Layover at airport in Holland

You will not have to go through security, but you will have to go through Schengen Immigration (passport control). Schipol airport is a lot smaller than CDG, so you should be OK, but that assumes your inbound flight is on time.

Where are you coming from? Have you thought of flying to Rome and going to Florence by train? If you can get a nonstop to Rome, that would eliminate a problematic connection.

We're coming from Boston. I don't want to go thru the hassle of getting to the train station. You're right, if we have bad weather etc. we could miss our flight. There is another flight at 4:45 with a 2 hr layover. Ideally, I was hoping to go later in the day. We'll need to think about this. The weather has been so crazy--who knows what could happen!
Thanks!

No real "hassle" getting to the train station. There is a train station right at the airport with an express train to Termini station where you get off and walk to your next track for a high speed train to Florence. Trains are very frequent, as little as every half hour.

Over the years, I have found this to be much preferable to connecting at an intermediate airport.

1. We have been through CDG and Schipol, Amsterdam that required changing flights.
   Schipol was a bit easier.

2. You should try to schedule about a 2 hr. layover time. Last time we were in Schipol last Summer the lines were long and we spent over 90 minutes checking in and going through security.

I'm just curious to know about the suggestion of using train from Schipol Airport to Florence. Sounds like a long journey compared to just flying from Schipol to Florence, no? Unless, of course, a flight is missed.

It might also be worth looking at flights to e.g. Pisa, Bologna or even Milan or Rome. That might give more an better options. Florence has a tiny airport with very limited options.

Muriel, the suggestion for the train to Florence was in reference to the OP who mentioned they had the choice to fly direct to Rome.

I'm just curious to know about the suggestion of using train from Schipol Airport to Florence.

I think if Muriel S read my previous post, she would have known that I was talking about Rome to Florence. Sometimes it pays to read the whole thread.

You're in Boston? Don't ITA Airways and Delta both fly nonstop to Rome? It may be a bit more expensive, but how much would it be worth to not have to fret over missed connections?

From Rome ITA has both connecting flights to Florence and air to train connections on a single ticket. The high-speed train trip Rome to Florence is painless - takes virtually no effort.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I'll try to find a flight to Florence via Amsterdam with a 2hr. lay over. We think the train will be more of a hassle for us after the long flight from Boston. Easier for us to just hop on another plane right at the airport.

Boston to Pisa via Munich on Lufthansa is our preferred flight. It may not be the least expensive, but it leaves at 8:40 pm so you'll sleep abit better, and the Munich transfer is easy and quick. There's a direct bus to Florence from PSA, and also a frequent train shuttle (PisaMover) to Pisa Centrale train station that takes 3 minutes..

Easier for us to just hop on another plane right at the airport.

But a connecting flight also increases the possibility of your luggage not making it, or a disruption of some sort causing a long delay or cancellation of that connecting flight. Honestly, I'm with Sam on this one: if at all possible, I'd rather fly directly to Italy instead of through another country.

I see that you were concerned about issues with delayed or lost baggage in a previous thread. ?

I think if Muriel S read my previous post, she would have known that I was talking about Rome to Florence. Sometimes it pays to read the whole thread.

Pardon me! A misreading led to a somewhat heated posting, didn't it ;-)