Train from Florence to Rome

You do not have to buy train tickets in advance, I bought mine at the train station so I wouldn't have to worry about catching a train at a particular time. Much more relaxing for my travels. There are numerous trains (I think about 50 per day), leaving every 20-40 mins. I bought mine, using my credit card, at the self-service booth (there are many, 15-20, maybe more I didn't actually count), because the line inside was LONG. It is very easy--the first screen on the computer (which is touch-screen) asks you which language you would like. Yes, the station I departed from was SMN arriving at Roma Termini (end of the line) about 3 hours later.

Just to add to the prior post: you will need to buy the tickets in advance if you are planning to take the high-speed Eurostar, which requires reservations.

Otherwise, buying at the station should be fine. Even with the Eurostar, you should be able to buy the tickets a day or two in advance, when you first get to Florence.

There are several other train stations in Florence, but SMN is the main one and (I think) has the most reasonable train connections to Rome.

Thanks for all the great info. Regarding the Euro Star, do you have an approximate cost and the travel time between Florence and Rome?

There is really no reason to take the Euro Star. It is the most expensive and the fastest but it is not that far. You pay a lot of money for saving 30 minutes. Second, not sure if Liz stated her advice accurately. The Euro star requires a reservation but not an advance reservation. If space is available you can buy a ticket ten minutes prior to leaving. And a lot of space will be available in November.

Thanks for clarifying that Frank--I know it requires seat reservations, wasn't sure how far out in advance you had to purchase. I thought you were supposed to be at the train 30 minutes prior to departure which would cause an issue trying to purchase 10 minutes before. Possibly I've misunderstood this.

Susan, I'm not necessarily recommending you take the Eurostar. It's a 1.5 hour trip, and I believe costs approximately 50 euros for a first class ticket. It depends on how much time vs. money you have. We did Florence as a long daytrip from Rome, so the higher cost but fast train was important to us.

I agree with Liz. I prefer the faster train between Florence and Rome--just depends on how much time you want to spend on the train (and the amount of money you want to spend, too). When I'm there on business and have much to do, the Eurostar between Florence and Rome meets my needs.

susan,
I live in Firenze now - there are approximately 2-3 trains an hour from Santa Maria Nouvella, and almost all of them now are Eurostar trains. I went yesterday to the station to use to 'self service' ticket counter (which is the best and easiest to use at the S.M.N. station) to check on ticket prices. I believe it was 32EURO for a standard 2nd class ticket on the EuroStar. The IC trains take a little over 3 hours and its only 24EURO, so its really not worth taking anything but the EuroStar, it only takes 1.5 hours...

..I will warn you, the trains here have not been very reliable or on time. Every single train i've taken since i've been living here (only 3 weeks) have been late - anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour. BE ON TIME regardless.

The train from Firenze to Roma is so easy, buy your ticket at the self service computers (all in english), pay with cash or credit, find your track, and get on the train! It's as easy as that.

Enjoy! I'm heading to Roma on Saturday for the day.

Susan--OOOPS-I mixied up my trains. The train from Florence to Rome was only 1.5 hours. It was the train from Venice to Florence that took almost 3 hours. Both trips were on the Eurostar. I'm sorry for giving the wrong info!!