Venezia / Venice / Venedig to Roma / Rome by train

How to take a rail journey from Venezia/Venice to Rome/Roma

The 'Frecce' trains operated by Trenitalia share the high-speed section of the route between Bologna and Roma, with Italo trains.
They have similar speeds, so the differences between the two services are to do with the on-board experiences, check out the 'Trains' guides below; and the fact that tickets for the Italo trains and Frecce trains can be purchased from different online booking agents - it's a route on which you can save by booking in advance.

However, some trains from Venice/Venezia to Rome/Roma take an entirely different and much longer cross-country route.
If ticket price and not speed is your key criteria, you can usually save money by taking these trains and they're a cheaper option for rail pass users; but they are not as frequent as the high speed services.

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Routes

Option 1: taking the high speed Freecce trains operated by Trenitalia

Travel Information

Final Destination: Roma or Napoli or Reggio di Calabria

The departure typically scheduled to leave at 09:26 usually carries on beyond Roma Termini to terminate at Roma Fiumicino Airport/Leonardo Da Vinci airport.

All trains also call at: Venezia Mestre and Firenze S.M.N. and Roma Tiburtina

Heading to Roma Tiburtina can be a good option if the location of your final destination in the city has convenient access from a station served by Line B of the Roma Metro.

The alternative train journey options:

(1) High speed Italo trains compete with these Frecce trains on the Venice to Rome route.
They're less frequent than the Frecce trains, but they match them for speed and can be cheaper.

(2) There also two Intercity trains per day from 'Venice' to Rome.

They're (much) cheaper than taking either of the high speed train services (Frecce or Italo) but they depart from Venezia Mestre station - so you'll need to take a connecting train from Santa Lucia station, in order to catch these trains.

They're also much slower than the Frecce and Italo trains, as they don't use high speed lines and now take a much longer between Bologna and Rome via Rimini on the Adriatic Coast.

Mon -Thurs = 14 x trains per day
Friday = 13 x trains
Saturday = 14 x trains
Sunday = 11 x trains

Tickets

If you're heading from historical Venezia/Venice make sure to select Venezia S. Lucia as the 'Departure' station and NOT Venezia Mestre.
If  you will be using an agent, confirm that they have booked tickets from Venezia S. Lucia.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 4 months ahead of the travel date

The high speed train (AV) service between Venice/Venezia and Roma is provided by:

(1) these Frecce trains operated by Trenitalia
(2) alternative Italo trains

Tickets for the Trenitalia Frecce trains are placed on sale around 4 months in advance, but the Italo train tickets are made available around 5 months ahead.

Trenitalia does not sell tickets for the Italo trains - and Italo does not sell tickets for these Trenitalia trains.

Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.

If you're booking no more than 4 months ahead and have no particular preference for the train that you will be taking, the price and departure times of the Frecce and Italo trains can be directly compared on Trainline or Omio, though look out for the fact that both of these services will charge a booking fee.

A choice of stations in Roma:

Virtually all of these Frecce trains will call at Roma Tiburtina station, before going on Roma Termini.

If you will be travelling to Roma Termini, then use this specific station as the Arrival station when looking up tickets and prices.
To see the trains to both Termini and Tiburtina choose Roma ( Tutte Le Stazioni ) as the Arrival station on Trenitalia.

If your final destination is near a station on Line B of the Rome Metro, the best option can be to take these trains to Roma Tiburtina and connect into the Metro there.

Travelling with Eurail or InterRail passes:

Rail pass users will need to pay a €10 reservation fee prior to boarding these trains, which can be comparatively good value for such a long journey.

There also two Intercity trains per day from Venice to Rome.
However, they leave from Venezia Mestre station over on the mainland and NOT from Santa Lucia station in the heart of historical Venice; which is where these Frecce trains depart from.

Target these IC trains if you want to save €10 on rail pass reservation fees.
Though if you'll want the peace of mind of being able to remain in the same seat for the entire journey, paying the optional €3 reservation fee is virtually essential.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
ItaliaRail from €39.90

ItaliaRail Guide

ItaliaRail lives up to its name by selling tickets for rail journeys within Italy and the core feature of its service is that it is primarily designed to be used by international visitors to Italy.
So the English translations of place names are used when looking up journeys and the terms and conditions for using each type of ticket are clearly explained.
It also clearly points out the additional costs of upgrading to other classes and types of tickets while spelling out the additional benefits of doing so.

Users of InterRail and Eurail passes can also book seat reservations on the Frecce and InterCity trains without paying a booking fee,

Trenitalia from €39.90

Trenitalia Guide

Trenitlalia is the national rail operator in Italy and in addition to its cheaper types of ticket; it also typically offers other discounts available to non-Italians, which include:

  • Group Offers, provides for a discount of up to 50% when 3-5 Adults travel together.
  • Family Offer for when groups of 2 - 5 people are travelling together and at least one of the party is a aged 11 and under.
  • The Children Free Offer is available for journeys by Frecce trains, when groups of 2 - 5 people are travelling together and at least one of the party is a aged 15 and under.
    Those aged 15 and under travel for free, but the Adults will need to purchase full price 'Base' tickets.
Trainline from €39.90

Trainline Guide

SaveATrain from €39.90

SaveATrain Guide

Omio from €39.90

Omio Guide

Omio is an online ticket agency which offers tickets for rail journeys in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain.

The three key advantages of using Omio are

  • it offers prices in multiple currencies
  • it usually offers price comparison with other modes of travel including flights and buses
  • when visiting Europe, you can book journeys in multiple countries in one transaction.

The disadvantage of booking with Omio is that it often adds a booking fee to the final price; therefore when it does so without offering a price advantage, SMTJ doesn't tend to offer Omio as a booking option.

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - NoHigh Speed (partial)

Good to Know

These trains will reverse direction when departing from Firenze S.M.Novella station.

Heading over the Venetian lagoon shortly after departing from Santa Lucia station Heading over the Venetian lagoon shortly after departing from Santa Lucia station
Racing through Tuscany as the train heads south from Florence Racing through Tuscany as the train heads south from Florence
The Castello di Sammezzano can be seen on the left shortly after departure from Florence The Castello di Sammezzano can be seen on the left shortly after departure from Florence
Passing over the River Paglia and leaving Umbria behind Passing over the River Paglia and leaving Umbria behind
The view from one of the many viaducts on the Florence to Rome high speed line The view from one of the many viaducts on the Florence to Rome high speed line
Looking towards the Apennine foothills from the left of the train Looking towards the Apennine foothills from the left of the train

The Venice to Roma journey by high speed trains has four distinct phases:

(1) It's not a scenic journey, but it starts with a flourish as the trains head out over the lagoon from the heart of historical Venice/Venezia.
The best of the views are from the right of the train (when facing the direction of travel).

This video was filmed from a train travelling in the opposite direction.

(2) Between Padova and Bologna the train will travel across a flat landscape, with nothing of note to see
There is no high speed line between and Venezia/Venice and Bologna.

(3) Then from Bologna to Firenze the train will travel at more than 275 km/h on a high speed line, but virtually all of this part of the route is contained within a series of tunnels

(4) The high speed line between Florence and Rome is more scenic than most, it's not a beautiful journey, but there is a wow factor of travelling across the rolling landscape at more than 240 km/h*.

*The direttissima between Florence and Rome was the first high speed railway line to be built in Italy, so it has a slower maximum speed than the other Italian high speed lines.
This video showcases the journey experience on this part of the trip.

Note that trains will reverse direction when departing from Firenze S.M.Novella station.

Option 2: taking the high speed Italo trains

Travel Information

Final Destination: Roma or Napoli

All trains also call at: Venezia Mestre and Firenze S.M.N. and Roma Tiburtina

3 x trains per day
There are an additional two daily departures from Venezia Mestre station

Tickets

If you're heading from historical Venezia/Venice make sure to select Venezia S. Lucia as the 'Departure' station and NOT Venezia Mestre.
If  you will be using an agent, confirm that they have booked tickets from Venezia S. Lucia.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 5 months ahead of the travel date

The high speed (AV) train service between and Venice/Venezia and Roma is provided by
(1) these Italo trains
(2) Frecce trains operated by Trenitalia

Tickets for the Trenitalia Frecce trains are placed on sale around 4 months in advance, but the Italo train tickets are made available around 5 months ahead.

Trenitalia does not sell tickets for the Italo trains - and Italo does not sell tickets for the Trenitalia trains.

Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day - so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.

If you're booking no more than 4 months ahead and have no particular preference for the train that you will be taking, the price and departure times of the Frecce and Italo trains can be directly compared on Trainline or Omio, though look out for the fact that both of these services will charge a booking fee.

Rail passes are not valid on the Italo trains

A choice of stations in Roma:

All of these Italo trains will call at Roma Tiburtina station, before going on Roma Termini.

If you will be travelling to Roma Termini, then use this specific station as the Arrival station when looking up tickets and prices.

If your final destination is near a station on Line B of the Rome Metro, the best option can be to book these trains to Roma Tiburtina and connect into the Metro there.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
Italo from €39

Italo Guide

Italo trains compete with the Frecce services, provided by the national rail operator, Trenitalia, on the high speed routes which link major cities in Italy.
The Italo booking site only sells tickets for journeys by its trains.

Omio from €39

Omio Guide

Omio is an online ticket agency which offers tickets for rail journeys in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain.

The three key advantages of using Omio are

  • it offers prices in multiple currencies
  • it usually offers price comparison with other modes of travel including flights and buses
  • when visiting Europe, you can book journeys in multiple countries in one transaction.

The disadvantage of booking with Omio is that it often adds a booking fee to the final price; therefore when it does so without offering a price advantage, SMTJ doesn't tend to offer Omio as a booking option.

Trainline from €39

Trainline Guide

Happyrail from €39

Happyrail Guide

Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.

HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - NoHigh Speed (partial)

Good to Know

Note that these trains will reverse direction when departing from Firenze S.M.Novella station,

Heading over the Venetian lagoon shortly after departing from Santa Lucia station Heading over the Venetian lagoon shortly after departing from Santa Lucia station
Racing through Tuscany as the train heads south from Florence Racing through Tuscany as the train heads south from Florence
The Castello di Sammezzano can be seen on the left shortly after departure from Florence The Castello di Sammezzano can be seen on the left shortly after departure from Florence
Passing over the River Paglia and leaving Umbria behind Passing over the River Paglia and leaving Umbria behind
The view from one of the many viaducts on the Florence to Rome high speed line The view from one of the many viaducts on the Florence to Rome high speed line
Looking towards the Apennine foothills from the left of the train Looking towards the Apennine foothills from the left of the train

These trains take the same route as the Frecce trains.

Option 3: taking the Intercity trains

Journey Summary

Travel Time
8hr 1min - 8hr 6min
Frequency
Daily
Travel Information

Final Destination: Roma Termini

These trains also call at: Foligno (connect for Assisi)

Note that these Intercity (IC) trains depart from Venezia Mestre station on the mainland and NOT from Venezia S. Lucia station in the historic, tourist heart of Venezia.
The alternative high speed services, the Frecce and Italo trains, do depart from Venezia Santa Lucia.

These IC trains from Venice to Rome are also much slower than the Frecce or Italo trains, because unlike them, they don't use the high speed lines between Bologna and Rome.
Also they have recently been switched to an even longer route via Rimini, though fans of scenic rail journeys will appreciate the views of the coast and the Apennine Hills, available when taking the first departure of the day.

2 x trains per day

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 3 months ahead of the travel date

These Intercity (IC) trains are usually scheduled to depart from Venezia Mestre at 07:34 and 14:14.

If you will be commencing your journey at Venezia S. Lucia, you will need to take a connecting train to Venezia Mestre.

When making an online booking, if you select Venezia  S.Lucia as the 'Departure station' your ticket will include both the connecting train AND the Intercity train.
Despite the need to take two trains, when commencing a journey at Santa Lucia station, these IC trains will be a cheaper option than either of the two high speed services; Frecce or Italo.

If you want to compare the ticket prices of these IC trains with both the Frecce AND Italo trains, you will need to look up this journey on Trainline, as Trenitalia does not sell tickets for the Italo trains.

Rail pass users

Target these IC trains if you want to save €10 on rail pass reservation fees.
Though if you'll want the peace of mind of being able to remain in the same seat for the entire journey, paying the optional €3 reservation fee is virtually essential

(1) taking a R or RV train from Venezia S. Lucia to Venezia Mestre
(2) taking one of these IC trains from Venezia Mestre to Roma.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
Trenitalia from €19 approx

Trenitalia Guide

Trenitlalia is the national rail operator in Italy and in addition to its cheaper types of ticket; it also typically offers other discounts available to non-Italians, which include:

  • Group Offers, provides for a discount of up to 50% when 3-5 Adults travel together.
  • Family Offer for when groups of 2 - 5 people are travelling together and at least one of the party is a aged 11 and under.
  • The Children Free Offer is available for journeys by Frecce trains, when groups of 2 - 5 people are travelling together and at least one of the party is a aged 15 and under.
    Those aged 15 and under travel for free, but the Adults will need to purchase full price 'Base' tickets.
Italiarail from €19 approx

Italiarail Guide

ItaliaRail lives up to its name by selling tickets for rail journeys within Italy and the core feature of its service is that it is primarily designed to be used by international visitors to Italy.
So the English translations of place names are used when looking up journeys and the terms and conditions for using each type of ticket are clearly explained.
It also clearly points out the additional costs of upgrading to other classes and types of tickets while spelling out the additional benefits of doing so.

Users of InterRail and Eurail passes can also book seat reservations on the Frecce and InterCity trains without paying a booking fee,

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - YesCoastal viewsMountain viewsNot High Speed
Travellers have stepped out into the corridor to see the views Travellers have stepped out into the corridor to see the views
South of Rimini the line follows the Adriatic Coast South of Rimini the line follows the Adriatic Coast
The sea views are on the right when heading north The sea views are on the right when heading north
The view on the left as the train heads to the coast The view on the left as the train heads to the coast
Heading through the Appenines east of Foligno Heading through the Appenines east of Foligno

Take the morning InterCity train to see these views.
South of Rimini the train will travel by the shore of the Adriatic Sea for more than 40 minutes, the views are on the left, then the train will turn inland and spend more than an hour travelling through the foothills of the Apennine Mountains.

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