Railway system in Tuscany

How to get to Tuscany by train.

The railway connections

The main railway station in Tuscany is Firenze Santa Maria Novella, which is connected to the Italian route Milan-Rome-Naples by fast Eurostar trains.

If you come from nordern Europe, in some cases you would have to change train in Milan or Turin. If you travel from France you would get down in Genova (there is also a direct connection "EuroNight Artesia" Paris-Florence). Munich Central Station (München Hauptbahnhof) is directly connected to Firenze Santa Maria Novella. From Eastern Europe, the exchange stations are usually the Venice ones.

Spain: From Barcellona França, Girona and Figueras you have to change in Milan or Turin.

Austria: Innsbruck is directly connected to Florence.

The train service

Trenitalia

The regional and most of the Italian train service is managed by Trenitalia, a State company. Please note that regional and Intercity trains require the ticket to be stamped before boarding, otherwise you'll be fined. Regional trains are very cheap and connect many Tuscan cites, while faster and more expensive Eurostar AV and Frecciarossa trains connect Florence to other Italian cities. Intercity trains are cheaper than Eurostar, but have been cutted in recent years and very few survive.

NTV - Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori

A new high speed train operator starts its service from the 28th of April 2012, it's named NTV (Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori) and its trains are called Italo. Regarding Tuscany, it will be connected to other Italian cities by those two routes:

  • Turin, Milan, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples, Salerno;
  • Venice, Padova, Bologna, Florence, Rome.

Tickets are sold in the NTV's Casa Italo (an office inside the stations reached by NTV trains), on official ticket site and in some travel agencies. Please note that you can't use Trenitalia tickets on NTV trains as those are two completely different companies.

Where to buy Trenitalia train tickets

Train tickets are sold at many travel agencies and inside the stations. Inside the stations usually you have those options:

Ticket office
usually all stations have got one, some smaller stations have a limited opening time (morning only) and some very small ones don't have it at all.
Self-service ticket machines
The ones that sells regional tickets are always present, even in the smaller stations. The ones that sell also Eurostar tickets are present only in few stations (Firenze Santa Maria Novella, Firenze Campo di Marte, Pisa Centrale etc). They are touch screens with multiple languages available, they accept credit cards and some of them accept also cash.
Newsstands
Not many knows, but regional trains tickets are also sold by kilometric range. So if you travel inside Tuscany, for example from Montevarchi to Florence (52Km), you can buy a 60 Km ticket at any newsagent inside the station. That will save you a lot of time because at peak times long queues are not uncommon. They are based on Kilometres and not destinations like the ordinary tickes.
Trenitalia Web site
You can buy tickets also on Trenitalia website, paying by credit card. It's better if you can print the receipt, so make sure you have a printer.

Please remember that all tickes (except Eurostar with reserved seat) must be stamped at the yellow machines before getting on the train. If you don't stamp, you'll be fined. If you are taking the train from a small village with all the stamping machines out of order or you couldn't find a way to buy a ticket, remember to search for the ticket inspector or the train guard (located in the first coach ahead) as soon as you get into the train.