Day trip to a Tuscan town from Florence

Hi Sammee, A couple of years ago as a college student I took a summer class in Florence and we did many, many day trips from Florence to Tuscan towns. The bus is convenient to get you to Siena or San Gimingano, both of which make great day trips. These places are easy to walk around and would give you plenty to see in a day. I honestly cannot give much advice on wine tasting because I personally am not a big fan of wine. One thing I can say, though, is that if you are looking for scenic views we took a train from Florence to Assisi for a day and the views from this Umbrian town cannot be beat!! I realize you are looking to take a bus to Tuscan towns, though, so the Assisi tip is off topic. Back to Tuscany, I absolutely loved San Gimignano and Siena. Siena is larger and I suspect most posters on this site would prefer Siena. Also, Pisa is easilly accessible by bus from Florence but there is much less to do in Pisa than in some other Tuscan towns. It is still beautiful and obviously the tower is iconic but it can be seen in a few hours if time is an issue. One last suggestion, if you do not want to travel far is to take a bus to Fiesole. This is only about a 15 minute ride up into the hills above Florence and the views down to Florence are stunning. This is a great place to relax and you will probably find it less crowded than Florence so it is a nice escape for an afternoon.

Siena (1hr15min by SITA bus), San Gimignano (1hr25min by SITA bus) or Lucca (1hr20min by train) are probably the easiest to get to for a day trip from Florence. Volterra is also very scenic and at an elevation of 1,750' you do have some nice views. However, it's a 2hr bus ride. Volterra is small and wonderful to walk around. Here's a LINK to the SITA bus schedule for the three southern Tuscan towns.

Have to second the suggestion for Fiesole. The quarries are a nice morning hike, the archaeology park (has an entry fee) is very well done and the monastery up the other side of the main piazza is a blood stirring walk (almost feels vertical!) for a stunning view. We had lunch at a hotel, but I believe there are other restaurant choices too...Bus #7 from Florence.
Jennifer B.

It happened in 1989, but one of my most memorable travel days ever was spending the morning in Lucca, then heading to Pisa in the afternoon. I loved Lucca, particularly renting a bike and riding on top of the walls and enjoying the views of the town. By the time I got to Pisa, the souvenir sellers were literally packing up, and the afternoon light made the Field of Miracles especially lovely. Another wonderful day was going up to Fiesole, looking down on Florence. The day trip from Florence I didn't enjoy was to Siena. I know it's sacrilege to say so, and I'm certainly open to re-trying it (since it's been so long, who knows how I'd feel now). All of these are very easy, without a car, from Florence.