Assisi and Siena in a day and a half

My instinctive response is that a day and a half isn't enough to see both towns properly. There was a thread with some information about the Siena-Assisi bus operated by SENA, the thread is now on page 9 of this board and it's titled "SENA BUS". Check train schedules between Siena & Assisi at the Trenitalia website. The train stations for Siena and Assisi aren't in the towns proper - you need to take a bus or taxi from Siena station into the city centre (walled town), and for Assisi the station is actually at San Maria degli Angeli in the valley below the town. You'll need to take a bus from the station to Assisi proper (I'm not sure how long it takes, perhaps 20 - 25 minutes?), so you'll have to factor in the extra travel time. Instead of Assisi, how about Orvieto? It's an easy train ride from Rome, and then you could take a train from Orvieto to Florence. Or, spend more time in Assisi and daytrip to Siena from Florence.

Great idea. Not enough time. I would skip Assisi for this trip and go to Siena for 2 reasons. First, Assisi during any religious time--like th week of and after Easter is very crowded with tourists and people making a religious pilgrimage. Second, much easier to take train to Siena and bus to Florence.
We love Assisi, but for time and enjoyment sake, i would skip it.

Next year, the 22nd is Good Friday, and the 24th is Easter. Given the choice between Siena and Assisi, I'd always go for Assisi. But if you're not going for the religious celebrations, Siena, or a day trip from Rome to an area that interests you, are probably better choices at that time of year. Getting around is going to take more time than usual. I'd also suggest checking carefully whether they sites that interest you will be open; there are many hours of liturgy between Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday afternoon, and many churches won't let tourists wander during liturgies (thankfully, since there can be some atrocious, and distracting, behavior).

I don't think you could do justice to either city in that amount of time if you did both. We did both but devoted 3 days to Assisi and 4 days to Siena. We also drove there as the train connection did not suit us as we would not have arrived til 3:30 pm. I would do as others have suggested and pick either Siena or Assisi but definitely would not do both

OMG, I can hardly believe it, people here are actually saying "no" to someone's plan?! Let's go over this one more time: No matter how little time someone gives to something, here on the Helpline you must always reply: "No problem, you can do it." We don't want to have any negative attitudes here, being supportive is way more important than being accurate. So let's try it again: someone post a reply telling the OP that it's not only doable but actually is a great idea.

Leave Assisi for another trip. Enjoy Siena and its surrounds you will not be disappointed. Rushing Italy is a mistake.

" Please feel free to suggest other possible solutions if you want." Stop trying to fit so much into a very limited time frame. Go with the assumption that you WILL return. The ideas above make sense to me.

I second everyone's suggestion - pick one or the other.
Or as someone else suggested, visit Orvieto and from there head on to Florence and then on to Siena. You definitely want to be in Florence on Easter Sunday and watch the "carro" in Piazza della Signoria and the "dove" take flight. On Easter lots of places will be closed (not restaurants, those will be open as any go eat out as part of the Easter celebration). It is a 3 day weekend for Italians since Monday is also a holiday so you'll find many native tourists as well.

My wife and I do not usually do "blink at the site and run for the train" trips. Your desire to see both towns in a day and a half is such a trip due to the transportation times. However, I am such a fan of Assisi that you shouldn't miss it. The train from Rome to Assisi will take at most 2.5hrs. There is a train departure at 7:43am with no train changes that takes 2hrs 14 min. That's really good. At the train station, which as mentioned above is not in Assisi, you go next door to the small shop. I suggest purchasing a ticket on the Line C bus which takes you to the top of Assisi. That way, you can walk down as you visit the town. The hills are steep so walking down is much easier. The Basilica of St. Francis is at the botoom so you would see this last. For food, note that the nice restaurants in the town are closed from 4-7. Still, some lesser eateries stay open. The SENA bus from Assisi to Siena works better than the train although the train is more frequent. Plus, the bus picks you up in Assisi and drops you off at the city wall in Siena. Much closer than the train stations. To get to Florence, I would suggest the SITA Corse Rapide bus. This is a non-stop to Florence. It takes about 75 minutes. Again, this is from the city wall in Siena to the SITA bus station about 1,000' from the main Florence train station. Still, as mentioned above, you won't be getting the best visit to these two areas but you can do it.

Thank you for your comments and 'wake up calls' I decide to spend one full day each city (instead of one and a half for both including transportation time), crossing out S. Gimignano since it's kinda redundant. I first allow only one and a half because Rick said Siena can be done within half a day. But obviously it is not the case for everyone :) Thx again