Trains tickets from Florence to Rome

You can buy full-fare 2nd-class tickets in the station for 43 euros per person, with no deadline to do so, and plenty of departures to choose from. If you're ready to lock in date and time, then the advance purchase discounts can go as low as half-price. Some intermediate discounts can be purchased a few days ahead, either online or from machines in the station, if nobody's snapped them up.

Okay, great. Where is best place to buy the tickets online? Select Italy or Trenitalia or other site? Thank you!

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You can purchase the tickets online at the Trenitalia website. Some users have reported that the process is easier if users "register", but others have said it makes no difference. You may find it helpful to have a look at the excellent Ron In Rome website. If you purchase early enough, you may be able to get the discounted tickets, but you'll be "locked into" travelling only on the train you choose.

It's important to note that tickets for the Freccia high speed (and other premium trains) are specific to a particular train, date and departure time, and you if you board any other train you'll be subject to hefty fines which will be collected on the spot. The tickets come with assigned seating, so you can only sit in the seats listed on the ticket.

You could also consider travelling on the competing Italo high speed trains from Florence to Rome, however it's important to note that they use different stations in Rome (Tiburtina or Ostiense vs. Termini). Both services depart from Firenze SMN in Florence. It's very easy to get from Tiburtina to Termini via Metro as it's only about two stops, but that adds one step to the journey. If you'd prefer to arrive at Termini, book tickets with Trenitalia.

Happy travels!

Select Italy is a broker, there would be a considerable markup. I use them occasionally when I need a number of tickets for various museums and don't want to spend time on multiple individual websites. Trenitalia is the national train system, you can get all available choices there. Again, check the roninrome.com site for tons of useful information.

Buying tickets online in advance on www.trenitalia.com has become quite tricky lately. If you try and register, you have to be a citizen of Italy. Many travelers simply type in their name and the address of their hotel. Here's how you do it as a non-registered user.

1) First, contact your credit card people to let them know you are making an international purchase.

2)Under Passengers, type in your name and surname. That's it. Nothing else.
3) Under Contract-Buyer, select Non-Registered User and fill in all five fields.

4) Select your payment method.
5) Accept the General Transportation Condition.

6) Select Continue and make your purchase.

Or, go to www.italotreno.it and make the purchase there. Note Ken's information above that the Italo train goes to the Roma-Tiburtina station and not the Roma-Termini station. They are not too far apart.

If you have any problems paying on the Trenitalia website, contact your credit card company (they may not be allowing the transaction to go through if you haven't warned them) or just use PayPal which generally works well.

Thank you all so much for your help!