Does anyone know how to take a train from Rome to Pisa and return in the same day. For some reason I just can't find a return on raileurope.

Thanks

It can be done with no problem. I just went to trenitalia.com.

It appears that the fastest means is to take the express to Florence and transfer to a second train to Pisa. That keeps the travel time to about 3 hours.

If you are willing to take an extra 30 minutes, it appears there is a single train that will take you from Roma Termini to Pisa.

I checked for an 830 am departure, 4 pm return. No problem -- lots of departures.

You can buy the tkts online for most routings, on trenitalia's site.

That's about 3 hours one way, not round trip. Trenitalia is the Italian train website. RailEurope is a reseller and marks up the prices.

If you do that in one day, you need to be sure that it will be worth it to you. Only you can decide, of course - to some, seeing the leaning tower is a revelation, for others it's just an amusing moment. Get a travel DVD and some picture books and be sure you want to spend all this time and money on such a brief visit to Pisa.

If you do make this trip, I strongly suggest to do it as a trip in the round - by choosing the train line through Florence (where you change trains) going, then choose one of the trains that go down the coast, via Grosseto, on the way back. Late in the afternoon and evening you see lots of scenery from that route, and when the sun is setting, you just might get really lucky.

The fast trains from Rome to Florence all require mandatory seat reservation - it comes automatically with every ticket you buy and is built into the price. However, if you have some kind of train pass, then you need to go and get the seat reservation for your specific train, and pay extra for it.

Most trains between Florence and Pisa Centrale do not require seat reservation - just buy the ticket, validate it (stick it into the yellow box you see near the platform access) and hop on, or if you already have your ticket from Rome, just validate it anyway before boarding.

Most trains from Pisa Centrale via Grosseto to Rome require seat reservations, too. They take just a little longer than the superfast trains via Florence, but you don't have to switch trains en route, and you see different and mostly nicer scenery.

Details at www.ferroviedellostato.it.

Stazione San Rossore in Pisa is closer to the Leaning Tower than Stazione Centrale.

S Rossore station is indeed very close to the Tower (cross the tracks and go out the nondescript gate to the supermarket and then the tower comes into view

S Rossore is on the Pisa Centrale -Lucca sideline - mainline trains on the coastal route mainly blow thru here without stopping - there is about one train an hour i think usually so in theory you could take a train from Pisa Centrale to S Rossore if the timings were correct.

I second Dolly Llama's advice in another thread about doing a rather pleasant walk from Central station over the river and thru the town center to Grandmother's house - oops i mean the Field of Miracles and the Leaning Tower. Advance reservations are imperative on this type of day trip if you want to be able to climb to the top of the Tower.

It's a long and expensive day trip - trains on the coastal route may well be cheaper than the high-speed route via Florence. And as trains go direct Rome to Pisa Cle via Florence you have a change of trains in the hectic Florence station - and most Florence-Pisa trains are rather dumpy and potentially mobbed local trains that seem to take forever. I would advise taking the coastal route for convenience and just as quick about.

"...Stazione San Rossore in Pisa is closer to the Leaning Tower than Stazione Centrale...."
That's a fact, but it means a switch in Pisa Centrale, and usually a long wait (no synchronization of schedules with trains from Rome) - in that time the nice walk through the old town is a better use of one's time.

"... and usually a long wait ..."

According to Trenitalia, the journey from Firenze S.M.N. to Pisa S. Rossore takes 1:18, and the shortest possible journey from Florence S.M.N. to Pisa Centrale takes 1:04.

What am I missing?

There is no need to go to Florence at all. If you take the ICPlus train from Roma Termini to Pisa Centrale, it goes up the coast (not through Florence) through Civitavecchia, Grosseto, Livorno, etc. It takes 3:11 or 3:22 depending on which ICPlus train you take. Pisa S. Rossore would involve changing trains at Pisa Centrale if you travel up the coast. It's only 7-10 minutes further by train or you can catch a bus outside of Centrale. I think it would take longer to go through Florence (Rome to Florence on the fastest trains takes 1:40) since you would have to change trains there.

The ICPlus train up the coast will cost 36€ 1st cl or 27.5€ 2nd cl. The ES train to Florence alone is 51.3€ 1st cl and 36.1€ 2nd cl and then you would still need to buy tickets to for Florence to Pisa.

Jean asks "what am I missing?"

Here's what you're missing:

Trains from Firenze SMN to Pisa S. Rossore first take you to Pisa Centrale (Rossore is on another line, the local line from Pisa to Lucca).

So in Pisa Centrale you have to switch trains and usually the connection is not quick.
Example: Arriving from Firenze at 9:31 means you have to wait til 9:50 for the Rossore train to depart - in those twenty minutes you can walk.
.
What you also are missing is the fact that we are suggesting coming up the coast in the first place, not via Florence.

Direct trains Rome-Pisa, nicer scenery, cheaper price - what's not to like?

So: Don't go via Florence, and don't bother with the local train to Rossore, walk instead.

Thanks, but forgetting for the moment what the OP will/won't do, why does Trenitalia show this as a journey taking 1:18 with no waiting around in Pisa Centrale? I'm not being argumentative. I just want to understand this in case I ever suggest it to someone coming from Florence. The only time I've trained to Pisa just to see the Tower, we arrived at Centrale and left via San Rossore. I thought the walk from Centrale was pretty dull.

Jean, using the usually infallible IME bahn.de Germany Railways timetable service i can find none of the twice hourly Florence S M N to Pisa San Rossore trains goes direct to San Rossore without a change of trains in Pisa Cle. Can you give me the exact departure time so i can check to see what bahn.de site says about that particular train.

But bahn.de shows no direct trains for the 4-hour period i checked anyway.

And scanning bahn.de they show all Florence SMN to Pisa S rossore connections taking exactly the same time 1 h 27 min - with a change at Pisa Centrale on all and about 14 minutes between change of trains.

bahn.de confirms what my impression of this link was but who knows?

Thanks, Palenque. For trains within Italy, I usually only look at Trenitalia. Anyway, all of the following involve a 3-minute connection at Centrale via (as described by Trenitalia) an "underground walkway."

Train #23355 departing at 10:57 a.m.
Train #23357 departing at 11:57 a.m.
Train #23359 departing at 12:57 p.m.
etc.

I checked on Bahn and found the above trains as well as additional trains departing at :27 after the hour. The :27 trains all show a travel time of 1:31. I didn't find the ones you did that show travel time of 1:27.

So, flip a coin I guess.

Jean - well since there are two trains an hour it seems Pisa Centrale to S rossore if you miss the 3 minutes you can just have a cappuccino in the state caffe and take the next one.

the underground passageway is just going down the stairs and over to another track.

At S Rossore it was not obvious at all for me to find the way out - this is a weird station with triangular platforms as two lines split (or merge) here - the main coastal line to La Spezia and the sideline to Lucca - i finally did like others and crossed over the tracks on the far east side of the station (should have used underground passageway) and went out a slit in the cement wall that i saw others using and came to the PAM (i think) supermarket and then could see the Tower and where to head.

Don't like the new format at all. I feel lost in here...hellooooo....anybody out there????

Sorry, this proves it....I posted to the wrong heading!

Palenque, you're probably right about the trains. I think I'd still recommend this station for day trippers from Florence, but I'll be sure to tell people to ask the way to the Tower.

Coming to the station from the Tower was pretty easy, but we were walking along with some Italians we'd met over lunch. They also hadn't used the station before, but they seemed to have inner GPS when it came to finding the way to the platforms. Lucky for us, I guess.

Ciao.