Rome Airport (FCO) to Florence

Hello Everyone, My partner and I are flying into Rome (FCO) and then heading straight to Florence. We were intending to connect with an Alitalia flight but a lot of traveller suggestions seem to favour commuting by train from FCO. Any advice would be most welcome. Thank you.

Here you go: http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

Note that even in the English version, you need to insert the Italian station names (Fiumicino Aeroporto to Firenze).

There are some direct services, but also more frequent services that have one change at Rome Termini, and don't take much longer. Certainly take the Leonardo Express from FCO (not the regionale service) if you do select the one-change option. All is revealed on the site.

Great, thank you. It seems that the train is the more efficient way to go.

Note that fares can be significantly cheaper booked online well in advance (up to 90 days), but you lose flexibility.

There is also the alternative company, with cheap fares from Rome Termini to Florence: https://www.italotreno.it/en

You will nearly always need to change,but it still faster than changing to another plane at Fiumicino airport.

Contrary to Jingli, you may well find the trenitalia website advises you to use the regional train from the airport to Rome Tiburtina and change there for Florence. Unless you are piled high with baggage, there's no reason to avoid using this commuter line from the airport.
And in Florence, just make sure your train goes to Santa Maria Novella (SMN) station in the city centre. Nearly all do, but just a few only stop at other stations in the suburbs.
I always point out too that the staff in the ticket office at the airport speak some english and deal with hundreds of international passengers every day. If you decide not to book your tickets in advance, the staff will be good at sorting out your journey when you arrive at the train station in the airport

I suppose you checked whether you can book a flight from your home town to Pisa airport.
Once at Roma Fiumicino airport, Venice Marco Polo airport or Milano Malpensa airport, it's easier to reach Florence by train, indeed.

Well, you can catch the slow regionale train to Tiburtina, but there is no advantage in doing so, and it just unnecessarily muddies very clear waters. They are no quicker, and can be a lot slower.

Catch one of these:

• Leonardo Express to Termini, then Freccia to Firenze SMN
• Non-stop Freccia from FCO to Firenze SMN

The non-stop might also save you the fixed cost of the Leonardo Express. And while you can buy tickets on the day, it can be insanely more expensive than if you book in advance. For example, check fares for tomorrow versus 8-10 weeks hence. And fares can vary widely over the day too.

It's all down to your particular arrival time as to how long you need to wait for connections by air or train. Either may also be more convenient than the other depending on your plans in Florence and after. If you have luggage then air is convenient as you'll likely have it automatically transferred and won't have to lug it on and off trains.

Bear in mind that if you make seat reservations on a premium train your tickets are useless for any other train. The fast trains from FCO to Florence are very frequent, I personally would buy tickets on arrival.

The fast trains from FCO to Florence are very frequent, I personally would buy tickets on arrival.

Umm ... as I've already stated, the direct service from FCO to Florence are fairly infrequent (every four hours or so), but there are a lot of services that run from Central Rome, after you've caught a train into town.

If you want the option of being able to catch the next available train relative to your landing and clearing all processes, then yes, don't purchase a ticket in advance, and pay a premium for flexibility on the day.

Agree it is cheaper to book in advance, but......
When I came through Fiumicino a couple of weeks ago, within the space of an hour 6 flights had landed from USA, as well as one from Toronto, one from Santiago and one from Moscow, immigration for non-EU passport holders was knee deep in people despite about 10 or a dozen staff on passport control and the luggage reclamation area was full to bursting ( they have all the EU luggage too). If you got through all that in under an hour you would consider yourself fortunate . It is difficult to predict how long you need to exit the airport, never mind whether the flight will be on time.

In the context of the overall cost of a trip, I agree that the negligible saving on a non-refundable pre-booked ticket is seldom if ever worth the risk of a late flight or other transport delay.

It is difficult to predict how long you need to exit the airport, never mind whether the flight will be on time.

Yes I agree with all that ... we have taken a very long time to get through Immigration at FCO, which is a little strange, since leaving from there is fairly speedy.

If money is more important than time (and hopefully you're not having to arrive into Florence at night - it's a bit daunting) then book a Freccia from Rome Termini with good lead time, and just catch the first Leonardo from FCO that you can.

Thanks so much everyone for taking the time to help. All set to book the train on arrival. Two Australians really looking forward to our trip.

Well, you can catch the slow regionale train to Tiburtina, but there is no advantage in doing so

Well, there can be an advantage if that's the connection that's most convenient for you. No reason to outright dismiss it.

Some trains run by both Trenitalia and Italo bypass Termini and Tiburtina is their only stop in Rome on the way to Florence.

For any local train, including the Leonardo Express, don't forget to validate (time-stamp) your tickets before boarding.

Some trains run by both Trenitalia and Italo bypass Termini and Tiburtina is their only stop in Rome on the way to Florence.

Yes ... I think we established that well up-thread. And the savings can be more than trivial; if they need to wait only another hour or so to save a hundred euros or so, why not? Anyway, I think the OP was reasonably and happily informed by post #2.

Not to pick nits but the #2 on my screen is a thank you from the OP for a post that doesn't mention Italo trains or the Tiburtina station.

Discounted onward tickets on arrival day are always a gamble. If you don't plan to gamble, don't dismiss Tiburtina station as an option if it's the most convenient option.

By the end of post #3, the OP definitely was fully informed. The existence of Italo had been flagged, and assuming they are of average traveller intelligence, then the existence of Tiburtina as a possible third option to get them to Firenze SMN, should have been readily apparent from the timetables.

I think our job is done here, unless someone else feels the need to complicate a simple matter.

Just out of interest, I checked the Italo timetable for 24 May ... there are 53 services from Rome to Florence in one 18-hour period, about half and half from Termini and Tiburtina. Sounds extraordinary, but true.

Which is why I said the service is very frequent. Years of referring to Rome as FCO is merely habit.

I wonder if Italo as a company makes any money?

Looks like Florence is the place to be. We certainly won’t have any trouble getting there.

We certainly won’t have any trouble getting there.

Worth working out how you're going to get from the Firenze SMN main station to you accommodation - it's not trivial to do so in many cases. There is a visitors centre across the trafficked square from the station - and a very busy place.

If you want to visit the Uffizi Gallery then certainly pre-purchase your tickets online. Closed Mondays.

In order to make it clear:
Today, there are 86 Florence bound trains starting at Roma Termini (60 Trenitalia and 26 Italo). Almost all of them stop at Tiburtina.

Isn't Luca Montezemolo on your speed dial?

I don't think that Global Infrastructure Partners III funds (GIP) would have bought Italotreno if there would be no money to make.
Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is an infrastructure investment fund making both equity and selected debt investments. GIP is headquartered in New York City and its equity investments are in infrastructure assets in the energy, transport and water/waste sectors. GIP employs approximately 150 investment and operational professionals and has offices in New York, London and Sydney and operational headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. In the aggregate, its portfolio companies employ approximately 21,000 people.

60 Trenitalia and 26 Italo

Yep meckers - you're dead right - mea culpa! I double-counted the Italo services (not entirely my fault - they're very oddly listed twice, leaving Termini and then leaving Tiburtina). Whatever - it's a truckload of trains per day ... those Italians sure move about.

They are waiting for the Alitalia collapse..even more money to be made on train travel...

Jingli - for your information https://italospa.italotreno.it/static/upload/ann/annual-report-2017.pdf

As mecker says, GIP are no fools

I wonder how many public transport systems around the world make a genuine return on investment?.

I know GIP are no fools - they've got both hands in various honey-pots here in The Wide Brown Land.

This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.