We will be arriving at Venice airport at 11:10 and going by train direct to Florence. If we are not able to catch the 1:07 train from the Mestre station, we would have to wait until 3:14 for the next train. Or, we could go to the Santa Lucia in Venice for the 1:25 or 2:25 trains. Would it be better to head direct to Venice Santa Lucia station? And if so, what type of transportation do you recommend? Thanks--just don't want to waste too much time--it will be my luck we'd miss the 1:07 train from Mestre by 5 minutes!
Kathy
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16239 posts
Not clear why one would fly to VCE to go straight to Florence. It would have made more sense to fly to Florence directly then ( or maybe Bologna).
Go to VE Mestre station and try to make that train (by bus). If you happen to miss the train just take one of the numerous Regional trains to Santa Lucia. From VE Mestre to VE S.L is a 5 min ride. Although I think all trains fro SL stop also in Mestre.
Posted by
OP
Long Beach, MS
11 posts
Thanks--using frequent flier miles to get to Venice, so wasn't an option to go direct to Florence. Will be returning to Venice to take a cruise the following week and then staying in Venice.
Posted by
Ballwin
833 posts
Hi Kathy,
I believe all the Freccia trains that depart Santa Lucia on the way to Florence stop in at the Mestre station. The 1:25 Santa Lucia you mentioned departs Mestre at 1:37, and the 2:25 at 2:37. There is also a 2:47 that leaves from Mestre. Don't buy your ticket ahead of time since you don't know which you'll be able to make - just purchase it upon arrival at the train station.
Posted by
OP
Long Beach, MS
11 posts
Thank you--that certainly makes sense, but where can I find that info--on the Trenitalia site? I can't seem to find the detail on the stations on the RailEurope site.
Posted by
Minneapolis
1277 posts
Hi Kathy. Yes, all trains are shown on the trenitalia site. Use stations Venezia Mestre and Firenze S. M. Novella. Looks like there are trains at least once per hour. Enjoy your trip!
Posted by
Green Bay
21379 posts
As you have discovered, Rail Europe only shows a fraction of the trains and no detailed information, and their prices are higher than buying them direct from the rail operators themselves. The best and easiest site to use for viewing the schedules and getting detailed information on European trains is www.bahn.com. This is the German rail website and is the easiest to use, gives all the stops and times of the trains, even a map of the route.
The accuracy of rail Europe's is also in question. All of the Trenitalia trains depart Mestre at 37 past the hour, and there are a hand full of additional departures at 47 past the hour. I checked Italo Treno, another company that also operates high speed trains in Italy, and realized that RE is showing you their trains! They are a good company, some say better than Trenitalia, but they only run 5 trains a day on this route. I will add that they do not show up on the bahn website. Their trains leave Mestre at 7 past the hour. They cost 1 euro more than Trenitalia trains and make the run in the exact same time of 1 hour 53 minutes.
So, if you are going to buy a full fare ticket, just buy it at the station when you arrive. Trenitalia's fare is 45 euro, and Italo Treno's is 46 euro. You can just grab the next train going to Florence. There is frequent bus service at the airport and I believe the tickets are 6 euro and get you to Mestre station in about 20 minutes.
Posted by
OP
Long Beach, MS
11 posts
Thank you so much! I have used that site for Central Europe---did not occur to me to use for Italy, it's perfect!