Please sign in to post.

Bus/train tickets to various small towns around Florence

I've pretty much got a plan now for the few days my daughter in law will be joining me in Florence in December, but that leaves the days I'm there on my own. Since I've decided to hold off on Venice until another time, I've been thinking about visiting some of the smaller, less well known towns around Florence. When I was there for the first time many years ago, some of my favorite memories are from little random towns across the countryside. I don't even remember their names, but I remember a few unique details or a market where we got the most wonderful bread, things like that. Of course, I was with my ex at the time and we had a car. This time I'm based in Florence and I will use public transportation. My question is about the tickets for train/bus. Am I correct in saying that once you validate the bus ticket, you only have a certain amount of time to use it, while the train ticket should have your destination noted and that's where you get off? How do I find a schedule for public transportation? Since they're smaller towns, I might be able to set off early and wander through several in a day before returning to Florence, but that means I'll have to get tickets from place to place. I want to make sure transportation is available when I'm ready to move on since unlike the bigger, more touristy areas, it may not be as constant.

Thank you!

Posted by
2923 posts

Bus tickets are normally good for 90-minutes after validated and it’s best to check schedules once there than before to get the most accurate information. What towns do you want to visit? The Rome2rio website might be helpful: https://www.rome2rio.com/.

Posted by
476 posts

I haven’t decided which towns I’ll visit, but I’ll look up the website you mentioned.

Posted by
15681 posts

For anyone with lots of experience busing around Tuscany....
I don't think that the 90-minute rule applies to extraurbani (outside of a city, as from one town/city to another) bus trips but will raise the question. I think the 90-minute rule applies only (or mostly) to bus journeys inside of city networks, and you have to buy journey-specific tickets for other routes. Then again, I may be all wet. :O)

Anyone?

KRS, it may be more difficult than you may think to try and small-town hop within a single day, depending on what those locations are. Buses may be infrequent, and not all of them may have rail service. Remember as well that daylight will be quite short in December. All-in-all, I'd probably have a plan in place of where you want to go, and then figure out the best way of doing that BEFORE you go. This may be an especially good idea if you find you need to help from the gang here figuring local schedules?

Posted by
15043 posts

BUS:
Bus Transportation in Tuscany is operated by AUTOLINEE TOSCANE company.
There are 3 types of tickets:
URBANO CAPOLUOGO (Provincial capitals): the cost is €1.50 for 70 min (90 min in Florence) from the time of validation.
URBANO MAGGIORE (main towns not provincial capitals) €1.20 for 70 min from validation
EXTRAURBANO (intertown) you pay according to distance and the ticket will show the departure and arrival town. You validate the ticket at the machine when you board the bus and it is valid until you get off at the destination town.
Timetables below
https://www.at-bus.it/en/timetables.html

REGIONAL TRAINS works like the extraurbano ticket on a bus. The only difference is that you validate it before you board the train.
Train timetables and pricing below:
https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html

Posted by
476 posts

Kathy, I’ve already narrowed it down to a handful of towns that interest me and I’ll definitely do more planning between now and December. I’m sure I’ll also have more questions along the way. I’m grateful for all the help I receive here for sure!

Roberto, thank you for the info. I’ll certainly look at it more carefully when I get a little down time.