train travel Rome to Florence

Be sure to book early, as soon as you know your dates of travel. The discounted seats are limited and do sell out. We got 19€ seats from Florence to Rome but saw regular fares on closer dates of 85€! There also seem to be intermediate fares of 29€ at other times. I am talking about the fastest trains only, which is what you want.

The only reason to purchase tickets in advance is to take advantage of the deep discounts which might be available but these tickets come with severe restrictions. Nov is pretty light.

thanks!

Not much of a difference. Pick the best fares. I think you don't need to prebook museums in November. Maybe someone else can confirm that.

Should have mentioned earlier, there is a big difference between Trenitalia and Italo trains. In Rome Trenitalia uses the central train station, Termini, and Italo uses a smaller station, Tiburtina, which is a couple stops on the metro from Termini. It would depend a little bit on where you are staying and easy of access to the station.

There are three levels of fares - Super Economy, Economy, and Base Fare.

Jean, To add to the other comments, be very sure of your travel details when you book, as you'll be "locked" into a specific date, time and train once you've bought the tickets. If you board a train other than the one specified on your ticket, you'll face a hefty fine, which will be collected on the spot! Happy travels!

Might be a longish line at the Colosseum, shorter at the Forums, so you could start there (same ticket). The only museum with a line that I know of is at the Vatican. Thursday or Friday would be best - Saturday may have weekend crowds, closed Sunday so Mondays are typically crowded. Also the problem at the Vatican Museums isn't so much the long line for security/tickets, which can be avoided by paying a couple euro extra and booking in advance, but the crowds of people in the museums.

One caveat. The announcement boards, particularly in Termini, often list only the final destination of the train. Since many (most?) trains to Firenze go on to Milano, that is what the board will say, Milano. We had good friends who were frequent travelers miss their scheduled train because of that.

The key to solving the above problem is to know your train number. The train number is key so you do not have to know where the train is going. The train number is always on your ticket.

All Trenitalia trains in Italy show the final destination in the window of the engine. This destination also is what shows on the station monitors and digital sign boards. You must know your train number. It's also important to know your departure time. Each train station has a sign or a large paper sheet that shows every departure in the station by departure time. It also shows every stop that train run makes. Look of the list, scan down the departure times, find your departure time, look to the right to make sure your destination station is there and then, look to the complete right to see the final destination of the train. Now you can search the sign boards by train number and final destination.

Thanks, everyone. I have successfully booked our train travel and Opera tickets! I'll be booking a Vatican tour when we are within 60 days of travel. We'll take our chances at the Accademia.

Ooops, my post only referred to Rome. It may be a good idea to book ahead for the Uffizi in Florence. If you go to the Academia in the afternoons, it's often not at all crowded and no line for tickets.

To elaborate on Larry's excellent post, the Italian for Departures is Partenza. Look for Partenza above the big screen and above the big sheet he mentioned with all the details. There are two posted large sheets. One is labeled for arrivals and is normally white. The other is the one you want, labelled Partenza and usually yellow paper. As others mentioned, be sure you know the number of your train.

Yes, final destination is not the best way to figure out which train is yours. Know your train number, and you will be fine.
Not sure which museums you want to go to. The Borghese only takes reservations, you can pretty much just walk into the Capitoline Museum, and consider going early to the Vatican Museum (not because of the lines to get in, but rather the crowds once inside). Try and book the Scavi tour if that interests you (it may be too late, but give it a try), and you can skip the security lines to get into St. Peter's.