How to Get from Venice to Florence (& vice versa)

Venice and Florence sit next to each other on almost every first-timer's Italy itinerary, and the trip between them is one of the easiest in the country. A high-speed train does it in about two hours, center to center, with no change. That's the answer for nearly everyone.

Below is how to book it well, plus the cases where a slow train, a bus or a car makes sense. Everything applies in reverse, Florence to Venice.

Your options at a glance

Taking the train from Venice to Florence

Two companies run high-speed trains on this route: Trenitalia with its Frecciarossa and the private operator Italo. Between them there's a train at least once an hour through the day, and Italo alone runs about 11 a day. The fastest take about two hours from Venezia Santa Lucia (the station at the head of the Grand Canal) to Firenze Santa Maria Novella, a short walk from the Duomo. Most also stop at Venezia Mestre on the mainland, Padua and Bologna.

Fares work like airfares. Italo's cheapest advance fares were about 18.90 euros in 2026, Trenitalia's are similar, and a ticket bought at the station on the day can cost three or four times that. Book as soon as your dates are firm on trenitalia.com or italotreno.com, or in their apps, and compare both, because one is often noticeably cheaper for the same hour. The two companies don't honor each other's tickets, so make sure you board the train your ticket is for.

A high-speed ticket is for one specific train and includes a seat. It's ticketless: show the QR code on your phone and you're done, with nothing to validate. Standard or Smart class is perfectly comfortable for two hours.

Traveling on a rail pass? An Interrail pass or Trenitalia Pass covers the Frecciarossa, but you still need a seat reservation on top, so book it before you board. The Trenitalia Pass isn't valid on Italo at all. Details are in how to use a rail pass in Italy.

The slow way: regional trains run Venice to Bologna and Bologna to Florence with a change, three to four hours in total. Their fares are fixed, so they only save money if you're booking the fast train last minute in high season. The ride isn't scenic enough to be worth it for its own sake.

Break the trip: the fast trains stop at Padua and Bologna, and either one makes a good half-day stop. Bologna Centrale has a staffed left-luggage desk; see luggage storage in Italy train stations.

>> Learn more about the difference between train tickets and reservations in Italy

Driving from Venice to Florence

Don't drive into Venice: there's nowhere to go once you reach Piazzale Roma or Tronchetto, and you'll pay to park the car while you walk. And if you're only going from Venice to the city of Florence, a car is a liability at the other end too. Florence's historic center is a camera-enforced ZTL, and rental drivers collect fines there all the time.

A car makes sense if you want to wander: the Po delta, Ferrara, the hills above Bologna, then over the Apennines into Tuscany. Venice to Florence in one go is a little over 260 km, about three and a half hours without traffic, mostly on the A13 and A1. Plot it on ViaMichelin, which estimates fuel and tolls and lets you add stops.

My advice: take the train to Florence, see the city on foot, and pick up a car on your way out into Tuscany.

>> Read up on driving in Italy before you pick up an Italy rental car

Flying from Venice to Florence

Don't. There are no nonstop flights, and connecting through Rome to cover a two-hour train ride makes no sense. Venice is still a good airport to fly into from abroad, though, and flying into Venice and out of Florence or Rome (an open-jaw ticket) saves you backtracking.

>> Learn more about open-jaw tickets into Venice and finding cheap airfare to Venice

Taking the bus from Venice to Florence

National coach networks FlixBus and Itabus (owned by Italo) run Venice to Florence every day, and early fares are often cheaper than any train. The trip takes roughly three and a half to five hours depending on stops and traffic. Check the departure point before you book: some buses leave from Piazzale Roma, others from Mestre or the Tronchetto area, and in Florence many stop outside the center rather than at Santa Maria Novella.

The bus is fine if you're counting every euro. Otherwise, two hours on the train beats four on the autostrada.

>> Learn more about riding buses in Italy

And now that you're in Florence…

• Find a place to stay: hotels in Florence, or hostels in Florence on a tighter budget (including hostels near the Duomo).
• Start with the top 10 things to do in Florence, then the longer list of what to do in Florence and some weird Florence attractions.
• Staying a while? There are plenty of good day trips from Florence.

photos, top to bottom, by: ChrisYunker, Jakob Montrasio, dv_flick, sludgegulper, ChrisYunker