I am going to be in Florence and going to the Amalfi Coast, is there a high speed first class train?

Question

I am visiting Italy and doing some sight seeing; I am going to be in Florence until Tuesday then want to go spend 2 days on the Amalfi Coast then go to Venice and spend another 2 days.

I was going to rent a car but I have heard the high speed trains are pretty good and avoid the hassle with having a car and renting one.

Answer 1

There is a first class train to Naples, but from there you have to take the little local train that goes around the  Gulf of Naples.  The train station in Naples is a confusing place...  you arrive in the main train station upstairs, then have to buy tickets for the local train, and then go downstairs to the local train station.  When I was there the train broke down before getting to Sorrento and they transferred all the passengers to buses.  The bus took us to another train station to wait for a working train...  a couple hours.  I recommend driving...

Answer 2

Yes there is.

The "Ferrovie Statali" have a high speed train  called "EuroStar" that goes from Florence "Santa Maria Novella" station to Napoli "Centrale" station. The trip usually lasts under 4 hours.

From Napoli, you have to take a much slower but very scenic train to the coast. It is like a overland subway that goes through some amazing places like Pompeii and ends in Sorrento. From there, you can take ferries to Capri, Positano, etc....

For the link see below or go to http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

Have fun and take care.