Final Destination:
The Frecciargento trains = Venezia or Bolzano or Bergamo
The Frecciarossa and Frercciarossa 1000* trains = Milano or Torino or Venezia
*Frecciarossa 1000 trains are now used on a few of these services.
Some of these trains also call at: Roma Tiburtina
The high speed train journey from Rome to Florence:
The high speed line between Rome and Florence is more scenic than most, it's not a beautiful journey, but there is a wow factor of travelling across the rolling landscape at more than 240 km/h*.
*The direttissima between Rome and Florence was the first high speed railway line to be built in Italy, so it has a slower maximum speed than the other Italian high speed lines.
The alternatives to taking these Frecce trains:
As our guide to travelling by train in Italy explains, travellers often have a choice of train services when making journeys between major Italian cities.
This is the case when travelling by train from Rome to Florence/Firenze, on this route you can pay a higher price, for taking a faster train, or save money by taking a slower train
There are four options to choose between when making a Rome to Florence train journey.
(1) Taking these Frecce trains, which are operated by Italy's national rail company, Trenitalia.
(2) Trenitalia’s Frecce trains compete with alternative Italo trains on the high speed route between Roma and Firenze.
They match the journey times of these Frecce trains and can be cheaper, though Trenitalia does not sell tickets for those Italo trains.
However, prices and departure times with these Frecce trains can be compared on Loco 2 and Trainline - see the links below.
(3) Or you can take the much slower Intercity trains, which unlike the Frecce and Italo trains, don't take the high speed line between Rome and Florence.
They're usually cheaper than the high speed services when booking in advance and they will be (much) cheaper, if you will be buying tickets last minute at the station.
However, they arrive at Firenze Rifredi station and NOT at the city centre station, Firenze S. M. Novella.
So you will need to take another train between these two stations, if you will be heading to Florence/Firenze city centre.
(4) Or if you will be buying tickets last minute at the station, or travelling with an InterRail or Eurail pass, the cheapest, but slowest, option of all, will be taking the Regionale Veloce trains.
Though, if you are booking in advance, the Intercity trains can be a few euros cheaper than the Regionale Veloce trains.
If you are new to travelling by train in Italy, our Italian Train Travel Guide is packed with info and useful links to help ensure you’ll have a stress-free trip.