I am a bit confused as how to travel to Siena from Florence for a day trip. My family and I are travelling throughout Italy by train later this month. We are a family of six and fairly athletic so walking long stretches is not a problem. When staying in Florence, we want to take a day trip to Siena and are aware that if we travel by train, we will arrive in Siena at the base of the hill on the edge of town. Since we only have the day to visit Siena, we want to make the most use of our time. I reached out to the hotel where we will stay in Florence, which is in the center and east of the Duomo, and it recommended that my family and I travel either by Flixbus or train to Siena. They mentioned travel by train would be easier since the Flixbus bus stop is further away. I looked up where Flixbus departs and its at Villa Constanza (which seems a bit far and inconvenient). Rick Steves mentions the Autolinee Toscane (AT) buses in his book. I looked up this company online and the travel time from Florence to Siena is about an hour and a half which is the same as the train travel time (the Flixbus trip is 50 minutes). I'm not certain why our hotel did not mention the AT Bus Company. The AT Bus Company website does not seem to be working correctly (unless I'm doing something wrong), so I can't get any information about the route or even purchase advance tickets. My questions for you are: If I go with the AT bus, where do I purchase our tickets and where does the bus depart in Florence? Since we are a party of six, is it okay to buy the tickets the evening before (that is, if we can buy them at the Firenze S.M.N. train station) for a next morning departure and a late evening return? Or do you recommend taking Flixbus or the train? I really appreciate any information you can provide me and your stories of experience!
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16618 posts
You might find info in this VERY recent thread posted by someone planning to make the same trip to be helpful?
Oh, and the location maps Roberto posted in this thread may be helpful too:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/bus-131r-from-florence-to-siena-city-center
Posted by
Niagara, Ontario
1682 posts
If you are nowhere near the Flixbus terminal, take the train. If not, the AT bus.
Line 131, search bus station "Firenze Autostazione" on maps:
https://www.at-bus.it/it/linee-e-orari/regionali-131
Where to buy tickets:
https://www.at-bus.it/it/doveacquistare
Posted by
Florida, USA
250 posts
If you take the AT bus, which is recommend, make sure it is 131R. The 131 is a local bus route that stops in many of the town between Florence - Siena and takes between 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours depending on traffic.
Edit: You can buy the tickets the day before. There is no date/time on them. In Florence, you can buy them at the bus station near the train station. Be sure to validate them when you get on the bus.
Posted by
Saint Paul, Minnesota
1593 posts
If you do decide to take the train, here's what you do. Cross the street from the train station in Siena and enter the shopping mall. Ride a long series of escalators up the hill (this is fun), then walk a further 1,000 feet uphill (not steep, and along a street with coffee shops and stuff to look at), then go through one of the old city gates, the Porta Camollia. Now you are on the via Camollia and in the Siena neighborhood where we stayed for a week and loved the location. The walk along the via Camollia to Il Campo is interesting with shops and things and takes 17 minutes.
Posted by
Colorado Springs
3010 posts
We've always taken the train - finding it to be fast, convenient and cheap. There's a series of escalators across the parking lot from the station entrance that makes it pretty easy to get up the hill and into the center of Siena. As I recall it was only a few blocks from there to the Campo.
Most recently, since we were encumbered with luggage, we opted for a taxi to our hotel near the Campo - cost was about 12 Euros as I recall.
Others here prefer the bus but we've never tried that and so can't comment.
Posted by
8322 posts
We are going to Siena from Florence and our hotel told us that if you take the train, some go straight to Siena, that there are taxis at the train station.
I looked at the Flixbus and found the meeting point in Florence, it is near the train station. It seemed easy to do, so I think we will book that one and if we miss the bus, we will just take the train.