Florence to Rome - car or train?

jinnyj

New member
I am planning trip in July arriving in Pisa and then train onto Florence the next day for 2 days. After that I wanted a leisurely stroll down to Rome taking in the countryside and maybe doing a bit of painting before spending the remaining 3 nights in Rome.

I am thinking hire a car between Florence & Rome? But it looks pretty expensive just to hire a car for 24 hours? Lowest quote I have is £74. How does this compare with the train ticket price (there will be 2 of us).

I gather there are surcharges when picking up at airports so where is it easiest to collect in Florence & again drop off near Rome? Don't want to drive into Rome obviously and have been looking at hotel in Isola Farnese. Hotel appeals to me but is this way, way out involving lots of travel if we want to go into Rome daily?
 
Train or car work well - depends on how long you want to take the ride down to Rome

Ciao Jinnyj,

The trip between Florence and Rome by train can take from 1.5 hours to about 3.5 hours, depending on the train you take.
If you want to stop in the countryside as you go, renting a car is the only way to do this.

Keep in mind that renting a car in one location and returning in another is always a bit more costly. Have you already searched through the search box on this page for car rentals in Florence? it compares various agencies to find the cheapest car for your needs. From a quick search, I don't see it necessarily costing more at the airport but those surcharges might exist..... in Florence, pick a central location like Borgo Ognissanti (the page linked above has a map showing the street locations downtown where most rental agencies are located... and you can choose to drop off in a different location once you do the first search.)

As far as costs go, for two people on the train cost can be from around 40 euros total for both of you to 90 euros (depends on the train, the fastest one costs more).

Isola Farnese is pretty far out of the city. Checking train schedules on www.trenitalia.com, I searched from the nearest train station (called Olgiata) to Roma Termini. It takes about 1:01-1:13 and all require train changes. There are some trains to Roma S. Pietro (near the Vatican) which is about a 30 min ride. So I think it would require quite a bit of travel everyday. My suggestion would be, if you rent a car, to return it to the airport or another location outside the city center, then take public transport to a hotel in the center. Three days in Rome would be better spent in the city where you don't have to spend 2 hours a day in commuting.

Hope all these details are useful - let me know if anything is not clear and whether you have any other questions, we're happy to help! :) We're sure you'll have a great time in Italy!
 
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