Which Night in Florence?

Are you spending one night in Florence or just going there for dinner and back?

If you go just for dinner, any day works. The last train back to Rome departs at 10:08pm.
If you stay there all day and want to see museums and shop, then Sunday and Monday are not good days since some places are closed on those days.

spend the time in the town you are in. Florence needs a couple of days. a single day would be suicidal. get lost in the city you are om and get to know the locals

Re-read your post. Don't do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you will spend all of your day on the train. Get lost in Roma. Go to a museum in Rome or spend the day at the forum. So much to do in Rome. No need to spend the day on the train. Plan on going back to Florence for a vacation

Oh dear. We'll revisit our thought process then. We just figured that a 90-minute train ride in the morning, see the Duomo and the David, stay the night, and 90-minutes back to Rome the next morning. Crazy though? Thanks so much for the feedback. I opened an account on this forum just today to ask this question. I'm glad I did! <3

It isn't crazy, only I do not understand why you want to spend the night in Florence, pay two hotels for the same night and have some luggage to deal with. When you are over with your visit, take a train to Rome and spend the night there. Yes, one day is too little for Florence but better then nothing. You are taking away from Rome a day, but it is your choice. Trains between Rome and Florence are not cheap but are so fast that I have several times left Florence in the early morning, had a business meeting in Rome and then back to Florence in time for lunch, so a day trip is not impossible at all.

I'm going to offer a different approach. A few years ago I was with my then-teenaged daughter in Italy for about ten days. After a few days in Florence, we went to Rome for the last three days of our trip. The evening of the second day, daughter broke down sobbing. Finally, she confessed, "I want to go back to Florence!!!" The next morning, we got on the first fast train from Rome to Florence and spent an absolutely beautiful, magical day... nevermind that it was a cool, rainy day in November. We took the last train that evening back to Rome, after sharing the best day of our trip together. Thus, I strongly support your idea of a 24-hour family day/night quick trip to Florence. With fast trains getting you city center to city center in under 2 hours, it's not only doable, it's practical and could likely be a fabulous day/night!

Our first visit to Florence was two nights and we hated it; the hassle of logistics didn't outweigh the pleasure of the city. We later spent two months and loved every moment. I think Florence with its incredibly depth of artistic treasures is wonderful but it needs a few days. You don't have much time in Rome. I'd be sure to do Ostia Antica and perhaps Tivoli and Villa Adriana from there and really enjoy Rome. But if you do make a day trip to Florence, then get tickets ahead for the Academia and perhaps the Uffizi and arrive early and leave fairly late the second day. Be sure to get to Piazzale Michelangelo for the great view of the city (and San Miniato, a small church up the hill behind the plaza) The 12 and 13 bus will get you there (they run opposite directions.) And the walk back down to the city is pleasant.

For a short trip you cannot do much -- a couple of things to consider including: San Marco the monastery where Savanarola reigned -- Fra Angelico painted little frescoes in the monk's cells -- it is a charming place open usually only mornings. The Brancacci Chapel is IMHO the best thing in Florence -- where the Renaissance began with Masaccio's painting. Too much for two days -- but if you make the trip, give yourself as much of two days as you can. Another short visit that is different and interesting is Palazzo Davanzati a much restored Renaissance home.

I've done that before but from Siena. It was an hour on the bus each way. Not much shorter then a high speed train from Roma. Go for it if you want to see Florence in one day. Just don't go on Monday as the Accedemia and Uffizi are closed on that day.

If you do go for a day, i'd do maybe one those half day tours to take you to the sights then whatever you want with your free time after a couple hour tour. We did this one with Walks of Italy and loved our guide. We saw enough paintings on the trip already that we didn't want to do the Uffizi so we chose this one https://www.walksofitaly.com/florence-tours/florence-walking-tour-david. They do have others on their page for Florence you can check out.