saq

We are flying into Rome on Friday March 17, 2006 and need to get to Florence early that morning. We want to leave Florence the next day late afternoon to go to Positano. What would be the best and fastest options? We are traveling in a group of 6 adults.

sandi_travelnut

I would take the train, unless you are wanting to rent a car. Have you discussed this with the group?

SusanMargaret

Not sure about the sequence of travel. Do you have to be in Florence on the 17th? It would be a much easier trip to go directly from Rome to Positano.

sandi_travelnut

Rome to Florence is only about 2.5 hours via train.

tcreath

Definitely take the train. As mentioned above, its only about a 2.5 hour train ride and trains leave Rome Termini for Florence very frequently.

I've never been to Positano, but you could take the train from Florence to Naples (from what I see on trenitalia.com) its about a 3.5 to 4 hour train ride), take the Circumvesuviana to Sorrento and then bus or taxi from Sorrento to Positano.

Tracy

tcreath

Sorry, the first half of my response was in regards to the "Rome to Florence" question.

Tracy

Eloise

Actually, the train from Roma Termini to Florence takes 1.5 hours. But you have to get to Termini first...

tcreath

Eloise, you are right. I forgot what the actual time was (we did this early last year), and I didn't bother to check. I did know that it wasn't that long and that the trains were very frequent. Thanks for the correction!

Tracy

sandi_travelnut

I guess it depends on which train you take as the schedule I saw showed anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 hours.

jabez

Make sure and check the Eurostar schedule, but how early do you fly in?
To get to Florence early,will not be all that easy.
You will need to go through customs, go to Termini and get a train that fits your arrival time.

ira

Hi saq,

First, I suggest that you fly into Naples take the bus from the airport to Sorrento and the SITA bus to Positano.

You could also hire a limo from NAP to Positano.

From Positano you can get to Florence either by the reverse trip to Naples Centrale and the train
or
Take the ferry to Salerno and the train to Florence (more scenic).

If you must fly into Rome, you take the train from FCO to Rome TE and then the train to Florence SMN.

Allow about 3.5 hr from the time you are scheduled to land to get to Rome TE.

Do you really want to go through this schlepping just to spend a day in Florence?

Train schedules are at www.trenitalia.com

Ferry schedules are at
http://www.salernocity.com/comune/tr...i/costiera.asp

saq

Thank you all for your advice. We are trying to make the most out of a short visit to Rome and figured if we went to Flrence first and then back tracked??? WE have a Villa in Positano for the week of March 18th to 25th. So we thought since we had no lodging planned the first night we could head to Florence. I assume it is worht seeing if only for 2 short afternoons?

ira

Hi S,

>We are trying to make the most out of a short visit to Rome ...<

Are you visiting Rome or Florence or both?

How long is this trip?

With 6 people, the fewer changes the better.

Eloise

With only one night, I would suggest that you stay in Rome.

It will be early afternoon by the time you get to Florence on the first day, and leaving Florence in "late" afternoon the next day will get you into Naples at about 9:30 p.m. (it's 4.5 hours by train from Florence). At that point, the only way to get to Positano will be by private driver and van. That will take roughly an hour. So you arrive in Positano at 10:30 p.m., too late to eat dinner.

It just doesn't seem worth the hassle.