Italy & Austria

Hi,
Do you have any other place of interest in Italy?
If you want to visit Venice, then Salzburg to Venice is OK by train, it takes about 6 hours.
If you only want to visit Florence, then I would fly between Pisa and Vienna (Ryanair flies the route).

Also, you might be able to throw in Budapest as well, it is only 3 hours away from Vienna by train. It depends on how long you have, and on border restrictions at the time when you go - these days with COVID, the fewer countries you visit, the fewer problems you have.

If you want to fly into Rome or Florence and out of Vienna: you could travel Florence—-Salzburg—-Hallstatt—-Vienna ( in that order) all by train. Florence to Salzburg would be a long day if you go directly (7.5 to 8 hours), but you could easily break up the journey with an overnight stop mid-way.

Bolzano would be perfect for that, as you would need to change trains there anyway. It is a lovely town to see—-more Austrian than Italian, and you could visit the Ice Man museum if interested. There are nice hotels an easy walk from the train station, or taxis available if you would rather.

Does anyone have any recommendations on the best way to travel between
Florence and Salzburg?

It is a quite a long train trip with a couple of changes. But there is a direct night train that departs Florence in the evening and arrives next morning in Salzburg. But adding a stop somewhere along the route, like Bozen/Bolzano, is a good idea.

The Rome-to-Rio Website features transportation suggestions for places around the world. This search on Florence to Salzburg https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Florence-Italy/Salzburg offers 8 different methods, many including flying. With getting to the airport a couple hours before departure, plus the flight itself and getting to/from airports, even those take time. A train’s maybe the most direct, although will take the better part of a day.

A night train’s a possibility, and if the four of you shared a compartment, that might be a memorable experience, good or bad. 🙂 It’s been 17 years since I’ve taken one, and it’s a way to arrive at your destination while getting some rest, although some people suggest they don’t sleep well onboard. Your results may vary. How about a 9th option? Split your train trip between Florence and Salzburg with a stopover in the mountains in Innsbruck, then finish the journey to Salzburg when you’re ready?

I experienced an overnight transalpine train trip once when I was a young solo backpacking traveler. One of two of the other young people assigned to my compartment had heard about robbers spraying some kind of drug into the compartments that would knock you out, allowing them to make off with your belongings. So we took the straps from our camera bags, belts from our pants, etc. and did our best to fasten the compartment door shut. (In hindsight I realize this could have been really stupid, had there been some emergency where we had to evacuate from the train.) The bunks were small, narrow, and hard. I don't think anyone in our compartment got much sleep. Things may have improved a lot since then, but do check it out before you plan to attempt this with elderly parents.

Innsbruck would also be a good stop over along the way. And a good argument for not taking the night train is that the views from the train when you cross the Alps are hard to beat.

if considering a night train, check out any of the many vloggers on Youtube who take trains incessantly. You'll get a good sense of what is involved and what it is like. You'll likely find it is not conducive to elder travel (noise and comfort).

It's tempting to keep adding cities and countries to your itinerary when planning a trip to Europe, but be honest and realistic. The answer here is probably to pick Italy or Austria, with tentative plans to return in a year. If you're in Florence you will want to do Tuscany, and perhaps Bologna, and perhaps Venice, and perhaps Milano ...

Apart from covid consideration, consider flying Florence to Munich, and then train to Salzburg. It could be the fastest way to do the trip.