Rome day trip from Florence

High speed rail will get you from Florence to Rome in about 90 minutes each way.

So is it feasible? Sure.

Should you do it? No one else can answer that for you. Figure out how long of a day you're willing for it to be and how much you could reasonably see and do in that much time.

Have you ever been to Paris? London? New York? Pick a big city you have visited. Would it be worth it for you to go there for a day?

Why are you stuck in Florence for 7 days? Whack the Florence time down to minimal and spend a few days in Rome instead!

One has to ask the question as to why you are in Florence for an entire 7 days, and then wanting to see some of Rome in part of a day. Have you spent time in Rome previously?

We are staying with family in Florence and using it as a base to also visit a few hill towns in Tuscany.

Cool. That makes sense. Always take advantage of accommodation with family.

Perhaps consider an overnight however - early morning train from Florence and then an evening train return the following day.

With a name like Pucci you must be of Florentine origin.
I've done Rome as a day trip from Florence many times, even before the high speed trains and the trip was 3.5 hours instead of 90 min.
Any Florentine can tell you that Florence deserves more time than Rome. Your choice to do 7 days in Florence with Rome only as a day trip has my stamp of approval. Don't listen to the other posters who want you to spend more time in Rome. They don't know what they are talking about. From Florence you can take day trips to lots of nice places in Tuscany, To Emilia (Bologna), even to Cinque Terre. Rome is also very dirty and their local politicians corrupt. Their mayor had to resign in disgrace just a short time ago. In fact when they needed a new prime minister the president had to appoint Florence's mayor for the job. Fiorence has a better soccer team too.

Any Florentine can tell you that Florence deserves more time than Rome.

This man clearly has no idea what he is talking about. Roma, una vita non basta!

Seriously, I would at least overnight to Rome, in early and out early evening the next day.

I agree with Laurel. Even one night in Roma will give you almost two full days, enough to get a glimpse of a great city.

Trains are so fast now that sometimes I manage to leave early in the morning from Florence, have a business meeting in Rome and be back in Florence for lunch time. A friend of mine living in Rome is now working in Florence on a short contract and she manages to go daily back an forth between the cities (a monthly train pass is cheaper than a monthly rent, this being one of the very few instances in which an Italian train pass is worth its cost).

IMHO a day in Rome, even it is unlikely that you will manage to see much, is better spent than doing a day trip, say, from Florence to Cinque Terre. For example, on such a day trip with my wife, we just had a look to St. Peters' from outside, we had a detailed visit of Castel S. Angelo that was our true target and then we walked through Piazza Navona and Forum to Colosseum (no visit), then metro to the railway station.

Based on our visit to Tuscany, last December, if I only had a day for Rome and I was traveling from Florence, here's what I'd do:
Take and evening train to Rome and stay the night. Early the next morning, take the Walks of Italy "Pristine Sistine" tour of the Vatican. You get VIP entry an hour before it opens to the public. Then take a walking tour of the heart of Rome, either self guided or with a tour. Finish the day off with a VIP Coliseum at Night Walks of Italy tour. Stay the night, then take an early train back to Florence.

If you want to save the cost of the second night, you could take a late train back to Florence. There's a train that leaves at 10:35, but doesn't get to Florence until 1:45.

We took three Walks of Italy tours, two in Florence and the evening tour of the heart of Rome. They were great. They might cost a little more, but the tour size is smaller than other tours. This really makes a difference.

Don't visit Rome because : " Rome is also very dirty and their local politicians corrupt." Seriously??? Ha!

Like Roberto, I am fond of Florence and I do think Florence deserves as much as Rome. So I am very pleased that you are staying in Florence for one week.
I live in oltrarno. i also think Florence is a much more livable city And less cahotic.
I also love Rome and the Romans.
I love Piazza di Spagna and Piazza Navonna. I love the warmer weather and the fact that the sea is just there!
I like St Peter's, Vatican's and the churches but I find it can be sickening to do all this on what day.
In Rome I also love the Roman forum and would certainly go to the nearby Pizzeria Angelo to have one of their delicious pizzas. Also if you are in Rome, take advantage of eating fish.
(In Florence eat meat, porchetta, wild boar and Biftecca allafiorentina.)
Also very nice in Rome is Trastevere (young and fashionable district in Rome).

I find you are right to do a one day trip to Rome ( or with one night) because having some family in Florence, you will surely come back, and you will gain more going to Rome three or four times one or eventually 2 days than being in Rome for a long period.