Tiburtina vs. Termini Station

From Piazza della Repubblica you can walk to the Termini station in less than 5 minutes.
To go to Tiburtina you probably need a taxi (the bus might be a hassle with a lot of luggage).
The taxi is probably not going to be more than €20, but if you are choosing Italo just because of the cost, the savings may not be as great once you factor in the extra cost for the taxi. Having said that those who have used Italotreno say that their trains are slightly nicer and more modern. Never had the experience myself, so I can't say.

Thank you both! That makes sense. However, I was looking on RailEurope.com before to get a sense of the comparison of the two train lines. When I went to the Trenitalia and Italo sites directly to compare details, the Trenitalia ticket went up by $40 euro/ticket and the Italo ticket actually went down by $7 euro/ticket - so looking at the sites directly it would mean paying $78/ticket on Trenitalia vs. $33/ticket on Italo. If that's the case, it sounds like it would be worth the cab ride to Tiburtina no? I had assumed RailEurope was simply an aggregator of schedules/pricing similar to Travelocity here in the states but that doesn't look to be the case. Any thoughts on if I should just book through RailEurope if they can offer a much better price on the Trenitalia tickets?

Appreciate your expert advice for this train novice!

It is true that RailEurope is a travel agency not unlike Orbits or Travelvocity but they do not sell all tickets for all trains. And they do not make discount tickets available although you probably are too late for any discount tickets. Tiburtian is a smaller and somewhat easier station to use but you have to get there either via taxi or subway. Make you are comparing apples to apples because I have not seen that big of a price difference before between the two train systems.

Tiburtina has been remodeled and expanded after it caught fire a few years ago. It's now a pretty big station. It would be easier to get to Termini, but if cost is more important, there is your choice.

I have no idea when exactly you are going, but the full price (called "base") on a standard class from Rome to Florence is €43 per person (one way), and there is no way they are all sold out 2 weeks from now, not even if Pope Francis is riding on them. So the maximum you will pay on a standard seat is €43. A standard class (formerly 2nd class) is more comfortable than a business class on an airplane, therefore it's more than adequate for most people except for those who are used to travel in the luxury of Singapore airlines' first class.
Standard class tickets at the base price for Rome-Florence rarely sell out, not even if you show up and buy them 10 minutes before departure. If it happens (rarely), and you don't want to pay for the higher class (which never sells out) all you have to do is purchase the same ticket for the next train 20 or 30 minutes later. They will certainly have availability in standard class.
Now if you are looking for something at a discounted price (Economy or Supereconomy), then those might have been sold out by now. However I see some higher class (premium or business) that have discounted tickets available 2 weeks from now. Actually a discounted premium class is sometimes a few euros less than the full price standard. It's up to you. Just go to Trenitalia website and check schedules and ticket discounts availability for your travel day. For sure I would not shell out more than €43/ticket (one way).

When I'm on vacation I like to travel in the standard class where I get to meet ordinary people visiting from all over the world or regular Italian folks. In the upper classes it's just business travelers in business suits staring at their laptop/ipad or having business conversations over cell phones. You can't even make any conversation with them, since they are busy working. When I travel in those upper class seats I feel like I'm back at my office surrounded by my colleagues in a suit talking business buzzwords. How depressing is that?

Roberto - Definitely don't want to be surrounded by a bunch of business folks yakking away on their cell phones. I get enough of that with all my business travel in the U.S! :) I figured out what I was doing wrong - the Trenitalia site was already showing the total price for both tickets vs. Italo only showing one ticket at a time ( I had entered 2 adults traveling on both sites). The Trenitalia site was clear once I clicked all the way into the cart that the price shown was for both tickets - there it shows the price per ticket at $43E just like you said. Thanks for saving me from hiking across town to save a few mythical $$ on tickets or from ending up with 2 extra seats - though maybe we'll make some new Italian friends that want to tag along!

This spring we traveled on Italo trains and were quite pleased. For our travel, their tickets were a much better deal than Trenitalia. I quickly perused their change policies and they seemed pretty flexible, but I really am not sure as never had to put them to the test. It wasn't hard to take the metro a stop or two from Termini to Tiburtina to begin our journey on Italo. We did it a few times; the savings was significant and added only a ten minute metro ride from Termini. I am no expert on train travel but wonder why Italo doesn't get more press on this site. Somewhere, maybe Tiburtina? there was a staffed office, with real people, friendly and helpful, and comfortable chairs. Perhaps we were tired, but that part still remains a happy memory.

No need for a taxi to Tiburtina if you can save money on the Italo trains. Tiburtina is on the Metro Line and only 3-4 stops from Termini. Walk to the Termini Metro Station and take the subway to Tiburtina.

Emily, just a quick point about currencies. you say "$14-$40 euros", "$40 euro/ticket" and "$43E". Which do you mean, Euros or dollars?

• €43 = EUR 43.00 = 43 Euros

This is nothing to do with '$', which could mean USD (US dollars), CAD (Canadian Dollars), etc., but never Euros.

Hi! My husband and I just returned yesterday from a 10 day trip to Italy, including Rome, Florence and Venice. We took the Italo high speed train from Rome to Florence. We researched it to DEATH!!! We read Termini station is extremely hectic, and if you aren't familiar with the train systems, that it is best to go from a smaller train station like Tiburtina. We are SOOOO GLAD we did this. Tiburtina is so relaxed, and extremely easy to navigate. We stayed near the Pantheon, and like you Termini was much closer than Tiburtina. We got the Roma Pass, which includes free public transportation (i.e. the Metro, bus, and tram all in one). They have public buses that drop you off directly outside the door, the number 62 or 71 should get you there in 25 minutes, and both have stop relatively close to the Piazza Repubblica. If you didn't get the Roma Pass, a bus/tram/metro ticket good for 90 minutes of unlimited travel is only 1.5 Euros, much much cheaper than a taxi and very efficient.

With Italo, we were extremely impressed with the service and the modern aspects of the trains over the Trennatalia. We splurged for the Prima (1st Class) for the Rome to Florence Trip, and then did the Smart XL Class for the Florence to Venice Trip. My advice would be take the Smart XL, its only 5 Euros more per person than the Smart, and you get the same room as the Prima. Only difference is they serve you a drink - and you can bring your own juice/water/soda to make up the difference. We had the Smart XL car mostly to ourselves, very nice.

Also - Italy has a nice lounge at the Tiburtina station that you can hang out in, get information, and check the status of your train. It looked much nicer than the Trennatalia one.