Train from Florence to Rome Airport (FCO)

Its too tight if it is coming back to the States. you should get to FCO at 9:22 and most are recommending 3 hours to be at the airport for intercontinental flights.

hess,

As you noted, the first train departs Firenze SMN at 06:50, arriving FCO at 09:22 (time 2H:32M, one change at Termini to the Leonardo Express). That only leaves about 1.5 hours for check-in, security, etc. and if there are any delays with the train or a lot of flights leaving at the same time (delays in security), you could miss your flight. In the same situation, I'd probably head for Rome the night prior to my flight home.

Is your 11:05 flight a direct flight back to North America, or does it stop at another European airport?

Our flight is non stop to the states Monday at 11:05am. I will need to see when the last train from Florence to Rome is on Sunday night. I wonder if we could swap hotels and stay in Rome our last night instead of Florence. I guess the other option is we stay an extra day!!!

Staying an extra day sounds good to me!

I would be nervous being that far from my departure point, especially if your travel requires connections. Also, the train station at FCO is a fair walk from the terminal(s) you need to get to. Lines can be long to check a bag, too.

I agree that staying an extra day in Italy and going to Rome on Monday is a better option. If you take a late train to Rome on Sunday you’ll either miss your farewell dinner or arrive at your hotel around midnight, and taking a Monday morning train is too tight. If you haven’t booked your airline tickets, another possibility is to investigate the cost of an open jaws (multi-city) ticket into Rome and out of Florence. There's an Alitalia flight from Florence to FCO at 7:20 am on Monday mornings that you might be able to include.

Always be in the city of a high stakes flight the night before. Stuff happens. A small delay would not be unusual but might make you miss the plane, but a huge delay is also possible. We were on a Thalys from Amsterdam to Paris that came in 5 hours late when we hit and killed someone (probably a suicide) outside Rotterdam. We had to wait in the countryside for a new train crew and then there were some mechanical issues down the tracks. The train was full of people who missed their CDG flights that day. If everything goes perfectly with the schedule you cite, you are still not there in time to assure making the plane. You need to be in the check in line 3 hours ahead. Sometimes that is early enough that you can have coffee and breakfast once through security and sometimes it is barely enough time. If everything goes perfectly by the time you get to the international terminal and into the check up line you have about 2 hours. And that is if everything goes perfectly. that is not enough time to be sure of making the plane.

You cannot choose a different hotel for the last night of a group tour. You CAN blow off the room you've paid for and buy your own airport hotel, if you prefer that to adding a day to your vacation. Alas, you have to go past the airport, to Rome, to pick up the train to the plane.

you have to go past the airport, to Rome, to pick up the train to the plane.

Not sure what the above sentence means. Doesn't make much sense to me.

In any case you should not stay in Florence the night before your flight. You should be in Rome. The train option from Florence in the morning puts you at FCO too late for an intercontinental flight.

On the morning of departure take a taxi from the Rome hotel to the airport, or, if your hotel is near Termini station, then you can also walk to the station and take the Leonardo Express train to Fiumicino airport.

The airport station pedestrian walkway drops you in front of T3. Your flight, if it's on a US airline, will have the check in at T5, which can be reached via shuttle bus from T3. Don't walk that distance, not even that safe.

If you opt for the taxi (I would) tell them specifically you need to go to T5 (otherwise they automatically assume you want to go to T3).