The Trenitalia web site shows the Eurostar taking 2 hours 49 minutes and the FS train 3 hours 6 minutes between Venice and Florence. Other than being quicker with less stops what is the differences between the 2 trains? The Eurostar is priced at 39 & 26 Euros for 1st & 2nd class while the FS is priced significantly less at 25 & 18 Euros. Is the Eurostar worth the price difference to save only 17 minutes in time?

I xcan not comment specifically on the Venice to Florence train, but I did take an FS train and then a Eurostar (by mistake) We took the FS from Milan to Venice last summer - it was slower b/c of the frequent stops, and not as upscale as the Eurostar, which we took from Venice to Florence. On the Eurostar, there was a "dining" car with espresso and snacks, which made it nice. My kids definitely preferred the Eurostar, but they also kept asking me when we were staying in a four star hotel! We stayed in 2-stars this trip - Venice is expensive!

They are both FS trains, it's the abb. of "Ferrovie dello Stato" the Italian Train Company's name. You mean the IC (InterCity) train, it's just slower than the ES even from "A" to "B" with no stops. The ES price includes the "seat reservation" but it's optional on the IC, with it the tickets would cost ?28.25/1st, ?21.75/2nd. Regards, Walter

Opps...I see that the euro sign doesn't show up on this board. My ? should be that small sideways triangle. Let me try it again ???.

Meg, depending when one's travelling, one may have to travel standing if one doesn't have a reservation. Thus, to compare prices, you'll have to add 3 Euros to IC prices. Personally, I would travel 2nd class on an Eurostar and 1st class on an IC train (more or less the same confort level), that is, 26 Euros one the Eurostar compared to 28 Euros on the IC. Once the price, for practical purposes, is the same, what determines which train to take is the train schedule.