Day trip to Florence from Rome

[Cy'all@C]

We will have 5 days pre-cruise in Rome this Oct.

Was wondering if it's possible to take the train for a day trip to Florence from Rome?

How much time would it allow us to tour Florence?

Should train strikes be a concern?

Thanks for any input on the best way for us to do this.

 

Trudy

[somewhere in the sun]

We will have 5 days pre-cruise in Rome this Oct.

Was wondering if it's possible to take the train for a day trip to Florence from Rome?

How much time would it allow us to tour Florence?

Should train strikes be a concern?

Thanks for any input on the best way for us to do this.

 

Trudy

 

Why not stay one night in Florence? We were in a similar situation with the same number of pre cruise nights and did 2 in rome and florence and one in tuscany. We favored Florence over Rome for a number of reasons, but I won't try to convince you :)

 

It is definitely possible to see some things in one day, say perhaps the Academie and the Duomo with a few other sights thrown in.

 

First ES to florence looks like its at 6:30am, getting you into florence at 8:09.

 

Last ES train out is at 9:49pm returning you at 11:30pm in rome.

 

That would be a long day, but you certainly can see alot. It will run you about 80 euro round trip per person.

[GSPLover]

I agree with the previous post. Especially the spending a night part. Florence is especially wonderful at night. Check my train site (link below) for schedule info.

 

I have add that I would never do a trip to anywhere in Italy without 1 day/night in Firenze!

[Hambagahle]

It's easy to spend a day in Florence and return to Rome - very frequent trains and the main station, Sta Maria Novella, is right in the historic district so you just walk out of the station and start sightseeing!

www.trenitalia.it is the Italian state railway system's site and you can get all the train info you need from it.

[pinksuit]

We will have 5 days pre-cruise in Rome this Oct.

Was wondering if it's possible to take the train for a day trip to Florence from Rome?

How much time would it allow us to tour Florence?

Should train strikes be a concern?

Thanks for any input on the best way for us to do this.

 

Trudy

 

Yes' date=' it is possible, but like yourself, we had several days in Rome pre and post cruise. On the post cruise, we took the day trip to Florence and felt that it was too rushed. I totally agree with other posters that suggest a stay over a night in Florence! You will be happy that you did. I wish we had. Now, we need to plan a trip just to go to Florence and the surrounds.:)[/color']

Enjoy!

Pinkie

[somewhere in the sun]

If you're looking for real authentic Italian stuff, souvenirs, etc. make sure to spend some time looking through the market in Florence. The leather goods are excellent and very competitively priced even before you haggle over the price with them! We found ourselves wishing after our land and cruise trip that we could go back and load up on some more stuff before returning home... we're glad that we bought what we did though...

[Cy'all@C]

Why not stay one night in Florence? We were in a similar situation with the same number of pre cruise nights and did 2 in rome and florence and one in tuscany. We favored Florence over Rome for a number of reasons, but I won't try to convince you :)

 

It is definitely possible to see some things in one day, say perhaps the Academie and the Duomo with a few other sights thrown in.

 

First ES to florence looks like its at 6:30am, getting you into florence at 8:09.

 

Last ES train out is at 9:49pm returning you at 11:30pm in rome.

 

That would be a long day, but you certainly can see alot. It will run you about 80 euro round trip per person.

 

We're considering a day trip only to avoid lugging luggage on the train. Do they have # of bags and weight restrictions? Why did you prefer Florence over Rome? We are in the intial stages of planning and your input is appreciated. (Authentic, reasonably priced souveniers at the market...we'll be there! :D) Thanks.

 

 

I agree with the previous post. Especially the spending a night part. Florence is especially wonderful at night. Check my train site (link below) for schedule info.

 

I have add that I would never do a trip to anywhere in Italy without 1 day/night in Firenze!

 

WOW...great train info! What an asset to these boards. I look forward to studying it more closely. Thanks for your help.

 

It's easy to spend a day in Florence and return to Rome - very frequent trains and the main station, Sta Maria Novella, is right in the historic district so you just walk out of the station and start sightseeing!

www.trenitalia.it is the Italian state railway system's site and you can get all the train info you need from it.

 

That's what I was hoping to hear. What sights were you able to see in a day? Thanks.

 

 

Yes, it is possible, but like yourself, we had several days in Rome pre and post cruise. On the post cruise, we took the day trip to Florence and felt that it was too rushed. I totally agree with other posters that suggest a stay over a night in Florence! You will be happy that you did. I wish we had. Now, we need to plan a trip just to go to Florence and the surrounds.:)

 

Enjoy!

Pinkie

 

Staying overnight may be enough reason for us to pack extra light and lug that luggage on the train with us!

 

Thanks everyone for your responses.

 

Trudy

[somewhere in the sun]

We're considering a day trip only to avoid lugging luggage on the train. Do they have # of bags and weight restrictions?

Understandable' date=' there are no baggage restrictions on the EuroStar trains that I am aware of. We lugged two 50lb suitcases, a smaller 30lb one, in addition to a backpack and my wife's giant purse. We had no problem finding a luggage compartment right on the train we were on. You don't have to worry as much about luggage grabbers since the train does not stop until you get to Florence!

 

Also, if your plan is to head back to Rome afterwards for a night or two, maybe you can leave your heavy bags with the hotel you're returning to and just pack a light one for the trip...

 

Why did you prefer Florence over Rome? We are in the intial stages of planning and your input is appreciated. (Authentic, reasonably priced souveniers at the market...we'll be there! :D) Thanks.

 

Difficult to really quantify, we felt that the people were much nicer and although this is obviously highly subjective and not guaranteed for all. We also preferred the food by a large margin. I love the medeival architecture and character of the city that I felt Rome lacked. Other than the landmark structures in Rome, everything else was just sort of blah. It's a very metropolitan city obviously, and Florence just felt a bit more genuine.. we also had our best gelato there :)

 

Since you have 5 days, perhaps you can fly into Florence and end up in Rome before getting on the cruise... if you do stay over, check out the Hotel Rivoli, very close to train station and easy walking to the sites.

[Cy'all@C]

 

Difficult to really quantify, we felt that the people were much nicer and although this is obviously highly subjective and not guaranteed for all. We also preferred the food by a large margin. I love the medeival architecture and character of the city that I felt Rome lacked. Other than the landmark structures in Rome, everything else was just sort of blah. It's a very metropolitan city obviously, and Florence just felt a bit more genuine.. we also had our best gelato there :)

 

Since you have 5 days, perhaps you can fly into Florence and end up in Rome before getting on the cruise... if you do stay over, check out the Hotel Rivoli, very close to train station and easy walking to the sites.

 

Ironically, I was in my doctor's office today and picked up T&L's World's Best Awards edition from Aug. '08 and what do ya know...Florence takes the #1 spot for the Top 10 European Cities and Rome takes #2. We'll take a look at Hotel Rivoli! Thanks for your suggestions.

 

Trudy

[Bethwte]

I did the reverse- was in Florence for three weeks and took a day trip to Rome. Like everyone else has said, I would make it an overnight trip. Getting up at 5 to be able to arrive in Rome at a decent hour (we hired vans), running around like mad the whole day, and the three hour plus ride back was just exhausting.

 

Florence is absolutely amazing and you will truly love it, especially if you are an art lover. Even if you're not an art lover though, go to the Accademia. The David up close and in person is truly breath taking. There are repros all around the city, but none come close to doing it justice. Also, right now there is an amazing Mapplethorpe exhibit going on- I'm not sure if it goes until October or not, but hopefully it will. I much preferred it to Rome, but keep in mind when I say that, that Florence was like my home there, and I spent but a day in Rome, so I can't truly compare them.

 

If you have any Florence questions that haven't been answered here I will try my best to help you, as I was just there and came home last week. Though I'll warn you in advance a lot of what I did there revolved around art and churches (the art in churches) as I was there for an Art History study abroad.

[Billiam]

We did this in Oct. 07 and loved the day trip. Caught a train from Rome around 8ish and after a coffee and muffin we were there. Get your English speaking paper at the train station, unless you read Italian. We had scheduled 2 or 3 walking tours with Florence Walking Tours, I think. Everything is within a 6-8 block area and our first tour included a church and local sites with history, we later did Accademia and the Uffizi. We broke for lunch between tours and had enough time to shop at the bridge before catching a train around 7-8 following the last tour. Long day trip but worth it. The train station is only a few blocks from the action. We feel we saw enough that we will do a Tuscany tour this year from Liverno.

Happy cruising

[eastsidekid]

This thread has got me thinking.(almost always a bad sign)

We will be Livorno Cittavecchi on consecuative days. Has anyone left the ship, overnight in Florence , Train to Rome next morning, Reboard ship that evening. Would this be legal. Anyone Know. Thanks in advance.

[GSPLover]

This thread has got me thinking.(almost always a bad sign)

We will be Livorno Cittavecchi on consecuative days. Has anyone left the ship, overnight in Florence , Train to Rome next morning, Reboard ship that evening. Would this be legal. Anyone Know. Thanks in advance.

 

Would not be the first time that it has been done. Check with your cruise line for their policy.

[Bethwte]

This thread has got me thinking.(almost always a bad sign)

We will be Livorno Cittavecchi on consecuative days. Has anyone left the ship, overnight in Florence , Train to Rome next morning, Reboard ship that evening. Would this be legal. Anyone Know. Thanks in advance.

 

This is what happens when people unintentionally miss the boat, so I would assume you could do it intentionally as well. It might be best to check with the cruise line first though just to make sure.

[iancal]

We have visited Florence a number of times. It is magical, especially at nightfall. My suggestion would be to leave most of your luggage at your hotel in Rome, check out for a day, and travel to Florence for a full day and an overnight stay with just an overnight bag. But we are biased....absolutely hooked on Florence and Tuscany.

[Cy'all@C]

Thanks everyone for the great feedback. A lot will depend on where we stay in Rome and if they will store the bulk of our luggage.

We're considering a convent so I suppose the nuns will safely take care of it! :D I am encouraged though that a day trip is possible, if not preferable.

Thanks again for all the input.

 

Trudy

[texancruzer]

Have been to both. Love them both :D but for different reasons.

 

Rome is so full of life...... and yet in the evening everyone strolls the piazzas etc. There is something spectacular to look at on EVERY corner..... people and food are wonderful...... the actual # of sights to see can be overwhelming...... pick your favorites and save the others for another trip..... you will be back !

 

Florence is relaxed and comfortable. Everyone strolls all the time ;) Also spectacular things to look at. I loved the old doors on the buildings ! People and food are wonderful...... shopping is a bonus :)

 

Just a different feel to each but each is a truly wonderful and unique experience.....

 

choose a favorite ???? Um - I'll get back to you on that :rolleyes:

 

I would definately try to overnight as others have posted.

[Cy'all@C]

 

I would definately try to overnight as others have posted.

 

I'm sure the museums and churchs will be closed at night so what should we not miss doing at nightfall?

 

Thanks,

Trudy

[GSPLover]

Hard question to answer. It it simply the ambiance and the beauty of the city at night. The peaceful serinity of the Arno at night, with the lights reflecting off its surfaces. The Duomo at night, under light, is a sight to behold. The quiet streets with a disco tucked in here and there. Florence is magical at night, I love it. You have to spend at least one night in Firenze to understand what it is all about. I love this city!!!

[texancruzer]

I'm sure the museums and churchs will be closed at night so what should we not miss doing at nightfall?

 

Thanks' date='

[i']Trudy [/i]

 

While I have not had the opportunity to experience Florence at night...... the main point of overnighting is that it will give the OP more time to see the sights. He/she was originally asking about doing a day trip from Rome (going and coming back in the same day) and many posted since he/she had 5 days precruise to spend 3 in Rome and 2 in Florence (overnighting). The time crunch in trying to do a day trip from Rome would not allow very much time to experience this wonderful city !!!!

[somewhere in the sun]

Hard question to answer. It it simply the ambiance and the beauty of the city at night. The peaceful serinity of the Arno at night, with the lights reflecting off its surfaces. The Duomo at night, under light, is a sight to behold. The quiet streets with a disco tucked in here and there. Florence is magical at night, I love it. You have to spend at least one night in Firenze to understand what it is all about. I love this city!!!

 

Well said! I second that!!:D