Trains - Florence to Rome

If you buy your tickets from a ticket machine, you won't have to stand in line at a ticket window. The machines have an English option and they DO accept North American credit cards.

Nancy,

I am going to Italy next week and I've done a ton of research for my trip. Trenatalia is not the only train company, so you might want to try others. I had trouble with their webstie too. I ended up getting all of my train tickets Rail Europe's website. I would suggest not wasting your time and taking a high speed train, which you definately should book in advance. Rail Europe has a US phone no too and they are very helpful

Molly: Thanks so much. The Rail Europe web site sure is more user friendly. What do you think about first vs. second class?

Trenatalia IS the only train company in Italy except for a couple private commuter around some cities. RailEurope is a travel agency and not a railroad company. They only sell tickets to North Americans. As a reseller of tickets their fees are quite high and they don't list or sell tickets for all trains. You will pay a very high price for using the convenience of RailEurope. Don't do it you can avoid it.

I think there are about 50 trains a day between Florence and Rome so you will have no problem going when you need to. When we are in Italy we never buy our ticket more than a day in advance. There is no need to.

Sorry to have to contradict Molly, but except for private commuter lines like the Circumvesuviana between Naples and Sorrento, Trenitalia (Italian National Rail) is the only train company. Rail Europe is simply a marketing consortium owned by several national rail companies in Europe.

There are many trains each day between Florence and Rome. The reason you see a limited number for 27 June is that new timetables will go into effect in mid June and Trenitalia hasn't loaded all of them yet. Enter the dummy date of 30 May on the site and you'll get complete timetables. The new ones should be virtually identical to the current ones.

If you don't want to wait until you get to Florence to buy your Florence-Rome tickets, buy them at any station on the day you arrive in Italy. They'll be cheaper than going through Rail Europe. 2nd class is perfectly fine on fast EuroStar Italia trains.

Thank you for your imput! At least the Europe Rail site showed that I indeed have many trains to select from. I'd like to purchase tickets before I leave (June 12). Can a semi-computer illiterate grandmother figure out how to do it on the Trenitalia web site?

Nancy, I am certain you can figure out the trenitalia website, but it may be a futile attempt since Trenitalia's site does not like anything but Italian credit cards (and believe me, sometimes it doesn't even like those!).

So instead of frustrating yourself, why not wait till you arrive. You can purchase the tickets in any station in Italy, you don't have to wait will the day you travel, either from the counter or from a DIY machine in the station.

A good idea that has been repeated around this site is to print out the exact itinerary that you want (so, wait till the new timetables come out) and then just hand it to the agent at the counter whose English may not be brilliant.

There are endless trains a day from Florence to Rome, and it only takes about 1.5 hours on Eurostar so no worries as to making your Vatican appointment. If you are going directly from Termini to the Vatican, you can take the tube (with one change) or the bus (but Rick always warns against pickpockets on bus 64 so be careful).

Happy travels!

Thank you! Very valuable info!

Just to chime in on getting from Termini to the Vatican. Taking the # 64 bus is easier than the metro. Just walk out of front of Termini and the all the buses terminate outside. Since you will be getting on at the begining of the bus line, if you don't think you will get a seat, let the bus go and you are first up for the next one. We had no problems on the 64 bus, but just beware about the pickpockets. If you are seated, you should be very safe from the pickpockets.

Hi Nancy
Will you be going directly to the Vatican or will you need to drop off luggage at your hotel first?There are 4 trains that could work for you depending on your luggage situation. 9:33 10:33 11:19 11:33 are all fast non stop trains that take abouut 1:40 minutes. From Termini you would take either the 64 bus or the Metro to either Cirpo or Ottaviano depending if you're going to the Vatican St Peter's or the Vatican Museums.

Hi!

I'm trying to get into Rome (or Milan) from Prague late on Wednesday, July 1st and get to Florence that night (for Il Palio the next day). Right now there's a flight that gets in at 21:15 to Fiumicino terminal B.

When do the last of these endless trains leave Rome for Florence, could I make the connection in time, and when will I be able to confirm that on Trenaltia?

Thanks a million!

From what I see on the Trenitalia site the last train for Florence leaves Termini at 10:30 PM. How are you getting from Florence to Siena?

Nancy, Maggie makes a great point. If you are headed to the Vatican Museum entrance to meet your tour guide, you DO NOT want to ride the 64 or the 40 bus from Termini. Rather, you should take the Line A Metro all the way from Termini to the Cipro Station (not Ottaviano).

Exit at the Cipro station. As you leave the station take the staircase on your RIGHT. Go up the stairs and then turn RIGHT - then turn RIGHT immediately and you will be on a side street (Via Fra Albenzio). Follow this road abot 250 feet and you will you see a church on your right. Cross the street here and you will see a square across the street with a set of stairs (Gelateria Milenium located on the right side of the square in a basement location). Climb these stairs and you're now on Viale Vaticano. Turn LEFT and you'll walk right up to the Vatican Museum entance in about 400 feet.

If you take the #64 you'll have to get off at BUS STOP - CAVALLEGGERI/S. PIETRO. This is on the SOUTH side of Vatican City. The Vatican Museum Entrance is on the NORTH side of Vatican City so you would have to walk halfway around the city - probably 15-20 minutes (and thay may be optimistic).

Do verify that WHERE your tour group is meeting up! Here's a map with a few of the bus routes and taxi stands on it.

To load up the map:

Go to http://maps.google.com
Paste in the BOX next to SEARCH MAPS the link below,
And click on Search Maps!
(Make sure to PASTE the entire link in the search box)
NOTE – If you try and just click on the link below, the map will not load as it is a “blended” Google Map.”

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=100278042670956013727.000465426bdd3d4e6e47e&om=1&mid=1241295327&vps=1&jsv=156c&output=nl

Hope that helps!

Nancy, I know that you feel that you MUST have your tickets in advance before you leave the U.S. Please trust us on the site that you don't. There are over 50 trains a day departing Florence for Rome. Most are high-speed Eurostars. Many are non-stops. Each holds about 400 people so don't worry about full trains. What you can do as you are driving around in your car, is stop by a staffed Italian train station as soon as you can and buy your tickets there. I'm not sure how long you will be driving around in Italy before you turn in your car but it could be a few days or so thereby permitting you to purchase early.

The high-speed Eurostar can get you to Rome in 1hr.40min if you get the non-stop. CLICK HERE to see a schedule from 9:00am on. Click on next to see later trains. Pick one of the faster runs. Once at Rome Termini, you can go downstairs to the metro and take the metro about 4 stops to the Vatican stop. You can store your luggage in the Rome termini train station if you want. They have a staffed luggage storage area.