I keep hearing that train travel in Italy is easy, frequent and cheap. I'm looking at fares for a regular (not "Fast") train from Venice to Florence, and the one way fares seem to be about the same as the fares for the fast train from Rome to Venice. Am I doing something wrong? My husband and I are seniors.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23671 posts
Which site are you using? Should be Trenitalia.com. What are your travel dates?
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16243 posts
Virtually all trains traveling from Venice to Florence are fast FrecciaArgento trains. The base (full) price for a 2nd class ticket is €45 per person one way. If you buy sufficiently ahead of time, you might be able to get a discounted ticket (called "Economy" or "Super Economy"). They come on sale 120 days prior to the day of travel. However be aware that those tickets come with restrictions. If you miss the train or change your dates, you are entitled to zero refund. Therefore purchase those only if you are very firm about your travel plans.
Go to www.trenitalia.com for train schedules and prices.
Posted by
Phoenix AZ
635 posts
Also check Trenitalia's private competitor, Italo (http://www.italotreno.it/EN/Pages/default.aspx). The travel time between Venice and Florence is the same as on Trenitalia, and they use the same stations, but we think the service is a bit better. Italo has a mid-level of service, called "Prima", which we enjoyed on our Venice-Florence trip last year.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34350 posts
The Venice Florence journey is very easy by fast .Italo or Trenitalia Freccia trains which provide the vast bulk of the connections.
Between Venice and Bologna there are plenty of direct Regionale trains but the problem arises in the mountainous stretch between Bologna and Firenze. Virtually all Regionale trains require an inconvenient change at Prato.
There are, if my memory isn't faulty, about 2 direct InterCity trains between Firenze and Bologna each day, and I think that one of those goes on to at least Venezia Mestre if not all the way into Venezia Santa Lucia. I think it goes on to Trieste.
I could check it if you like but really the Freccia or .Italo are so nice, so fast, and so easy - and can be inexpensive if you get them early - that trying to do it by Regionale wouldn't be worth it to me...