Transporation from Rome to Florence to Assisi and back

Alison, I'm sure someone more knowledgeable about trains than me will respond, but as for going from Rome to Florence there are many daily trains. I searched Trenitalia for Friday, April 20 starting at 8am and found trains leaving Termini every 5 - 10 minutes. This includes many fast trains ( 1 1/2 hour travel time) . Mini fares were on offer for 39 euro.
I believe Florence to Assisi will require a connection at Cortona and a total train time of about 1 1/2 hours. I can't offer any advice on short notice lodging, but you should have no trouble getting to and from by train.

Alison, when you check the train schedules and enter your dates and cities you must also change the time. It it set to the time you're checking so if you are checking the schedules at noon and haven't reset the time it will show you trains from noon on. The fast trains will take just over an hour to go from Rome to Florence. I tried going on the trenitalia site to look up trains but the site is having difficulties. Donna

I agree - trains from Rome to Florence are plentiful. Take the regional to Assisi. Some make you transfer at Cortona but others don't. The transfer can waste alot of time. Once at the Assisi station you can take a taxi directly to your hotel in the medieval city (about 20 euros) or a bus that will leave you with a long walk carrying your luggage. In Assisi the Hotel Sole is our home base for 2 weeks every July. (I'm a director of an international music festival based in Assisi) Not the fanciest hotel in town but great location and excellent restaurant! And very nice people! Have a gelato on the piazza for me!

Allison, you have a great plan. Just note that the only quick part of this trip is the high-speed between Rome and Florence (1hr 35min). There are about 55 trains a day between Rome and Florence. During most of the day, there are 3 trains an hour. The fare on the high-speed is 56E but you can get a 39E non-refundable mini-fare if you are willing to lock in a definite travel date and time. The trains are there - even on Sunday. From Florence to Assisi, the train journey will take 2hr 45min. You will most likely be on a Regionale Veloce train which makes a lot more stops than do the high-speeds. No high-speeds on this run. When you reach the Assisi train station, you are not yet in Assisi. In fact, you can't even see it from the train station. From the train station, you take the bus. You can buy bus tickets at the small book store adjoining the train station. Once the bus passes through some trees, you see Assisi. It's a fabulous view. Note that the nicer restaurants are closed from 4-7pm. To get back to Rome, you bus back down to the train station and it's another 2.5hrs back to Rome. Note that in working with the new Trenitalia webpage format, you must type in the Italian name of the train station - even if you are on the English page. Thus, you need Roma, Firenze and Assisi. Do not use the shift key - just type the name. A small box opens on the center of the page and you select the station you want. You will want Roma Termini, Firenze Santa Maria Novella and Assisi. If you need further assistance , just message back.

I just came back to thank you for replying to my request for information. I did travel from Rome to Florence to Assisi and back during a transportation strike. Whew! Thank you for all of your helpful suggestions. They were invaluable and helped to ease my anxiety surrounding transporation issues in a foreign country where I do not speak the native language!