Updated November 2026. Times and conditions checked against operator and station pages on 12 November 2026.
The rome to florence train is the fastest way between the two cities, and for most trips it's also the best. Frecciarossa and Italo high-speed trains run from Rome to Florence's Santa Maria Novella station in roughly 1 hour 25 to 1 hour 40, and Italo's own page lists tickets from €14.90.
Slower regional and Intercity trains take 3 hours 41 minutes or more on the samples we read, while buses and cars only make sense on a tight budget or as part of a longer Tuscany loop. Here's how we'd choose, and what each option really costs you in time.
Quick answer: which Rome to Florence option should you pick?
Take a high-speed train if you want to be in Florence by lunchtime. Book a Frecciarossa or an Italo from Roma Termini to Firenze Santa Maria Novella (SMN), and you're a short walk from the centre.
Take the bus when price matters more than the clock. FlixBus lists fares from about €8, but it takes far longer than the train, and its own pages don't agree on how long.
Take a regional train only for the slow ride itself. On the sample departures we looked at, the Regionale Veloce took between 3 hours 41 and 4 hours 22.
Hire a car if Tuscany is the point of the trip. Florence's centre is a restricted traffic zone, so we'd pick the car up on the way out of the city, not on the way in.
Rome to Florence at a glance: times, fares and door-to-hotel time
The table puts the options side by side, and its last time column is the one most pages skip: the real journey from a Rome hotel to a Florence hotel.
| Option | Operator | On-board time (sample) | Door-to-hotel time (our estimate) | Fare signal | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frecciarossa | Trenitalia | 1h36 | 2h41 | Base fare, plus discounted Economy and Super Economy levels | Flexible tickets, most departures |
| Italo | Italo | 1h32 | 2h37 | From €14.90 (Italo's page) | Low advance fares, free luggage |
| Regionale Veloce | Trenitalia | 3h41 | 4h46 | Regional ticket, check Trenitalia | Slow-travel fans |
| Intercity | Trenitalia | 3h45 | 4h50 | Check Trenitalia | The same slow line, later in the day |
| Bus | FlixBus | See text | See text | From about €8 (FlixBus) | Tight budgets |
Two things stand out. Italo's route page lists its fastest non-stop service at 1 hour 25, but the sample Italo we read took 1 hour 32, because it called at Roma Tiburtina on the way.
And Trenitalia's own destination page describes the Frecciarossa trip as just over 1.5 hours. Don't plan around a 1h25 miracle.
Compare Rome–Florence train times and fares on Omio to see both operators in one list.
When the high-speed train is the right choice
It's the right choice almost every time. We'd book it if you're planning a single day in Florence, if your bags are heavy, or if your hotel sits near the station.
Both operators let you carry luggage without a separate fee, and that matters more than you'd expect once you're hauling a suitcase and a day pack through a station at rush hour.
Frequency is the other point in its favour: Italo's route page lists 32 daily trains, and Trenitalia's destinations page promises more than 100 trains a day on the Rome–Florence line, although we didn't count departures ourselves and the Italo page is quite old.
Treat both as "very frequent". Then check your day.
The catch? The cheapest tickets go first, and they come with strings attached, which we cover in the ticket section below.
When the bus or the regional train is better
The bus wins on price. FlixBus runs a direct service, and its fares start at about €8, which is well under Italo's €14.90 headline.
The time is where it gets murky, because one FlixBus page we read gives 2 hours 15 minutes for the journey while another page gives 3 hours 10 minutes for exactly the same route.
We can't tell which one is the current timetable, so check the departure you'd actually take before you book.
Florence stops matter as well, since FlixBus lists Santa Maria Novella, Villa Costanza, Guidoni (on tram line T2) and Piazzale Montelungo, and only the first of those is next to the train station.
The regional train suits a different kind of traveller. It runs on the older line via Orte, Orvieto and Arezzo, not on the high-speed line, and on the RFI board a Regionale Veloce leaving Roma Termini at 17:20 was due at Firenze SMN at 21:01, a trip of 3 hours 41.
An early one left at 05:30 and arrived at 09:52, which is 4 hours 22, and an Intercity that left at 18:15 reached Florence at 22:00 after 3 hours 45 on the same slow line.
So who takes it? Someone who values the scenery and the stops over the clock. If you only want to arrive, skip it.
Rome to Florence by high-speed train: Frecciarossa vs Italo
You'll see both names in every booking engine, so here's the plain difference.
Frecciarossa is Trenitalia's high-speed brand, sold in Base, Economy and Super Economy fares, and Italo is the private competitor that runs only high-speed trains. Both leave from Roma Termini, many also stop at Roma Tiburtina on the way out of the city, and both arrive at Firenze SMN.
What really differs is the fare rules:
- Trenitalia Base is the flexible level, changeable and refundable with conditions.
- Economy and Super Economy are the discounted levels. Super Economy can't be changed or refunded unless the €3 tiRimborso option is added at checkout, which then gives a partial refund up to 2 days before departure, with a 10% deduction.
- Italo allows changes up to 3 minutes before departure, subject to availability and any price difference.
On luggage, Italo's contract lets passengers carry bags free of charge, and in Smart class each item can measure up to 75 × 53 × 30 cm, with more than one item allowed, but a bag that doesn't conform costs €10 on board.
If the choice feels arbitrary, here's our pick: look at both for your exact departure and take the cheaper one at a time that suits your day, because the two brands are close enough in speed that fare and departure time decide it. Simple.
Book the Rome–Florence train on Omio, or go straight to the operators at Trenitalia and Italo.
How to buy Rome to Florence train tickets
Buy on the operator's site or app, or through Omio if you'd like both operators in one search. Two rules matter more than the rest.
First, high-speed tickets are named. Trenitalia says tickets for medium and long-distance trains are non-transferable and carry the passenger's name, so bring your passport or ID in case the staff ask to see it.
Second, regional tickets work differently: a paper regional ticket must be validated before boarding and then stays valid for 4 hours, while digital tickets bought online don't need validating at all.
Travel with an unvalidated paper ticket and you'll pay the fare plus a fine.
Does this matter for the Rome to Florence run? Only on a Regionale or an Intercity. A Frecciarossa or Italo ticket is tied to a train and a seat, so there's nothing to stamp.
Getting to the station in Rome: Termini or Tiburtina?
Most departures we read leave from Roma Termini, and the high-speed trains often stop next at Roma Tiburtina, which can save you a trip across town if your hotel happens to be closer to it.
Choose by your hotel, not by habit, and check the board before you commit to a station.
If you're arriving from the airport, there are two sensible routes.
Fiumicino (FCO). The Leonardo Express runs non-stop to Roma Termini in 32 minutes, every 15 minutes, and airport operator ADR lists it from Termini between 04:50 and 23:05 and from the airport between 05:38 and 23:27, with a €14 ticket. The slower FL1 regional line reaches Roma Tiburtina in 48 minutes.
A direct Frecciarossa from FCO. Trenitalia says Frecciarossa trains connect Fiumicino airport with Florence, and no change is needed. We couldn't confirm the number of daily departures from an official page, so check the timetable for your arrival time. Italo's page shows tickets from Rome FCO to Florence from €17, but that page is old, so use the price only as a guide.
Pre-book an airport transfer in Rome with Welcome Pickups if you land late or you're carrying a lot of bags, because a fixed-price driver in arrivals beats the taxi queue.
Arriving in Florence: Santa Maria Novella and onward
Every high-speed train arrives at Firenze Santa Maria Novella, a terminus in the heart of the city that handles more than 400 trains a day.
The station has a left-luggage store, a tourist information point and a Casa Italo desk, and that makes a day trip simpler, because your suitcase doesn't have to follow you round Florence.
We didn't find an official price for left luggage, so ask at the desk. Don't assume.
For the airport, tram line T2 takes 20 minutes between the centre and Florence's airport according to the operator, and it carries one bag of up to 10 kg and 55 × 40 × 20 cm free of charge, so a big suitcase may need a taxi.
Most central hotels are a short walk from SMN. If you haven't booked a bed yet, read our guide to where to stay in Florence, and the best hotels in Florence list covers every budget.
Rome to Florence by car: what to know before driving
We wouldn't drive just to get from one city to the other. We would drive when the trip is a Tuscany loop.
The road route is about 276 km according to FlixBus's route page, and it follows the A1, but we haven't verified a driving time from an official source, so we won't print one.
Tolls are charged by distance. The Autostrade per l'Italia page we read lists a unit rate of €0.07869 per km for class A vehicles (cars) on flat sections and €0.09315 per km on mountain sections, so the total depends on the kilometres driven, and we found no official total for this trip. Use Autostrade's own toll calculator for a figure.
The part that catches people out is the end of the journey. Florence's historic centre is a restricted traffic zone (ZTL), and the city's page says non-residents can't drive in it from 07:30 to 19:30 on weekdays and from 07:30 to 18:00 on Saturdays.
A summer night restriction applies Thursday to Saturday, roughly 23:00 to 03:00, from the end of May to mid-September, and cameras read the plate, so the fine arrives later by post.
If the hotel is inside the ZTL, give it the plate number. The city says a hotel can register it for a temporary permit that covers luggage drop-off, lasting at most 2 hours and only on arrival and departure dates.
Florence also runs a low-emission zone called Scudo Verde, which bans vehicles by emission class every day, 24 hours, and which started on 1 April 2025, so ask the hire company about your car's class before you book.
Our advice is simple: collect the car when leaving Florence, not on arrival.
Compare car hire prices in Rome and Florence on DiscoverCars if the car is part of a longer trip.
Strikes, delays and what to do if the train is cancelled
We can't promise a quiet timetable, and we won't pretend to forecast one, so what follows comes from the fare rules.
If a train is cancelled or missed, the options depend on the ticket: a Trenitalia Base fare allows changes and refunds with conditions, Italo allows changes until 3 minutes before departure, and the cheapest levels have the tightest rules of all.
That's the trade-off for the low price.
If your plans are firm, say a flight home or a wedding, buy a flexible fare. If a missed train would only annoy you, a discounted fare is fine.
Leave a margin on both ends either way. A delayed train that costs you a flight costs far more than you saved on the ticket.
Travel insurance can cover part of that risk, so compare travel insurance with Visitors Coverage before you pay for non-refundable tickets.
The other direction and onward trips
Florence to Rome is the same railway in reverse, with the same Frecciarossa and Italo services, and a Frecciarossa that left Roma Termini at 21:40 reached Florence at 23:20, which is a reminder that late departures exist even though the exact times vary by day.
For onward travel into the region, the Tuscany travel guide covers towns and getting around, and the Siena travel guide and Pisa travel guide cover two popular stops.
For the two cities themselves, start with the Rome travel guide and the Florence travel guide.
Is Florence worth a day trip from Rome?
Yes, with one condition: it has to be a fast, full day. The train is quick enough for a morning departure and an evening return, and the left-luggage store at SMN helps if you're checking out of your Rome hotel the same day.
Florence rewards slow days, so a day trip means choosing. You can't do it all.
Read the things to do in Florence list first, pick three, and leave the rest, and for the Rome end of the trip, the things to do in Rome guide, plus where to stay in Rome and the best hotels in Rome, cover the planning.
My pick: the Rome to Florence train, with a plan for the other end
Our pick is the high-speed train for almost everyone. Choose Italo or Frecciarossa by price and departure time, buy a fare type that matches how sure your plans are, and leave a margin on both ends.
Use the bus when money is tight and you've checked the time. Use the car only for Tuscany. Take the regional train for the ride itself.
Plan your trip
A few pieces are easy to leave until the last minute:
Frequently asked questions
How long is the Rome to Florence train?
High-speed trains take about 1 hour 25 to 1 hour 40. Italo lists 1 hour 25 for its fastest non-stop service, and the sample trains we read took 1 hour 32 to 1 hour 40. Regional and Intercity trains took 3 hours 41 to 4 hours 22 on the samples we checked.
How much is a Rome to Florence train ticket?
Italo's own page lists tickets from €14.90. We couldn't verify a Trenitalia fare table today, so check Trenitalia for the date. Omio shows both operators together, and the cheapest levels carry the tightest change and refund rules.
What is the fastest train from Rome to Florence?
Italo lists its non-stop train at about 1 hour 25. Trenitalia describes the Frecciarossa journey as just over 1.5 hours. In practice both brands run in roughly the same time, so choose by fare and departure.
Do I need to book a train from Rome to Florence in advance?
Booking early is how you get the discounted levels, since Economy and Super Economy are the cheap fares and they come with the tightest rules. We didn't verify how far ahead they sell out, so check the date you want.
Which station do I use in Rome and Florence?
In Rome, the sample trains we read left from Roma Termini, and some high-speed trains also stop at Roma Tiburtina. In Florence, high-speed trains arrive at Firenze Santa Maria Novella. Check the departure station on your booking before you pay.
Is there a direct train from Rome airport to Florence?
Trenitalia says Frecciarossa trains connect Fiumicino airport with Florence without a change. We couldn't confirm the daily count from an official page. The alternative is the Leonardo Express to Roma Termini, which takes 32 minutes, followed by a high-speed train.
Is it cheaper to take the bus or the train?
The bus can be cheaper. FlixBus lists fares from about €8, while Italo lists its lowest train fare at €14.90. The bus takes much longer, though, and FlixBus's pages disagree on the time, so compare the exact departure first.
Is it worth driving from Rome to Florence?
Usually not, unless your trip continues into Tuscany. Florence's centre is a restricted traffic zone with camera enforcement, so you'll park outside it. If you do drive, ask your hotel to register the plate for a temporary permit.
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