Rome to Florance
 

Read a couple of books but cannot figure out the train travel time between the two cities.

I've driven it and taken the train. It's no more than a couple of hours. I believe the train I took had only one stop. Parking in Florence is a nightmare unless you have a hotel that has parking.

Thank you, please read my message #9, any advice

Here is a link to check for train info.

http://www.trenitalia.com/home/en/index.htm

About 4 hours.

The Eurostar train takes 1 hour and 35 minutes. Even the slower train takes only a little more than 2 hours.