Since Venice and Florence are the two main points on the map of Italy for many travelers, it is reasonable to assume that the issue of transport between them should be thoroughly resolved. By and large, this is the case, which BlogoItaliano was convinced from his own experience, exploring all possible options on the eve of the new season, how to get from Venice to Florence and back.
According to an established tradition, BlogoItaliano explores all possible options, how to get from Venice to Florence (or from Florence to Venice if you are traveling in the opposite direction), however, the best train in terms of price, comfort and speed is the train. However, first things first.
From Venice to Florence by train
Train Florence Venice It is in great demand among travelers. This is already indicated by the fact that about a dozen high-speed trains leave from Venice to Florence every day. To be more precise, on weekdays from half past eight in the morning until 19:25 there are 14 of them. What is more pleasant - no transfers.
Distance from Venice to Florence high-speed train "runs" in 2 hours. The cost of a one-way trip is from 20-30 Euros and above - depending on the current promotions and how well you buy a ticket in advance.
Travel from Venice to Florence by high-speed train takes 2 hours
At the peak of the season, which falls from May to September, ordering tickets online is preferable, since avoids queues at the box office. In addition, as the train's departure day approaches, tickets for the flight become more expensive, reaching a peak immediately before departure.
Of course, one should take into account the fact that the Venice-Florence route is on the top list of the busiest in Italy and there are situations when tickets are simply bought out (especially for the more economical second class). About what you can encounter at a train station in Italy, buying tickets immediately before departure, in a short video below.
In addition to fast trains, the Florence-Venice route is also served by slower ones. As a rule, they are involved early in the morning and late in the evening, and cover the same distance in 3-4.5 hours. Often, when choosing this method of travel somewhere at a distance, a transplant may be required.
Patience for inconvenience could be offset by a lower price, but often the cost of a ticket for a regular passenger train is almost comparable to the price of a second class in the near future.
Since there are several railway operators in Italy, the prices for tickets even on such a short route can differ greatly.
Even in low season, there are a lot of people at Italian train stations
Until recently, finding a single schedule for all trains of all companies was quite problematic - I had to go and check each site individually. An alternative was booking online international railway resources, but they charged quite a lot for this.
Now a single resource with a schedule of all the main railway operators in Italy and the ability to buy tickets for them at a price, like at the box office, has appeared in RuNet. You can do this on a specialized site Omio.ru (formerly GoEuro), and pay with a regular credit card. After payment, tickets come to the specified e-mail in the form of a PDF file. It remains to print them out and keep them on a trip.
Please note that for some types of trains you will need to separately punch a ticket at the station or reserve a seat on the train. If you buy a ticket for a fast train through Omio, and you have it indicated seat in the car and departure time, then no additional actions at the station are needed.
By the way, buying tickets through Omio can also save you money. Few people know that by registering in the service using this special link, you can get a discount of 10 Euros on your first purchase worth from 40 Euros. In detail, how this works, BlogoItaliano described in a separate article.
When buying tickets, consider the following stations in both cities:
- Venice Mestre is a mainland station in the satellite city of Venice. If you are on your way to Venice itself or your hotel is located in a city on the water, it is better to choose the Venice Santa Lucia station
- Venice Santa Lucia is the main station of Venice, located in the city itself.
- Firenze Santa Maria Novella - Florence's main station, within walking distance of the main attractions. This is the most convenient station for travelers. Try to take tickets to him.
| Check schedule and availability of tickets ››› |
From Venice to Florence by car
When traveling Florence to Venice a car is not the best choice: in Venice itself, a car is hardly useful to you. Another thing if you are moving in the opposite direction, and Florence is only an intermediate link in the route. Then the car can be very handy and will allow you to see much more.
From Venice to Florence about 260 kilometers
Distance from Venice to Florence - about 260 kilometers - overcome in 3-4 hours (in the absence of traffic). In addition to the cost of renting a car, the cost of fuel and tolls must also be taken into account to estimate costs.
For example, for January 2018, the international service Viamichelin estimated the cost of an optimal travel route from Florence to Venice by car at 26 Euros, of which 4 euros are road tolls and 22 euros are gasoline. Of course, the calculations may vary depending on the appetite of your car.
There are a lot of companies providing car rental in Italy, and the prices in many of them can be quite high and vary depending on the season, workload, promotions, etc. To save on rent, it is better to choose a car through a large specialized service for comparing prices.
Low car rental prices in Florence
Such systems in online mode track changes in offers of many car rental operators at once, making it easy to compare them and find the most advantageous offers in a few clicks. You can try the system in action and choose a car on this page.
From Venice to Florence by plane
In Venice, a very worthy international airport, in Florence - easier (the main airport of Tuscany is located in the vicinity of Pisa). However, there are no direct flights from Venice to Florence.
Maybe the situation will change over time, but at the moment, any air travel between cities will have to be done with an intermediate landing. The price of such a decision is not happy either. And does it make sense if you have a direct train and a two-hour trip?
Bus from Venice to Florence
In addition to trains, you can get from Venice to Florence by bus. A day between cities, there are about 10 flights that take from 3.5 to 7 hours in time. Bus tickets, as a rule, are somewhat cheaper than trains, although the trip is longer and less convenient.
About half of the routes between cities follow with a change in Bologna. There is no reason to expect to see yet another city - the transplant is quite short. In Venice, departure-arrival of buses is carried out from the station at Tronchetto or at the train station in Mestre. In Florence, the stop is at Piazzale Montelungo - not far from the main train station of Santa Maria Novella.
You can check the current flight schedule and book tickets on this page.
What to do in Florence and Venice
In both cities, you can create an extremely rich program of stay, but travelers rarely stay here for more than 1-2 days. As a result, many world-class attractions are overlooked, which many regret later. How to spend time in Florence and Venice is as interesting as possible, saving money, but at the same time looking at the most important thing, BlogoItaliano talked in our popular step-by-step routes for 1 day.
We also recommend that you sign up for our free e-mail course with many valuable recommendations for travelers to Italy.
Actual hotel promotions in both cities
Both Venice and Florence are considered high-cost cities. The average cost of a night in a cheap hotel here is about 100 Euros. At the same time, during the season or during events (such as Carnival), accommodation is even more expensive.
To save money, it makes sense to keep track of current data on promotions and special offers of hotels. So often you can find very decent housing with a discount of up to 70%. Below are the current sales of hotels in Florence, and under them in Venice.
Current hotel promotions in Venice:
Useful materials on the topic:
- The best selection of hotels in the center of Florence
- The best selection of hotels in the center of Venice
- How to get from Rome to Venice and from Venice to Rome
- How to get from Rome to Florence and from Florence to Rome
- The most romantic hotels in Venice: TOP-5 according to Blogoitaliano
Photos by: Chris Firth of Wakey, Riccardo_1968, Xin Li 88.
