Rome and Florence/trains

Yes, yes, much safer to go directly to Florence upon arrival and sleep in Rome on the night before departure! I would never risk waking up in Florence the day of a flight home out of Rome. Train strikes? Weather? Illness? Whatever.... There are very fast trains that you can book on-line (trenitalia.com) to get a fast, cheap-ish ticket from Termini direct to Florence, for early afternoon after arrival at FCO. (I have one for approx. 15 E, in mid-August.) Give yourself 3-4 hours after scheduled arrival at FCO to book the freccia or other fast, direct train. You'll be in Florence by early afternoon.

I would take train direct to Florence and spend your last nights in Rome and not spend anytime in Rome when you arrive.

Or, forgo the advance discount on your Rome-Florence train ticket and buy it in the station whenever you are ready to depart. Trains run frequently, so filling up a whole train is not common, although the cheapest class may fill first. The one that departs directly from Fiumicino airport through to Florence (without a connection in Rome) is at 15:00 (€51 for full fare, 2nd class).

"Would it be better to go directly to Florence from Rome upon our arrival and then go back to Rome for the last portion of our trip?"

Yes!

That is exactly what you should do!!

What a great trip. So simple, yet so much enjoyment will come your way.
2 flights, 2 trains, 2 hotels, 2 cities. Enjoy.

Just FYI, in addition to Trenitalia, Italo also runs frequent, high-speed trains between Rome and Florence at competitive prices: http://www.italotreno.it/

Thanks for the input, everyone. The only reason I thought of seeing Rome first is that it will be a long flight and we could go directly to our apartment and recharge a bit and hit the city in the afternoon to maximize our time. If we go to Florence then the entire day is shot. But maybe that is worth the worry of getting to the airport from Florence on the day we leave.

Anytime you are some distance from the airport, there is some concern about train connections and delays. The further you are from the airport with more train changes involved the more your options are reduced should something go wrong.

Truthfully, I don't think you lose anything by going directly to Florence. The arrival day is always shot regardless of what you do. The train ride will refresh you as well as a couple hours in your apartment. You probably will sleep on the train. Still would have the afternoon and evening in Florence. For others, this is another good example where an open jaw ticket would have made a lot of sense saving time and money.

We have done this trip many times and always head immediately for Florence. It is only about another 2.5 hours after landing -- and hour to get to Termini and on the train and 90 minutes to FLorence. Hotels and apartments tend to be available for check in in early afternoon and that first day is sort of shot with travel anyway -- so waste that already wasted jet lagged day getting to your furthest destination. We just buy the tickets to Florence at the FCO train station and they sell us the next fast train we can easily catch. It is cheaper bought ahead but I don't like the stress of worrying about late planes (we have had several seriously late planes -- one was 5 hours late.)

Rushing back the day before the trip home wastes a day and never travel back on the day of a flight. Always be within a cab ride of the airport the night before your flight; stuff happens and the stress of making that plane is likely to take the gloss off of your good vacation feeling.

Go see Florence then finish in Rome.

Hi,
We just returned from Rome. Flew into FCO at 12:30pm. Took the FM1 commuter train to Tiburtina Station (about 45-50 min) and took Italo Train to Florence. FM1 is 8euro vs 14 euro for the express train to Termini Station. Italo train has lots of departures from Tiburtina to Florence. It also cost significantly less than Trenitalia. 1 hr 22 min ride to Florence. Website is italotreno.it. Tiburtina is much smaller than Termini. You do not need to book in advance. Make sure you check the train # as trains arrive and leave frequently on the same track. We stayed 5 days in Florence and 7 days in Rome, flying in and out of Rome. Hope this helps.
George

That sounds like a good idea, George. Thanks for all the input. The consensus is to go directly to Florence, and be in Rome for the end of our trip. So that is what we will do!

I like my trips to be as relaxing as possible so I disagree about switching the order of cities. Italy seems to have a lot of one day train strikes, my experience anyway, so I will always get to the airport city the day before my flight, just in case. I understand your desire to settle in after your flight in Rome, and I agree. I would do Rome first and then go to Florence. I would find that less stressful and tiring. I would give up the last night in Florence and take an evening train to Rome for the last night before your flight out. You wouldn't lose much useful time in Florence that way. You can always have a nice dinner in Rome, late, after you arrive back there. Those are two great cities. Enjoy!