Fly into Rome or Florence?
 

Will be traveling to Italy in the spring and will split time between Rome and Florence. Will take the train between the two, but will fly in and out of same city. Would you rather fly into and out of Rome or Florence?

Why do you want to fly into and out of the same city?

Multi city options when booking your flight is about the same cost and saves backtracking. AKA open-jaw flights.

Beyond the point made above regarding open-jaw flights, it also depends on where you're coming from and going to. Too little information given to say.

Who knows? You have to check what kind of flights are available. Rome/Rome try to get one arriving earlier to the day. You take the train to Termini, then the 1.5 hour ride to Florence.

We don't know where you are coming from; we don't know which carriers are acceptable to you; we don't know the impact of arrival and departure time; and we don't know what you are doing after you are on the ground.

You only have four options for flights:
1. Rome-Rome
2. Florence-Florence
3. Rome-Florence
4. Florence-Rome

Plug them into your favorite booking sites. Do you like the carriers? Layover consideration? Arrival time? Departure time? The price? Where in the planes can you get seats? What can you do once on the ground with each flight arrangement?

Wow everyone is being so rude to this poor poster. I think the poster means would you rather start your trip with Rome or Florence...

I am not sure, but I believe if you fly into or out of Florence you will be flying to a larger hub city in Europe first with a connecting flight. That may not be a problem for you, but I don't like extra flights if not necessary. So you might want to check that out. As far as Rome or Florence first, try to choose Rome when you think you will have the most energy. You will never run out of things to see, do and eat there!!! Hope you have a great trip.

It's probable that Rome is a lot easier to fly in and out of, and that non-stop flights are more likely. All one has to do is check. On the open jaw issue, the proximity of these two cities makes this less of a problem, because you can arrange to land in one and proceed directly to the other, provided you arrive early enough.

As others have mentioned, Rome is a major international airport catering for transcontinental flights. Florence is much smaller and limited AFAIK to smaller aircraft like the 737 or Airbus 320.

So unless you are flying locally from Europe, then you will almost certainly have to change somewhere before landing in Florence and withing Italy that would likely be Rome or Milan.

I would choose the airport with the best connections. If connections are equal in both airports then fly into one and home from the other. Rome is a larger airport so that's the one I would choose to fly into as it will be more relaxing to leave from Florence.

You should also look at Pisa airport since it's international and only an hour from Florence. The train to Florence stops at the Pisa airport.

All other things being equal, and assuming you're going to spend the first part of your trip in the city of arrival: Florence.

I would probably fly into the city I was planning to visit first.

I would not fly into another city "close by" unless doing so offered significant travel (aircraft and seat types) and financial advantages.

This is a trick that i learnt here - if you are flying into and out of the same place, when you arrive go straight to the other place/s you are visiting and end up where you want to fly out of.

eg - if you decide on Rome, when you arrive go immediately to Florence. That way you maximise the amount of time you have in both places, and are as close to the airport as possible when you need to leave. otherwise if you have an early flight out of Rome, you might end up having to split your time there which is a nuisance.

if you can get flights into Pisa, you can get a train straight from Pisa Centrale to Rome and then work your way back via Florence.