Train from Rome to Florence

"Are all train tickets sold through Trenitalia?"

Steve answered this but I'll add that most (95%?) of US credit cards are rejected by the Trenitalia website. Most people (reporting in here) wait and buy tickets when they get to Italy, but some have travel agents buy or buy through RailEurope.com.

The Rome to Florence train is fairly quick, about 1.5 hours on the Eurostar if I remember correctly. There are lots of places to grab a sandwich in the Rome train station. We usually grab something there and eat it on the train, rather than eat any of the prepackaged food cart food.

While US credit cards don't work on the Trenitalia website and a lot of the self-service kiosks in the train stations, you can use your US credit card if you wait in line for a customer service rep. Those lines appear long, but they generally move quickly.

Ciao,
Meredith

Julia,

To add to some of the previous replies.....

The EuroStar Italia / Alta Velocita is a great way to travel from Rome to Florence! Quick and easy! Note that you'll be travelling from Roma Termini to Firenze S.M.N. (you'll need to specify that when you buy your tickets).

I've found the restrooms on Italian trains to have varying states of "cleanliness". Some are well maintained, but often there's no water for washing. I'd suggest taking a package of Handi-Wipes (just in case).

On the Rome-Florence route, the trip is so short that there probably won't be any dining car service for lunch. As someone else mentioned, I'd suggest just buying something at Termini before departure (although I hesitate to mention it, McDonald's and Burger King both have outlets at Termini).

Train tickets are easily purchased in Italy, either from a staffed ticket office or from the automated Kiosks. You might have a look at www.roninrome.com for further details.

I normally try to purchase tickets when I arrive in a particular city (since I'm at the station anyway), but on that particular route you should be fine buying on the day of travel.

As you're "newbies", I'd highly recommend pre-reading Europe Through The Back Door before you depart.

Cheers!

In addition to all of the other replies make sure you read the section in Rick's books on how to read your ticket when you get it. Also,remember it needs to be validated which you can do at a yellow box on the track where your train is located. I've seen a lot of Americans looking puzzled as to how to read their ticket which contains information on which car you are in, which seat(s) you are in and which track your train leaves from that day. Enjoy!

Just to pile on.... we just did this trip two weeks ago. I went the the Trenitalia website before leaving the states to review train times but didn't even try to buy ahead of time since there was a pending strike. We got to Termini about a half hour before departure and just walked up to a kiosk - only 1 person in line ahead of us. It was an easy to understand transaction once we found the "English" button. Pick the train, the class of service, seats and then check out using your credit card. The track was easy to find plus it was easy to figure out what car to board. Assuming you use the high-speed train it's a short 1.5 hrs to Florence. The restaurants in both stations looked pretty dirty - plus there are lots of good places to eat in either city without having to go to McDonalds or Burger King.

Just to add to the other replies - we usually purchased our tickets from the automated kiosks a day before hand, and specifically at Termini in Rome, there is a really nice grocery store in the lower level, with pre-made sandwiches, salads, cold drinks, snacks, etc. Everyone picnics on the trains!