Rome Airport To Florence Via Train
 

We are landing in Rome (FCO) at 6:40 p.m. on Tuesday, April 17th. We want to go straight to Florence from there. Can anyone tell me what train(s) to take to get to Florence and how long it would take. Or should we spend the first night in Rome (by the airport?) and then take the train to Florence the next morning?

Take the Leonardo Express train from FCO to Rome Termini (central station), trip time 30-35 minutes. Then take an Eurostar train to Florence, trip time 1h35 - 1h40.

In both cases there are frequet runs, so you shouldn't have problems. You can also get the tickets in advance, on the Trenitalia website. Remember that tickets for Eurostar trains are for a well-defined seat on a well-defined train, so you'll need to change your tickets if you miss the train you reserved.

Hi T,

The LDV leaves FCO on the :05 and the :35

Train schedules to Florence from Rome TE are at www.trenitalia.com.

Leave yourself about 3 hr from the time you are scheduled to land to when your ES* leaves Rome.

((I))

Since you are arriving at 6:40 pm, I'm having second thoughts about the fact that the best option might be to sleep in Rome and then go to Florence the next morning.

I don't think you'll be able to leave the airport before 7:30 pm, so your choice is limited to only two trains to Florence: one at 8:30 pm and one at 9:45 pm. In both cases you'll end up being in Florence pretty late.

I'd choose arriving late in Florence over losing a half day to travel on Wednesday and having to check into two hotels within 12-18 hours.

TerryLFred,
I agree with Jean but in any case would not spend the first night at the airport with Rome only a half hour away.

Henry

Hi TerryLFred, if you do decide to travel onto Florence after arriving in Rome make sure the hotel where you have reservations in Florence has a deskclerk 24/7 so that you can get your room when you arrive there. Best regards.

Go the same night, call the hotel in Florence to confirm your late arrival, you won't be the first or the last to get in late.

Figure out if you can walk from the Florence station (the principal one near the "old town" - called SMN as in Santa Maria Novella. Many hotels are walkable, while taxis have to go the long way around because of the one-way systems etc.

Thanks everyone for your input. I think we will take the train to Florence the evening we get in, even if we get to Florence late. We'd rather not have to take the extra time to check in and out of a hotel for just the one night.

TLF, neither would I. One thing in your favor is that the express from FCO to Termini in Rome now arrives in the main part of the station, rather than on an out of the way platform, as it used to. This will make transferring trains much easier.

Do check the schedules on Trenitalia.com, and when you are in the train station at FCO, the counter person will help you buy your tickets for Termini>SMN. I usually take a print out of the possible trains I'd like from Termini, just in case my lousy Italian isn't working after a long flight.

Hey, thank you to everyone who responded, as we'll be having the exact same problem (getting in at 6:45pm and needing to get to Florence). This information was most helpful, as by the time we can catch the train we'll have been travelling for 24 hours...

If I understand correctly, we shouldn't even hope to depart for Florence before 9:30pm?

It would cost us $465 extra to have use of our villa outside Florence on the 10th, as our term starts the 11th, so we opted for a B&B near the Florence station to crash at that night, then go out to the villa the next day (which saves us nearly $300). And yes, we're waiting to hear back regarding ones with a 24-hour desk clerk...good point!

Cupid,

If arriving at 6:45pm, it is possible that you could make the earlier 8:30pm train mentioned, depending on if your flight is on time, if your luggage appears quickly (could go either way at FCO), if you just miss the Leonardo Express from FCO to Rome . . . In any case, you will know when you buy your ticket for the Leonardo Express what train you can connect with in Rome, so buy the Rome-Florence ticket at the FCO station as well.

I have a similar question to TerryLFred. Also landing at Rome FCO--Fri. April 27, at 4:10 PM-- and want to go directly to Florence. The language school that I'll be attending sent info that says there is a "special train for Florence that leaves directly from the airport." I have searched the trenitalia web site for hours (and others), but can find no info on this. Does anybody know anything about such a direct train?

Years ago there was a special train fro FCO to Florence, but no longer. (unless this is new?)

There is also the option of arranging for a driver pick up at the airport.

It is costlier than the Leonardo express, but you would have a driver waiting at the customs exit to take you immediately to Termini station.

If there are just 2 of you this would be about an extra 25 euro or so.
(with a service like http://www.romashuttle.com/ for example.

Ellenem: thank you so much for clearing this up... the school's info about this direct train is outdated, it seems. Thanks also to all the others responding to the original question from TerryLFred, as they all have such useful info.

eelliott--very outdated, since I don't remember hearing of the FCO-Florence train for more than 10 years!

Same situation, though we are arriving at 930 am on a Friday. Do we need to reserve the Eurostar from Rome to Florence in advance? Or just show up and get a ticket? Thanks!

Hi B,

Schedules are at www.trenitalia.com.

There are no discounted fares for this route, so you might as well get your ticket to Florence at the FCO station when you buy your ticket to Rome TE.

((I))

Some feedback from our experience. (I had threadjacked a couple threads about reserving trains from Rome to Florence). We did not reserve the Eurostar from Rome to Florence. We were not able to get tickets for the next available train (after our arrival at Termini), but had to wait for the one after that. Not a huge inconvenience, but something to consider if on a schedule. Please note, though, that there were 6 of us, which may have been a factor. We did have the option of going 1st class and taking the earlier train (but we decided to wait).