Florence to Siena

Bus is easiest, as it drops you off by the old town. You simply put your luggage in the storage under the bus, just like in the US. I find the bus easy, as you do not have to drag your luggage up narrow steps, or down narrow aisles like on a train. The train station in Siena is outside the old town. You will need to take a taxi to your hotel. That being said, unless you are good at directions, and enjoy walking , you might end up taking a taxi from the bus drop off as well to get to your hotel. We have only ever taken the bus from Florence to Siena. It was an enjoyable hour + or so. Bus station in Florence is directly behind the train station, so that is easy as well.

If we are staying at Hotel Alma Domus can we walk from the bus stop in Siena or will we need to take a taxi?

Kathy,
It is an easy five minute walk to the Alma Domus.

I am an American living in Siena. I took the train from Florence to Siena last year and it was a big comfortable bus. Luggage would not be a problem. Don't take the train. The Italians always take the bus rather than the train; there must be a reason.

Kathy, I would also recommend travel by Bus from Florence to Siena. The Corse Rapide Bus is a bit faster than the Corse Ordinarie, but the time difference isn't huge. The Bus will drop you in Piazza Gramsci, which I believe is a short walk from Alma Domus. The Bus station in Florence is close to Firenze SMN rail station. Place your larger Bags in the hold under the Bus, however I'd suggest keeping an "eye" on the hold when the Bus stops at intermediate locations on the way to Siena. You can take smaller items on the Bus, similar to carry-on when flying. I can't remember for sure, but believe Bus tickets must also be validated. Happy travels!

Thanks so much for the info...bus it is!

Just a note that if you take the bus, it will be the SITA bus (www.sitabus.it). The bus station is about 800-1,000 feet southwest from the Florence train station. You can't see it from the train station and you have to cross a busy street (there are traffic lights) to get there. There are two types of runs to Siena. One makes a few stops along the way (Corse Ordinarie). The other is the Corse Rapide which is a non-stop to Siena. The buses are modern long-distance travel buses with luggage holds underneath. Here's a link to the schedule. The bus leaves you off at the city wall. http://www.sitabus.it/sita-toscana/Firenze-Siena2010.pdf

we took the bus for just a day trip from Florence. Very comfortable and easy. Since it was Sunday, there were fewer scheduled and we couldn't get on the rapide. didn't matter...the other is only slightly longer ride. The views are lovely...try to get a window seat and get near the front, if you can. The windows are dirty, so try to figure out where the sun will come from during your ride and sit on the other side! You will see more. You can get a printed schedule when you first arrive from the helpful folks at the IT in Florence (across from train station and maybe there's one at airport?) (we were unsuccessful on the website and had to go to IT). We needed sched. to know when return buses went back to Florence, but also ended up helping French-speaking tourists who couldn't get driver to even listen to them, much less try to help them figure out return schedule when we "de-bussed" in Siena. My French from 40 yrs ago was useful, "Heure" and "ici" being easy words to remember!
I envy you; we'd booked 5 nights in Florence, but if I had it to do over, would have booked 2 in Siena and maybe other town and only 2 in Florence. Have a great time!

Don't forget Google Street View as a resource to get the lay of the land. In this instance, you could check out the area around the Florence train station to get an idea of what to expect. It's one of my main travel planning tools. Happy travels.

Definitely take the express bus. The local bus is also a school bus.

This information is very helpful. We plan to take the bus to Siena for a day trip this spring. Do you need to buy bus tickets in advance or can you buy them the day of? Also, are the buses usually on time? Lastly, do you buy a ticket for a specific time or just a general ticket. We are not certain what time we want to come back from Siena so I am hoping they are flexible.

I can second Michael's comment to check out Google maps. Siena is one of those places that look one way on a map and then look totally different in person. My BF & I arrived by train and (this is the only point of our trip where I WISH he would've listened to me) he thought we could walk to town instead of taking the city bus for a whopping 1 euro. It was so hilly and terrible with luggage. So, if you arrive by train (which could be faster b/c of traffic out of Florence or depending on where you are leaving Florence), then definitely hope on the sita & ride up to Siena. But, if you arrive by bus, no problem. The main city bus stop is Piazza Gramsci. This is an EASY downhill stroll to the Hotel Alma Domus. Just make sure you know where the Alma Domus is before you start strolling downhill. We went up and down so many time with bags that it was ridiculous. Google map Piazza Gramsci & Hotel Alma Domus & you'll see it's preety short if you get it right the first time. I would probably recommend the bus b/c you'll get there in 1 nice ride & easily just walk downhill from there.

Jennifer - No, you can buy tickets the day you want to leave. I would always check bus schedules when you first arrive to a new city so that you can plan it out later (plus, you'll already be at the bus stop so you might as well get them then). As for the return trip, I'm trying to remember & I think that we just checked out the return schedule & then bought them right before we left. I think you do need to buy then for a specific time but you don't need a lot of lead time for this route. Even if you do the train, you'll still have to take a city bus so you might as well do a bus from the beginning & not have to transfer over.

Would anyone know if there's a luggage storage facility in the Siena bus station? Or if there's none, what can I do if I have heavy luggage but won't be checking in any hotel in Siena (since it's only a stopover from Florence to Rome)?

Karla,
Yes there is a luggage hold area at the Siena bus station which is located under Piazza Gramsci.

If it is convenient for you, especially if you're leaving on an early bus, buy your ticket the day before. I was in Siena earlier this month and watched five people from NY run around trying to buy tickets at 6:10 in the morning and nothing was open. They finally had to buy them from the bus driver at a premium price.