Help PLEASE, I am trying to figure out taking the train from Florence to Venice on Sept 6, early evening. Can not understand which ticket would be best. It will be husband, 23 yr old daughter, and myself traveling. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Angela
Angela, CLICK HERE to see an afternoon train schedule for Florence to Venice on 9/6. Note the train category column. The standard fare for 3 adults on the Eurostar (ES) train is 96.90Euro. If you can get on the ICPlus run, the standard fare is 64.50Euro. The ICPlus is a lower category train that is still really nice but makes a couple of more stops than the Eurostar.
Make sure that you select a run that goes to Venezia S.L. and not Venezia Mestre. Santa Lucia is the stop you want.
The faster a train is in Italy the more expensive it is. The Eurostar will have fewer stops than the Intercity train and is probably a bit newer. Whether is price difference is worth it to you is a personal choice - some might not mind a trip that is 25 minutesd longer to save some money; others don't mind spending it spending the extra money to make their trip as short as possible. Either way traveling by train is much more comfortable than plane travel, at least in the US.
Besides the fact that arriving in Venice on a train has got to be one of the coolest things ever. As you leave Mestre and go over the causeway to the islands it's amazing!
We made this trip in May. And yes, as David suggests it is a magical arrival in Venice. That being said I would highly recommend the Eurostar. We rolled thru all sorts of stations with very crowded platforms, folks waiting for the regional Intercity trains. Even the Eurostar makes several stops. And ofcourse on Eurostar you have a reserved seat. On other journeys in Italy we happily traveled on the regional trains. But for this run, the extra congestion and much longer trip is just not worth saving a few euros...Lucky you...Ah...Venice...would say the same thing about Florence. Enjoy!
If you book early enough and are successful in navigating the complicated Trenitalia website, you can get an Amica fare which is MUCH cheaper. We just took the Eurostar from Florence to Venice two weeks ago - - - very comfortable, very fast.
