Venice to Florence
Across the Apennines

Venezia Santa Lucia is the rare mainline station built right on the water - step out of its 1950s facade and the Grand Canal is at your feet. Fast trains for Florence leave several times an hour, so departures are easy: arrive on the islands, buy a ticket, and board. The train crosses the Ponte della Libertà causeway back to the mainland at Mestre, and the lagoon falls behind.

Both operators run this corridor. Trenitalia's Frecciarossa and the private Italo service use the same high-speed line and the same central stations, so the choice comes down to timing and price. Across the Veneto the train holds its pace - Padova slipping by with its frescoed chapels before the run down to Bologna.

From a station on the water to a station under Brunelleschi's dome, in a little over two hours.

Typical fares shown are indicative only and may vary by season, demand and booking date. Always check live fares before booking.

Roughly midway the train calls at Bologna Centrale, the busiest junction on the Italian network, where the lines from Milan, Venice, Rome and the Adriatic all meet. It is worth knowing about even if you stay aboard: Bologna is a city of arcaded streets and the oldest university in the world, and the natural place to break the journey if you want to.

South of Bologna comes the most dramatic stretch. The high-speed line burrows almost straight through the Apennines in a succession of long tunnels - the mountains that once made this a slow, winding crossing now passed in minutes. When daylight returns the light has changed: you are in Tuscany, the hills terraced with vines and olives as the train drops toward the Arno.

The Apennines that once took hours to cross now pass in a string of tunnels - Veneto to Tuscany in a single sitting.

Firenze Santa Maria Novella is a modernist landmark in its own right - a spare, rationalist design of 1934 that sits, a little startlingly, opposite the medieval church that gives it its name. It is a terminus in the middle of the city: step out and Florence is immediately around you, no Metro or transfer required.

The Duomo is a five-minute walk, the Uffizi and the Arno a few minutes more. This is the quiet triumph of the train over the plane on this route: no airline flies it nonstop, and even a connecting flight would leave you far outside the centre. Here you walk out of the station and into the Renaissance.