this is almost the same amount of time a the Rome-Florence train, but you won't have the additional time of dealing with the Leonardo Express from FCO to Rome.

Steve: Why don't you tell us what is your departure city and your preferred airline, if any.

I have done the NA-Rome flight, with a connection in Paris, taking the Leonardo Express from FCO to Termini and then a Eurostar connection to Florence.

It was no big deal -- but I arrived at FCO fairly early in the day.

Had I arrived later, when jetlag was REALLY kicking in, I might have been less happy to run for a train....

If you want to fly direct to Florence, I know you can fly direct from Amsterdam, as I have flown this route on KLM.

Oh, silly me.
I just re-read your title -- you are leaving from Chicago. Well, that confirms my inference that you are not likely able to fly to Florence (or Pisa) direct.
OTOH you could certainly fly to Amsterdam or other European city with direct flights to Florence.
The following connections to Florence are available:

Stuttgart [begins 28 March]
Air France operated by Cityjet Paris-Charles de Gaulle
Air France operated by Brit Air Lyon
Alitalia Rome-Fiumicino
Austrian Airlines operated by Tyrolean Airways Vienna
Baboo Geneva
Belle Air Tirana
Blue Air Bucharest-Aurel Vlaicu [begins 29 March]
Brussels Airlines Brussels
Carpatair Timişoara
Cimber Air Copenhagen
Elbafly Elba
Lufthansa Regional operated by Air Dolomiti Munich
Lufthansa Regional operated by Augsburg Airways Munich
Lufthansa Regional operated by Lufthansa CityLine Frankfurt
Meridiana Amsterdam, Barcelona, Cagliari, Catania, London-Gatwick, Madrid
Swiss International Air Lines operated by Swiss European Air Lines Zurich

Pisa would be closer/faster as Rome requires transfer from FCO to Termini and Termini/Florence.

Rome has added a new shuttle bus from the airport to Termini.
http://www.sitbusshuttle.it/

Pisa also has a shuttle bus. In the past it only served the budget airlines (proof was required such as boarding pass), but I think this is no longer the case and anyone can book.
http://www.terravision.eu/

Oddly enough, I find some cheap fares into Bologna which isn't too far from Florence.

Thanks to everyone, our itinerary will be Florence (5 nights); Sienna (2 nights); then Rome 3 nights and return to Chicago. We've only been to Europe once before: Spain in 2006. I'll post some more questions and hope for your replies. Thanks again.

Not to upset the plans, but have you thought of flying into Venice and staying 3 nights, then stay 4 nights in Florence with a day trip to Sienna instead of 5 in Florence. Then Rome for 3 nights.

It is easy to train from Venice to Florence and then from Florence to Rome.

Would hate for you to miss Venice and 5 days in Florence is a lot of days unless you have plans for everyday.

I didn't want to hit Venice this time. The reason I'd stay in Florence for 7 nights is to do day trips with a rental car after exploring Florence on foot. Would someone clue me in to the ins and outs of renting a vehicle in Italy/Florence.

We'd like to tour the countryside and small towns of Tuscany and Umbria. We're wine lovers so we would definitely hit towns like Montalcino and others you recommend.

The ins and outs of renting a car in Florence is don't (Google ZTL and traffic tickets in Florence). You can't drive in the center of Florence so if you rent a car, you will have to pay to park it somewhere. Parking will cost as much per day as the rental.

I also don't see the point of switching from staying in Florence to staying in Siena as they are only one hour apart.

If you want to see southern Tuscany and Umbria, stay somewhere like Montepulciano (a bit more central than Montalcino)where you can easily reach those areas.

Zoom in to better see the restricted areas. Click autovelox to see where the traffic cameras are that take the picture of your license plate so they can send you the ticket.
http://news.comune.fi.it/muoversi/se...ervizi=Servizi

You can rent a car in Florence and depart the city fairly easily--you will be given good directions and if followed, no problems with ZTL or anything else (except a different kind of traffic). Coming back to Florence is the problem, as outlined by others--ZTL, traffic, one ways and parking--not recommended.

If you want to tour the countryside of small towns in Umbria and Tuscany, its best to plan overnights in a single spot closer to your objective--towns or wine or whatever. Maybe 2/3 nights in Montepulciano which is convenient by car to parts of Umbria as well as southern Tuscany. Cars are a great asset in these areas and not much of a problem to park. Don't miss Montalcino if you are "wine lovers" !
Good luck. Paul

steve,

there was another thread on here a few days ago suggesting that one rent a car at the airport in Florence. Since it is outside the city restricted zones, no worry about driving in forbidden areas. I understand it is quite easy to get out to the airport, too.

I also suggest you spend a couple of nights in either Montepulciano or Pienza. Many, many day trips can be done from that base.

Please do a search on this site for these cities, "car rental Tuscany", etc. I know I've seen some good advice fairly recently here about renting cars in small towns.

Good luck!

Just don't plan to drive in and out of Florence. It was never fun, but with the restrictions, it has become a nightmare.

You can do daytrips from Florence by train or bus, or just move to a smaller town in southern Tuscany, as advised above. Montepulciano isn't my favorite but many people like it. I like Pienza (it smells so good) and especially like San Quirico d'Orcia.

I like Pienza also. Nice and flat with great views, easy to drive in and out for day trips, but Montepulicano is a bit bigger if you want more restaurant choice.

Thanks again for all the great replies & info. I'm still flexible as to where we go. I'd prefer not to rent a vehicle if I knew I could get to small towns easily by bus and train. I've got Fodors books on Tuscany & Rome which are starting to help orient me.

Although I want to see Sienna, maybe a day trip is the way to go rather than staying there because it's close to Florence.


Montepulciano sounds like a good town to stay in on the way back from Florence to Rome. Is it a good town to connect by train from Florence to Rome?

Again, I appreciate the time and advice you've given me.

If you are starting in Florence and ending in Rome, I suggest flying into Florence and then home from Rome. Check kayak.com using the multi-city tool for flight options.

If not renting a car, Montepulciano as a base will be difficult. You can train to Chiusi and then take a bus from there to Montepulciano. Buses to other towns in the area from Montepulciano are limited, so careful planning and flexibility are needed. A car works best. Chiusi would be your nearest town to continue to Rome by train.

Without a car, I'd go with original idea of spending the 2 nights in Siena. 2 nights is not much time to just explore Siena. If you feel you need it, there are buses from Siena to some nearby small towns. Siena is probably the best base for exploring small towns in the area without a car. Florence is also a good base for exploring some small towns.

From Siena to Rome I suggest the bus rather than the train. It's direct and easy.