Does anyone know how long the train ride is from Florence to Venice?

It will vary depending on route and class of train -- roughly 4 to six hours.

Our trip took about 3 1/2 hours fropm Santa Maria Novella station. It was not a Eurostar, but neither was it a local. The pinted timetable should tell you.

Most of the trains are now ES (EuroStar Italia) trains that take about 2.5 hours now, with the opening of the new high-speed rail line between Florence and Bologna. IC (InterCity) trains take longer and typically most do not serve the city centre Florence SMN (Santa Maria Novella) station but go from suburban stations you must take shuttle trains to - ditto for some in Venice - having to get off in Mestre and taking a shuttle train to the at-the-canal Santa Lucia Venice station. IC trains can be considerably cheaper however IME.

www.trenitalia.com for schedules

BEGINNING 12/13/2009, there will be HOURLY Eurostar-AV trains from Florence to Venice, taking 2 hours, 03 minutes. Second class fare will be 42 Euros (discountable by 15% or 30% with a 7-day or 15-day advance purchase, repectively).

I repeat: travel time by AV train will be 2 hours, 03 minutes beginning on 12/13/2009.

GAC - Thank you. This is great information.

Happy Holidays!!!!

here is a great site for trains in Europe.
http://www.bahn.de/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml

The website for the Italian train company.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...0080a3e90aRCRD

The train station St Maria Novella and Rifredi are very close one to the other, you can go by train from one to the other. Or simply pay a little more for a taxi to your hotel, last November we got off at Rifredi and our taxi fare was exactly 14 eu versus the 10 we paid when coming back between the same hotel and St Maria Novella.
Compare fares, Intercity Trains are a little more slowly but good options in many cases.

GAC

Is there a website where I can buy train tickets on the eurostar from Florence to Venice?

thanks.
dpranck

The site mentioned by kybourbon is the official site. Warning: Holders of U.S. credit cards usually find it impossible to make a purchase.

Oh okay. Good to know. I guess we will purchase the tickets in Florence. We are traveling on a Wednesday to Venice so I am sure there will not be a problem.

Thanks

Actually I was looking for the eurostar-italia site. The site mentioned by kybourbon is the trenitalia site. Perhaps it is the same page I am not sure but I wanted to get an idea of the schedule and it kept telling me I had an incorrect date.

Kybourbon is correct - trenitalia is the site you need for Italian train travel. At Santa Maria Novella there are ticket machines which are very user friendly. The first screen gives language options and from there just follow the prompts. Very easy and we found it quicker than the queues at the ticket office.

I would choose the fastest train available when you want to go, the slower trains are cheaper but I'd rather pay a bit more and get there sooner.

>>it kept telling me I had an incorrect date.<<

Yes, it would if you are entering a date after June 13, 2010. The schedules don't change much, so use the current schedule for planning.

Are you using the European date system? Day/month/year.

Perhaps you are confused by the terminology. Eurostar in Italy (denoted ES on the website) is a level of train service within the Italian system, and is often confused with the Eurostar between London and Paris, a particular train.

Once choose departing Florence and arriving Venice and a date, the Trenitalia site will give all train options (AV, ES, IC, R) that run that route. it's up to choose which works best for you based on time and price.

Trenitalia is the Italian rail company. Other companies that sell train tickets for Italy are mostly resellers and markup the price.

As for the date, you can't price fast trains more than four months in advance. If it's a route that has R trains, you won't be able to price it unless you enter a date within 7 days.

Schedules for summer/fall won't be put on the website until late spring so you can't search those yet (mid-June on). Schedules usually don't change much so just look at the same day of week you intend to travel to see what the schedules/prices will probably be.

Not sure that it matters, but what I meant to type was "Once you choose departing Florence and arriving Venice and a date, the Trenitalia site will give all train options (AV, ES, IC, R) that run that route. It's up to you to choose which actual train works best for you based on time and price."

Thank you to all!!! Maybe there was a glitch regarding the site because the date I put in was 24 Februry 2010. Anyway, all of you made it much clearer for me and I really appreciate it. I have been to Italy a number of times but for some reason the train system always confuses me.

Happy New Year to all!

For someone using a US credit card and not speaking Italian, is it better to buy Florence-to-Venice train tickets at the AmEx Office, a travel bureau, or at the train station? Is there/how much is the mark-up in price at AmEx or a Travel Bureau?