Florence, Lucca, Pisa to Siena versus going back to Florence

Sharon, I would suggest that if you leave early and intend to arrive in Siena in the late afternoon or evening, you can depart Florence, tour Lucca and Pisa and then take the train to Siena. However, your visits to Lucca and Pisa will need to be short. As a practical matter, I would not recommend it. Pisa and Lucca are slightly northwest of Florence. Siena is an hour train or bus ride south of Florence. The train travel time between the two locations is about 3.0hrs. For your bus ride on a Sunday, I hope that you are taking the SITA bus out of Florence. Other Tuscan bus lines have very limited runs on Sunday.

Thank you Eric. That must be why I couldn't find any information on that scenario - too much in one day. Also, I realized that I would be schlepping my luggage with me if I did that which also wouldn't be a good idea.

I am glad I have 6 months before I leave - so many details and things to learn. I will do the Lucca/Pisa day trip by train mid-week and take the bus to Siena on Sunday. Thank you for the information re the SITA bus - I knew that it was better to take the bus than the train, but didn't realize there were different bus lines.

Sharon

Sharon, just for fun and information to others, here's a link to the Trainspa bus map in Tuscany. http://www.trainspa.it/mappe/Mappa_EXT.pdf If you intend to take the SITA bus, the station is not the one just outside the main Florence train station. That's the local city buses.

The SITA bus station is about 800' south of the main train station. If you look to the south, you won't see it but it's there. You might have to ask in the train station to make sure that you are going in the right direction. To give you a hint, here's a Google Map snapshot. The SITA bus station is B on the map. The entrance is close to A on the map.

http://gyazo.com/5f67d5b5f5c4ef4c51b22aa23e8f72b8

Now the bus schedule. The easiest is the SITA Corse Rapide (non-stop express). The other runs will make stops along the way and takes a bit longer. Note again, that the number of runs decrease a lot on Sundays. Note the third symbol for Festiva (third symbol down in the Key to Symbols). The train does not decrease runs on Sundays if that choice becomes necessary. Here's the bus schedule.

http://www.sitabus.it/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/SITA_Firenze-Siena.pdf

Thank you Larry!

Sharon

Hi Larry,

Just to let you know that spending your time to give advice does not go unheeded, I checked into all of the websites that you gave me and now know where the bus station is, what time the busses leave on Sunday and have 3 options that I can work around. I will probably take the 2:10pm, arrival Siena 3:25. That way I can get settled and enjoy strolling around Siena that evening.

Gold Star for Sharon. Sounds great. Might you be renting a car in Siena? If yes, I have a great agriturismo to recommend that is so close to Siena, you just take a short taxi ride to and from the city to avoid the need to park there. Then, you have the car to visit other areas. Just checking. Or, it's a cheap taxi ride to and from the train station as well. My wife and daughter did exactly that a few weeks ago on their trip to Italy.

Larry,

My husband and I will be travelling to Siena in October 2014. The url's you provided Sharon on the busses were very helpful to me also. My request though is about your Siena agritourismo (sp). I would be interested in its name and why you recommend it. Thanks, Julie