Getting to Volterra from Florence

The drive from Pontedera is at least 45 minutes so the bus ride being an hour+ makes perfect sense. The drive from Florence to Volterra is probably at least 1.5 hours all by itself so I would expect public transportation for this lightly travelled rural route to take at least twice as long.

Unless you were to make the drive into a whole adventure - maybe swing by San Gimignano or some other places and string together some sights and take the whole day - three hours of driving is at the outer edge of what I would be interested in doing as a day trip.

I'm sure some one will chime in with what the drive itself is like.

Whatever you decide, have a great trip,
=Tod

Shoot.
Doesn’t look like Volterra will happen on this trip.
Anyone have recommendations on some reasonable side trips from Florence?
Also, on the back end of the tour we’re doing 4 nights in Milan. What would be interesting and achievable for some side trips from there?
Thanks!

The timing is correct. If you go by public transportation you need at least a couple of hours each way.

I’ve only driven to Volterra from Florence (many times), but below are the transit options.

You can take the bus to Colle Val D’Elsa then another bus from Colle VE to Volterra, or you can take train plus bus via Pontedera. I would probably prefer the latter option since buses to/from Pontedera are more frequent, and also the road from Pontedera is mostly along the Val d’Era (Era valley), therefore flat with fewer curves (except for the last few miles up the hill to reach the center of Volterra).

If you rent a car, you are not going to save much, because the drive is also about 1,5 hours, and, as mentioned, once you factor in the time necessary for the rental paperwork, and finding your way in and out of Florence, since you are not familiar with the streets, you still need a couple of hours.

A private driver will probably save you time, but unless there are several of you sharing the cost, the price is in the hundreds of euro, if you expect the person to take you there, stay with you, and take you back.

Siena is 75 min by bus and a popular day trip destination.
San Gimignano is also popular (similar travel time) by two buses.
By train you can visit Lucca and Pisa (they are near). Travel time is also about 1.5 hours.
Closer to Florence is Pistoia, a pretty city about 30 min by train from Firenze.
Arezzo is 45-60 min by train.
Bologna (a large city) is 35 min by high speed train.

We’re seeing Siena and Lucca on the Village tour.
Bologna is a definite possibility. We are all about the food, so restaurant suggestions are always appreciated!

We visited Fiesole 34 years ago on our honeymoon. That’s a good idea. Any good lunch spots?

Great suggestions!
How about Parma?
My husband was there on a business trip and liked it- did you know that Italy hosts CIVUS Tech exposition there? Huge food processing equipment show… boilers for canneries, cutting edge manufacturing gear.

Parma is farther.
If you want close then Pistoia or Bologna are the best choices. Arezzo too.

Thinking Parma on the Milan end of the trip.

Parma is about 90 min from Milan.
From Milan you could also consider a day trip to the lakes. Varenna (lake Como) is only 70 min away by train.

Looking at that now.
Maybe easier to book a day trip with aviator.

Viator Tours

An organized van/bus tour with Viator or whatever (Viator is a reseller which sells other operators' tours) is probably not necessary to visit places which can be easily reached by train (like Pistoia, Arezzo, Bologna, from Florence, or Parma, Varenna from Milan).

An organized van tour might be a smart option to consider if you want to visit a place that is more cumbersome to visit efficiently without a car, for example the Chianti Hills area, San Gimignano, Volterra, Monteriggioni (all in Tuscany not far from Florence but not well served by transit).

In 2018 we went to Volterra on the Village Italy tour even though it wasn't on the itinerary. Maybe that will happen on your tour, too

That’s good to know! I hope they can put a stop in for Volterra!