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!