Traveling by train to Florence from Venice is the easiest option, especially if you do not feel like driving in Italy and don’t want to rent a car.
In a classic Italy itinerary, you will likely take the Venice to Florence train if you have landed in northern Italy, whether it’s Milan or Venice itself, and then carry on south on your trip.
If you are visiting mainly big cities in Italy, traveling by train is a great solution because they are efficient and by booking in advance you can find good deals. On top of that, you won’t have to constantly worry about finding where to park your car and the trains will land you directly in the historic center of your destination.
The train from Venice to Florence departs from either Venezia Mestre or Venezia Santa Lucia stations and arrives at Firenze Santa Maria Novella central station.
While it’s not a difficult trip, I wrote this guide so that things are clearer during your planning process.
How to book the train from Venice to Florence
It’s always better to book the train to Florence from Venice in advance in order to find enough room to pick your favorite seat. By booking the Venice to Florence train in advance, you can also find offers and promotions.
The railway companies that run the train from Venice to Florence are two: the state-run Trenitalia and the private Italo Treno.
You can purchase your Venice to Florence train ticket online or at the station. If you are an early planner like me, you will have your Italy itinerary ready and all things sorted out by the time you are here so booking online is your best option.
Online
The easiest way to book your train from Venice to Florence is online through one of the many portals that give this service.
You can book your ticket directly from the websites of Trenitalia and Italo or check out the Omio travel website.
Trenitalia and Italo will obviously only give you the schedule of their own trains, while on Omio’s website, you will have an overview of the different options with the possibility to compare prices and timetables.
Click here to book your ticket on Omio.
At the station
You can buy the ticket for the train to Florence from Venice at both the Mestre and Santa Lucia stations either at the ticket office or from the vending machines.
Purchasing your ticket on the same day of your travel you might not find seats or the price might be much higher than booking in advance. If you are not comfortable booking online, you might buy your ticket at the station on the day you arrive in Venice rather than at the last minute.
It’s also possible to buy a train ticket from travel agencies inside the city, and if you don’t know any, you can ask your hotel’s reception.
Fees of a train to Florence from Venice
The price of a train ticket to Florence from Venice depends on several variables.
First of all, there are different trains and different companies you can opt for, and this is one of the reasons prices can be so different. Moreover, much of the price fluctuation depends on when you buy the ticket, your traveling dates, and even the time of the day you are taking the train. If you are traveling in the high season, the price will be higher than if you travel off-season.
While Italo Treno only operates bullet trains, Trenitalia contemplates different options so prices and trip duration will also vary.
So on Italo Treno website, you will find the prices for the same type of high-speed train and the variations will depend on what time you are going to take that train.
When it comes to Trenitalia, however, prices can change also because there are other train options, slower than the bullet ones such as regional and Intercity trains.
If you book a high-speed train from Venice to Florence with Trenitalia on the day before your trip, the price is around 59€, while if you book a slower option involving two changes and three regional trains, the price will be a little less than 20€ (but double time). If you book a week in advance, you can find high-speed trains for less than 40€.
With Italo Treno, prices change depending on the time even on the same day. So if you book the day before, the tickets will be pretty much all around 54€, but if you check the tickets a week in advance, the fares will range between 28€ to 46€, depending on what time you want to travel.
How long it takes the high-speed train to Florence from Venice
The high-speed train from Venice to Florence runs through the Alta Velocità railway and takes between 2 hours and 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Trenitalia also travels from Venice to Florence through the Direttissima railway with regional and Intercity trains, even though I think Intercity also travels partially on both railway lines.
The Venice to Florence train ride is pretty scenic because it crosses smaller towns, and beautiful cities, and runs across the charming Tuscan countryside before reaching the region’s capital.
