Florence for a day?

Depends on how ambitious and energetic you are. I did a long daytrip from Rome to Florence in December. Decided that wasn't enough so I went back to Florence the following year for several days.

If you are primarily interested in seeing David and the Uffizi, and maybe squeezing in one other sight, then sure--day trip it. If you want to see more than that, you'll probably need two or three days. I'm not sure it's too beneficial to stay over for only one night, because that means you'll spend extra time checking in and out, packing/unpacking, and finding the hotel. Since you'd spend most of your extra overnight time sleeping, it doesn't really give you much of a net gain.

In one long day, we: caught the Eurostar Italia at 6:30am, arrived in Florence around 8:30am. Saw Santa Maria Novella, the Duomo, had lunch, had a private guided tour of the Uffizi, headed over to see David. We would've gone over to the San Marco as well, but it was already closed. Had dinner, and headed back to the train station around 8pm, I believe. Train was late, so it was about 11 by the time we made it back to Rome.

Keep in mind, end of June is going to be a good deal more crowded and hot than early December was. You may not be able to cover this much ground. Alternatively, you may be able to move through the Uffizi faster than we did if you do it on your own.

Some travelers on this forum have "done Florence" as a day trip from Rome. My personal preference is that Florence is worth more than part of a day.So yes, it's done--what makes it feasible at all is making sure you get the fastest trains to minimize your travel time, you'll have to pay extra for these. And don't go on a Monday because the biggies are closed Mondays.And you need to be very organized, for example, if you go to the Uffizi, have a reservation to eliminate time standing in line. You ask if you're better off staying overnight for one night: yes, of course, that would buy you an evening and most of the 2nd day that you wouldn't have if you did it as a day trip. The average time given to Florence by travelers reporting in here--of those travelers that spend time in Florence--seems to be about 2 full days, with the range being 1 day to 3 days.

Thanks Liz and Kent,

I am mainly interested in seeing David and the Uffizi and possibly the Duomo. I am hesitant to tote my luggage around for 1 night which is why I was asking if it is possible to do this in 1 day.

The bottom line (from the above posts) is: yes, it's possible, but you should be aware of how much of it you won't be able to see in just a partial day.

Okay. Thanks Kent. I will definitely consider this. Appreciate your help.

Agreed with Kent. If you only want to see David, Uffizi, and the Duomo, a daytrip is a better option than relocating. There's plenty more to see in Florence, but not everyone is interested and you can always go back later like I did.

I would definitely make reservations for both David and the Uffizi, ASAP, however. Your day will be ruined if you get stuck in a long line. Also, the inside of the Duomo is fairly plain compared to the outside, so if you find yourself tight on time, walk by and don't go in.

One other tip--have a map with you. We got slightly lost going from the Uffizi to the Accademia and while Florence is a compact, walkable city, it can also be a confusing one!

Thanks Liz. I will definitely be getting maps for this trip. I have actually found a day tour from Rome to Florence that includes transport, entrance into the Accademia, Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, lunch and a couple of other stops. May be an option for me.

We're doing Florence in a day - in 11 days!! Whoo hoo!! Just lending moral support from one one-dayer to another :-) Have fun!

Yup--Eurostar Italia requires reservations, meaning pre-purchased tickets. We just went to Termini the day before and bought our tickets (round trip) at the counter without any problem. They are the more expensive tickets, but the time savings is worth it.

If I recall correctly, you are supposed to show up 30 minutes before the train leaves.

We did a day trip from Rome to Florence. Left early in the morning by train and returned in early evening. Pre-booked our reservations for both David and Uffizi -- and did a nice city walking tour on our own. A long day, but well worth it. I think the key is to have reservations, a plan and a good map.

Perfect! Thanks to everyone for the responses. I will definitely make reservations ahead of time. For those of you who did the day trip, did you buy your train tickets ahead of time as well?

Thanks Liz! I was under the impression that I had to purchase my train tickets before I left the US.

No, it's not necessary unless you are traveling on extremely crowded trains during holidays, or have a very complex itinerary.

It's much easier to buy when you get there, as Trenitalia (the official Italy train site) doesn't like U.S. credit cards and the other agencies (RailEurope, etc.) charge additional fees. I believe you can even use the self-serve kiosk, although we visited the Eurostar Italia ticket counter ourselves.

Awesome! Thanks again Liz. I will just buy my ticket once I'm there since I am only going from Rome to Florence and back again.

We just returned from touring Italy including florence. It will be a dis-service to just do it in a day-trip. But if you must, plan your itinerary very well, get your tickets in advance, Uffizi and Accademia. Do some reading on the which works of art you want to see at the Uffizi, the Accademia shouldn't take much time. Lines to the Duomo may be an issue. Happy trip.

Ramon

Thanks Ramon! I will definitely get tickets/reservations in advance.

Diane, there are 53 trains a day that go from Rome to Florence. And, 53 going the other way as well. Many are high-speed non-stops. Imagine Cal-Train whizzing through from San Jose to Sacramento every 20 minutes or so (which it doesn't) and you get the idea of what's taking place on this rail corridor. It's one of the busiest rail corridors in Europe. The trip on the non-stops takes 1hr-40min.

You can easily buy your tickets when you arrive in Rome. Just be sure to know the date and time that you want to travel to and from Florence. You might even look up the schedules on www.trentitalia.com and get times and train numbers. Your tickets will have the point of departure, destination, date, time and seat reservation number on them so its important that you have this information in advance so that you don't have problems at the ticket window. You'll want to hand this information in writing to the ticket agent as for many, English is not even their second language. The agent will look at the paper and book your ticket. It's a very easy process.

Thanks Larry. I can easily relate to the Sacramento-San Jose trip. I am definitely feeling more confident with my decision to try and do Florence in a day. Appreciate your help.

Diane, whether you visit Florence as a day trip or stay a day or two, you need to make your reservations for the Uffizi now!!! It is often booked up to a month in advance. If you are firm on the date call: 011 39 055 294 883 from the US. It' wouldn't be a bad idea to get a reservation for the Accademia, also, but the Uffizi is a must unless you want to spend three hours in line.