Best Way to Travel from Rome Fiumicino Airport to Florence?

Question

What is the best (and hopefully the cheapest) way to get from Rome Fiumicino Airport to Florence? I heard we should do this by train, but can someone give me a step-by-step answer? thanks.

Answer 1

I did this about 5x this summer so I was getting used to it.

I think the best way is to travel by train. You don't have to worry about looking for street signs, you can sit back and enjoy the scenery.

From Fiumicino Airport you have to walk to the trainstation (which is attached to the station). There are only 4 tracks, and they are all together so it's not difficult to find the one that will take you to Roma Termini (the main station).

Once at Roma Termini buy yourself a ticket to Florence (Santa Maria Novella or SMN) on the Eurostar...it's a LOT faster then TrenItalia -- about 2 hours faster!

If you take Eurostar you can find which "binario" (platform) your train will be on, simply by looking at the destination board. However, if you take TrenItalia (which is about 10euros cheaper) make sure you look at the white destination boards beside the platforms to see which train goes to Florence. The FINAL DESTINATION will be posted on the big destination Board...I made the mistake of looking for the city i was going to, rather then the final destination. Eventually i found my way.

If anything, just ask someone!! Florence is a VERY popular route, mainly because people are going from Rome to Florence (or vice versa) if they're going on a tour.

The trip (on Eurostar) will take about an hour...but the scenery is great :)

Say 'hi' to the woman with the baby who always asks for money...she is ALWAYS there. I went 3x in one year and everytime i went she was there...

Enjoy!

I wish i were still there....

Answer 2

By train is by far the best. My guess it's also the cheapest. Others have detailed how to do it, so I won't repeat it, but I wanted to warn you about doing it by car -- driving in Italy can be scary for a foreigner, and it's not that cheap; by the time you rent the car and pay for gas (it costs three times more than in the US) you'll have spent way more than purchasing a ticket. Save money and some sanity by doing it by train.

Answer 3

When you are at the airport follow the signs for the train. The trains run from the airport directly to Roma Termini station every half hour. The trip takes 31 minutes and costs 11 euro. http://www.adr.it/content.asp?Subc=1361&... http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

At Roma Termini, you can catch a train to Florence. The fastest option is a Eurostar (1.5 hr; 33 euro 2nd class). A Eurocity train is a little slower and cheaper (2 hr; 27.50 euro). A regional train takes 3.5 hours (lots of stops), but only costs 14.90 euro. see the Italian train website above for specific schedules.

Tickets are easy to buuy either from the ticket windows or from the machines - there's an English language option for the interface. You need to validate (time stamp) the ticket before getting on the train. Look for the yellow boxes near the tracks.

Answer 4

The easiest -- but perhaps not cheapest or least stressful -- really is by car. But you need to be comfortable driving in Italy to want to do this.

By train, it is very easy to do even if it involves many steps. First you must take the train known as the Leonardo da Vinci from Fiumicino airport to Roma Termini (the main train station in Rome). These trains run every half hour or so from early morning til late.

From Termini train travel frequently to Florence. You can  check out the national train service's website for time, info and online purchase: http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html.

A few tips:

-- When looking for the track that your train is on, you probably won't see Florence (or Firenze as it is known in Italian) listed. Generally the last destination is listed and that is usually Milano.

-- Unless you are taking a Eurostar train (the fast trains -- they are worth it) and have a seat assignment, you will need to punch your ticket in the little yellow boxes at the end of the track in order for the ticket to be valid. If you don't do this you will face a big fine.