Does anyone know? I've looked on a couple of sites and get wildly varying prices. TrenItalia says 65 E each way. Another site said 28. I'm planning a trip to Florence in March and wondering if it's cheaper to fly into Rome and take the train, or fly straight to Florence or Pisa. Pisa seems to be the cheapest so far.

Thanks for your help!

There are many trains a day (probably 3-4 per hour) and some are fast, some slow regional ones. That accounts for the difference. I just took a train today from Bologna to Roma (Florence is between them). I paid 58 E and it took two hours. I could have paid 31 but it would have taken 4 hours. The Trenitalia site is the one you want to use.

Regionale (R) train (4 hours): 16.95 Euros. NOTE: UNRESERVED seats (not an issue). Train originates in Rome and terminates in Florence. These regionale trains make over a dozen stops.

Intercity (IC) train (3 hours): 28 Euros. NOTE: most IC trains arrive at and depart from Firenze RIFREDI station, where you must connect to a local train to or from Firenze Santa Maria Novella (SMN) Station. A couple of IC trains at inconvenient hours go directly to and depart directly from SMN Station. Look at the schedules carefully. Dont' get confused!! These IC trains make a couple of stops.

High-Speed train (Frecciarossa or Frecciargento) (95 minutes): 44 Euros. NOTE: a few high-speed trains go to and depart from Firenze Campo di Marte Station. Be careful in selecting the train!!! These trains go nonstop along the new high-speed rail line.

NOTE: all prices above are for SECOND class seats. First class is really not necessary.

www.ferroviedellostato.it

Thank you! I'm finding that flying Boston to Pisa will be my best bet. I'm sure I can figure out how to get from Pisa airport to Florence (bus), but any tips would be appreciated.

Well, there's always the train

Seriously, it doesn't take long. Same info applies if you are going to use Trenitalia.

You can either take the train from the Pisa airport to Florence (about 10€ - 1 hour) or try the Terravision bus (about the same price and time as the train).

http://www.terravision.eu/florence_pisa.html

Opps! Correction. The train is 5.80€ and takes 1:20.

Got my tickets today!! Flying into Pisa, so now I do need to figure out the train or bus. Any opinions on which is easier? I see that the buses leave from the airport. If I take a train do I need to get a train from the airport to the station first?

The bus is 10-20 minutes faster, but costs 10 Euros instead of 5.80 Euros for the train, which is either direct from PSA Airport, or requires a short connection at nearby Pisa Centrale Station. Look up train schedules at www.ferroviedellostato.it

There is a train station at Pisa Airport. You walk out the doors and about 30 steps to the train. The train is convenient but is annoying since you might have to change at Pisa Centrale, the first stop. Even if the train goes direct to Florence, it often waits for about 10 minutes at Pisa Centrale.

The bus arrives in Flornce just opposite the train station, so bus or train are equaly convenient. I'd check which (bus or train) had the next available departure and choose based on that.