Hello,

I will fly home from Rome. My flight departure in Rome FCO airport is at noon. I would need to come from Florence S.M.N.by train that morning. Anyone knows which arrival train station in Rome is closest to FCO airport? Also do you think it's too tight to get to Rome from Florence in the morning to catch the flight at noon? Thanks!

The earliest connection from Firenze to FCO leaves at 6:50 and arrives at 9:22 (with one change of trains) which might be a bit too tight for a transatlantic flight with additional security checks. And if the train is delayed and you miss your connection you get get in trouble. You are on the safe side if you spend the night before you fly near the airport.

In Rome, Termini station has an excellent connection to FCO (32 min, train leaves every 30 minutes).

You can also stay overnight in Fiumicino itsself which is a charming little town. There are many hotels, the beach and the riverfront with nice little restaurants.

Thank you for your quick response and good suggestion! I checked Trenitalia.com. Is this the one I should take (ignore the time). And then I need to take another train from Termini to FCO?


10:04 Firenze S. M. Novella
Arrival
11:35 Roma Termini
Duration
01:31

This would be the train to Termini if you want to stay overnight in a hotel near the train station. The next morning you take the train from Termini to FCO (32 min).

Or you take a direct train from Firenze to Fiumicino and stay there overnight.

Just look at the www.trenitalia.com for the trains mentioned by traveller1959. They are:

Florence-Termini 06:50-08:35 Frecciarossa 9501
Termini-Airport 08:50-09:22 Leonardo Express 3256

This is the earliest you can get to FCO without using a night train.
You will not be at your check-in area until about 9:30am, if you can get there that quickly. That is 2.5 hrs before your flight. If you are going back to the U.S., the return process is extremely time consuming as well as unpredictable due to changing security environment. If you are laying over at other Schengen airport before your final flight back (to U.S.?), then 2.5 hrs is ok provided your trains run as scheduled. Since you have no margin of error, things like these http://www.summerinitaly.com/planning/strike.asp will royally impact your trip.

I would do something like this in Switzerland but not in Italy.

AnnPA-

This looks like there is a direct train from Firenze SMN to Fiumicino: http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom/Infor...Roma-Fiumicino


If I'm reading this right, the direct train (that is, no change) leaves Florence at 7:38 a.m. and arrives at Fiumicino 9:52.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms-file/a...micino_new.pdf

That's tight to catch a noon flight, but it's probably doable if you like to live dangerously.

I fear missing flights so would never stay in Florence if I had a noon flight from Rome, so if it were my trip, I'd follow traveler's advice and spend the nite before in Rome or in Fiumnicino or somewhere around there. Ostia Antica is very close to Fiumicino and a very interesting place if you're into archaeology at all.http://wikitravel.org/en/Ostia

Once you arrive by train at FCO, you have to trek from the train station to the terminal. At the terminal, you have to catch a bus (FYI - they can be packed and you might have to wait for the next one) to reach check in area (assuming you are departing T5 - about 1,000 meters from the main terminals). Once you you've completed check-in, security, etc. you must board another bus to get to the actual departure area.

If you were to take a taxi from Rome Termini to FCO, they can drop you at T5 check-in (be sure to tell them so you aren't dropped at the other terminals which are close together). Whether a taxi would save time would depend on traffic (set fee official taxi - 48€ for four people including luggage).

I'm sorry, but for a noon flight to the States from FCO . . . One should stay the night in Rome or near FCO. A train in from Florence for a morning or noon flight is not a good idea.

I agree with janisj - always stay near your departure airport if you have a non-changeable ticket or steep change fees - Italy is notorious for train strikes - spend the night in a hotel near Termini or at the airport - come to Rome early in the day and spend a lovely day there. But IME ALWAYS be in or near your departure city and or airport.

Thank you everyone! I will take your advice of staying overnight in Rome and Fiumicino is a great idea. I'm trying to search the ticket for what dwdvagamundo suggested - the direct train leaves Florence and arrives at Fiumicino. What destination should I put there? It doesn't accept Roma Fiumicino.

I can't read the content in Italian and when I change to English, it goes to the search page.

If you are changing overnight in Rome or Fiumicino, then a even better question is what are you doing before Florence?

If your itinerary include Rome before Florence, something like this:

..somewhere..
Rome few days
..somewhere..
Florence few days
Rome overnight

then if you can convert to
..somewhere..
..more somewhere..
Florence few days
Rome few days

then you have eliminated one full check-in out cycle (in ROme) from your trip. This almost always save time and money, unless you are locked into non changeable apartment bookings.

Rome is my last stop and the departure city. I've booked lodging in Florence. I will need to cancel one night and stay in Rome instead.

Should I buy the train tickets ahead of time? My trip is in Oct.

Yes, you should book Florence >> Rome in advance.

Termini is a pretty ragged station in a ragged part of Rome.

>>>I'm trying to search the ticket for what dwdvagamundo suggested - the direct train leaves Florence and arrives at Fiumicino. What destination should I put there? It doesn't accept Roma Fiumicino. <<<

Fiumicino is a city outside of Rome. The airport is not in Rome, it's outside of Fiumicino. There are only 3-4 of those non-stop trains from Florence to FCO per day. I would not spend the night in Fiumicino. Take a train to Rome. Spend the night in Rome and enjoy it.

Thanks kybourbon. So I will arrive in Termini or Tiburtina by train and stay overnight somewhere in Rome. Does the train ticket price on Trenitalia change? Just wonder if I should buy it now rather than after I get there....

You can save a lot by buying your train tickets NOW - you can always buy full-price tickets - so so many trains once there. But www.trenitalia.com or http://www.italotreno.it/en - latter a competitor to Trenitalia the State-owned railway. Check both sites for fares and to get the limited in number discounted tickets - from 9 euros up - book as early as possible. trenitalia.com is very flummoxing or can be for novice users - there have been tons of perplexed folks asking how to make it work (for Americans) - but kybourbon and others have proven to be able to solve most of the problems if you post your problems - bourbon has literally saved many Fodorites tons of money over the years IME and patiently walks you thru it if need be.

But those discounted tickets I think are non-changeable non-refundable so be sure of your dates and time - and yes get to Rome the day before your plane leaves - peace of mind is priceless.

For lots of great stuff on Italian trains check www.seat61.com - great info on discounted tickets; for general info www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

If you really want to be flexible to buy tickets once there and are in no hurry to get to Rome you can take the regional trains that have a flat dirt-cheap fare probably much cheaper even than the cheapest discounted ticket you can find but takes 2-3 times as long - a couple of hours - I've taken these milk trains that stop at every little station but I kind of like that - rather than a bullet train avoiding all cities - regional tickets just buy the day of the train for a handful of euros.

>>>Does the train ticket price on Trenitalia change? <<<

The base price doesn't change for Frecce or IC trains (that is the full fare). The advance purchase discount tickets can sell out (SuperEconomy, Economy). Prices on regional trains won't change as they have no discounts. The Leonardo Express train (which is a regional train) is 14€ from Rome Termini to FCO (makes no stops). The local FR1 train from Tiburtina to FCO is 8€ (makes a lot of stops).

Tiburtina is further from the center of Rome, but is on Rome's subway (1.50€). It's also a major bus hub.

Thank you all for your help!