Husband and I took the nonstop high speed train from Florence to La Spezia in August for a day trip to Cinque Terre. Our hotel was situated a few blocks from the main train station in Florence...the Santa Maria Novella train station. However, the only trains available from SMN to CT were all regional trains, which means it would take twice as long and stop at all the smaller towns. Plus the regional train would require a change of trains at Pisa with only 5 minutes to do so. To me, that just sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. So naturally, booking train tickets from Campo di Marte was a no brainer. We asked our hotel to assist us in getting a taxi to the train station since it's situated a few miles from the center of Florence. No problem in getting transported there. The train station is small and once you locate your platform, you will need to climb stairs to the upper level. Boarding was smooth and we were served snacks and coffee on the train. We also booked the nonstop high speed train back to Campo di Marte, which arrived at 10:00 pm. Unlike busier train stations, there are no taxis waiting at arrivals. It was dark, quiet and outside of the city center. I tried getting an Uber, but after 30 minutes of waiting, I gave up. Luckily I saved the taxi service's business card. I gave them a call and within 10 minutes, we had a cab pick us up. Whew! Keep that in mind if you decide to book this train station. What can I say? It's a train station. A plain one. No fluff, no restaurants, just good ole train service. I would do it again just to avoid a lengthy, uncomfortable, jam packed regional train any day. Our train ride was comfortable, clean, and fast! read more