jonboy604

We are four seniors arriving in Italy late on Sept 30 and staying overnight at an airport hotel. We wish on Oct 1 to go directly to Florence. We have checked the trip via train into Rome and then up to Florence but think that is a bit much for us. Does anyone know of a transport company that can pick us up at 9am on 1 Oct and take us to our B&B in Florence at a reasonable cost? Many thanks.

michelhuebeli

I think you'll be much happier taking a limo from the airport hotel to the Roma Termini station and then a train to Florence. More legroom, you can stand up and stretch, have a coffee or whatever the cart offers as they come through (or consume whatever you chose to bring on board).

You'll have reserved seats, two and two facing each other if that's how you book it - and the train goes faster than a car. You'll be there in 91 minutes! With a bit of luck you'll get one of those cheap advance discounts - take a look at www.trenitalia.com

It's a half hour from the airport to Termini - sharing a limo among the four of you won't break the bank.

Dukey1

Define "a bit much"..might be helpful. If you DID go all the way by rail there is some walking involved at the airport to get to the train station for the Leonardo Express so you might be better off taking either a taxi or a limo to Termini as was advised above.

You can buy your train tickets in advance on line using the site above OR by using www.italiarail.com which is somewhat less problematic than the Trenitalia site.

The issue is going to be deciding which train to take given your lag time between airport arrival and train departure. But buying ahead of time gives you the advantage of better train fares.

You could wait and buy the tickets from one of the machines at Termini; whatever you do do not spend time in what can be rather LONG lines for the ticket windows. The machines have an English language option, are easy to understand, and no you do not need "help" from one of those friendly people who might rush up and try to lend a hand and get money from you for doing so.

Now, if all these options fit into your "a bit much" definition AND cost is no object then go ahead and book a private transfer.

greg

You already have gotten many responses to the same item at http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...o-florence.cfm.
If you don't know how to retrieve previously posted items, just click your name just below the title of this thread "Travel from Rome \Airport to Florence." It lists all your previous postings.

michelhuebeli

Quote earlier post: "The issue is going to be deciding which train to take given your lag time between airport arrival and train departure"

Not so, since OP stays overnight near the airport, plenty of time to organize a limo for the trip to the Termini station the next day in good time for whatever train they book.

jonboy604

Many thanks for the advice. We are going to limo to train station and do that with enough time to catch reserved train. Question....is it easy to take our luggage on board the train?

michelhuebeli

If you don't have excessive luggage - too many pieces and too heavy - then it is not hard. Porters are a thing of the past, so keep it at a minimum. Carriages have space underneath the "triangles" formed by the seatbacks, and often there is a rack at the end or both ends. If you can roll them around and heave them up, you win.