How to take the rail journey from Florence/Firenze to Munich/München

Due to construction work and a route closure in Italy, this train will not be available until September 10th/11th.

The train is usually scheduled to depart from Firenze S.M.N. station at 22:31 and arrive in München Hbf at 09:21.

Final Destination: München Hbf
(This train does not call at Munchen Ost).

Connect in Munich for ICE trains on these routes:

• Hamburg via Hannover, Kassel and Wurzburg; usually scheduled to depart at 09:53
• Dusseldorf via Koln/Cologne and Frankfurt; usually scheduled to depart at 10:45
• Berlin via Leipzig and; usually scheduled to depart at 10:51

Travel during the day
This overnight service is the only direct train from Firenze to München, so if you opt to travel by day, you'll have to make connection, though the scenery is fabulous north of Verona.

The optimum connections are available when taking these combinations of trains:

Monday to Friday via Bologna:
1: Depart Firenze S.M.N at 14:20
2: Depart Bologna Centrale at 15:50; arrive München Hbf at 22:27.

Daily via Verona:
1: Depart Firenze S.M.N at 12:36
2: Depart Verona Porta Nuova at 15:01; arrive München Hbf at 20:26.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open:

6 months ahead of the travel date on OBB*
3 months ahead of the travel date on DB Bahn

* This train is provided by Austria's national rail operator, OBB, it travels through Austria on this journey between Germany and Italy.

The train conveys:

- Compartment Seats (Sitzwagen)
- Couchettes (Liegewagen); 4 berths AND 6 berths
- Standard sleeping cars (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins
- Deluxe sleeping cars with showers (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins

The first price you will see on the OBB ticketing site will be for the compartment seats.

Click the train details for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:

Using Rail Passes:

Rail pass users must reserve before boarding this train.

You can now book rail pass reservations without paying booking fees on the OBB website (OBB operates these trains).
Though the process for doing so isn't particularly obvious, hence the step-by-step guide.

Making the rail pass reservation in advance online is particularly recommended if you will be traveling between June and September.
If you wait until arriving in Firenze/Florence to reserve, your first choice of accommodation on the train may have sold out.

There are no direct daytime trains from Firenze / Florence to München / Munich, but there are two EC trains per day from Bologna to München.
There are typically at least two high speed trains per hour from Firenze to Bologna to including both the Frecce services operated by Trenitalia and the Italo trains

However, because of the frequency of the trains from Roma / Rome, the ticket agents can offer multiple options which have the same departure time from Roma Termini
The longer journey times allow more time to make the connection between trains in Bologna.

The fastest end-to-end journeys with a time of a little over 7hr 30 mins involve making a connection in Bologna in under 20 mins, which allows for little contingency time in the event of a delay to the train from Roma.
These are the connections which usually involve departing Firenze at 10:55 and 14:55..

Making the connection in Bologna Centrale

The trains from Roma will arrive in the part of the station which is under ground and is also known as Bologna Centrale AV.
So you will need to use the escalators or stairs to ascend up from the AV platforms / tracks and them from the AV concourse.
You will then be at a mezzanine level, still under the ground, it has a car pick up / drop off area.
From here there are passage ways ,which cross the main above ground part of the station, beneath the railway lines
One of these passage ways has elevators which lead up to each platform / track in the over ground part of the station - that the train on to München will depart from
Another passage has escalators that lead up to these platforms / tracks - both passage ways also have staircases which lead up to the trains.

If you will happy to use the stairs / escalators the transfer from stepping off the train from Rome and boarding the train on to Munich will take at least 3 mins.
Though if you solely use the elevators / lifts the transfer can take around 10 minutes.

The additional daily options

There is typically a daily train at around 08:45 from Firenze to Bolzano and the time between arrival and departure in Bolzano, is typically scheduled to be more than 40mins.
The arrival time in to München Hbf is typically scheduled to be before 16:30.

Or for those who prefer to relax between trains there is usually a Frecce train to Verona around 11:35 , which typically has a connecting time between trains at Verona Porta Nuova of more than 1hr 50mins - though the end-to-end journey time will be around 8hr 50mins

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date - but this period of time is shorter when looking up journeys in August to October.

When looking up the journey on the DB website, you can use the tool which increases the minimum transfer time between trains, in order to see additional options.

A choice of tickets

Three types of tickets are available:
Two types of discounted tickets, which will be cheaper the further ahead you book - Sparpreis Europa and Super Sparpreis Europa
One type of non-discounted ticket - Flexpreis Europa.

A key difference between these types of tickets is refunds:

• Super Sparpreis tickets are cheapest, but they can't be refunded at all.
• Sparpreis tickets can be refunded for a fee, but the refund will be in the form of travel vouchers to be used for alternative / future journeys.
• Flexpreis Europa tickets can be refunded at no additional charge.

Making the connection:

If a delay to the train from Firenze causes the booked connection on to to be missed, it should be possible to go the ticket desk at Bologna Centrale and have tickets re-issued for the onward train.
Or if when you arrive on the concourse at Firenze S.M. Novella it is clear that the train you are booked on to is running late, but alternative trains, which are on time, will enable you to make the connection in Bologna - if you are travelling by Frecce train, go to the Frecce desk on the concourse to swap your tickets to the alternative departure - of if you are travelling with Italo, go to the Italo desk.

Though if you set off from Firenze and the connection involves taking the 15:50 train on from Bologna, if it's missed you won't be able to arrive into Munich by the end of the day.

There is relatively new E.U. legislation which protects travellers against financial loss in the event of missed connections due to train delays, but it only applies to 'through tickets'.

Though the operators of the Frecce and EC trains (not the Italo rains) have also signed up to Agreement on Journey Continuation (AJC) policy for when a traveller holds separate transport 'contracts' for an end-to-end journey involving more than one train.
So this agreement applies both when 'a bundle' of tickets / contracts is issued as the result of a single transaction - and if travellers have bought several different tickets for their journey, even from different sales channels/ticket providers.
As long as the passenger had planned enough connecting time to change trains (called “reasonable connecting time”), the AJC will apply.

So in usual* circumstances, if a delay to the train from Firenz causes the booked connection to be missed, replacement tickets/reservations will be issued at Bologna Centrale.
*= But that new E.U legislation specifically states that in exceptional circumstances, the train operators do not need to issue replacement tickets - and the terms and conditions on the Trenitalia website reiterate this.
These exceptional circumstances specifically stated in Regulation (EU) 2021/782 of the European Parliament include:

• extraordinary circumstances not connected with the operation of the railway, such as extreme weather conditions, major natural disasters or major public health crises...
• ...the behaviour of a third party... such as persons on the track, cable theft, on-board emergencies, law enforcement activities or sabotage.