I am traveling with my two kids who are in their late teens. We are going to Italy late May/early June. Our itinerary includes Rome, Siena, Venice and Milan. Here are my questions: 1. Is there local bus service between some of the hill towns around Siena; most specifically Monteriggioni? I have not had success finding bus routes. Would rather not rent a car. 2. Travel from Siena to Venice on a Sunday - is it better to take the train with a change in Florence? There is a station change and I am wondering if the stations close to one another? Or, would it be better to take the bus to Florence then catch the train to Venice; another station change I am assuming. Have not gotten my RS Tuscany book yet, so I apologize if I am asking a dumb question.
3. We will take the train from Venice to Milan but plan to stay in a smaller town outside of Milan. Would like to spend some time during the day in Milan then evenings with family (haven't met them yet!) in Buscate and/or Robechetto. Is there public transportation to either of these towns and between the two. Is anyone familiar with these two towns? Thinking of staying in Buscate. Research does not say much about either place, so I am guessing they are not bustling places, which is fine; we will need a little rest by then! Thank you for reading this rather lengthy post and for your helpl
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
According to www.busfox.com, there is bus service between Siena and Monteriggioni. It's in Italian but you should be able to enter Siena, Monteriggioni, your date of travel and time. Excellent information appears. The bad news is that it doesn't look like it runs on Sundays. Many small bus companies in Italy either don't run on Sundays or they have a very limited schedule. For this bus, you need to catch it at Piazza Antonio Gramsci 15 in Siena. The bus will drop you off at Strada Statale Cassia in Monteriggioni. From Siena, there are also bus routes to San Gimignano, Colle Val d' Elsa and others. But, these can be on different small bus lines. For Siena to Venice on Sunday, you can easily take the train to Florence. The train station is actually about a mile away down the hill. You will change trains in Florence to go to Venice. The train from Siena is a slower Regionale. From Florence to Venice, you get the nice high-speed. There are four trains departing Siena before 09:00 on a typical Sunday (06:27, 06:39, 08:18, and 08:47). The next train departs at 12:18 so if you want to get to Venice a bit early, take the early trains. Your overall train journey will be about 4hrs15min. The SITA bus is much better but again watch out for Sundays. Very limited. Haven't found the Buscate thing yet. No train station there so I'm looking for a bus. I'm off to my Rick Steves travel meeting in Sacramento so I'll have to do that later.
Posted by
Boise, ID, USA
2187 posts
We have been to Italy ten times and the ONLY time we rented a car was for four days in Tuscany to go to some of the smaller places (Monteriggioni was one). Besides difficulties on Sundays, many of the buses are scheduled for school kids - so early mornings and mid-afternoons are the only times you can get them. Finding Italian bus schedules is notoriously difficult (even once you're on the ground). I've had some success by searching for (for example) "autobus Milan Buscate." This will bring up the bus company and you can see what you can find.
Posted by
OP
Fenton
18 posts
Thank you both for your suggestions! Just to clarify, Sunday will be our transition day from Siena to Venice. We will have part of Thursday and all of Friday and Saturday to travel around Siena. I am not having any luck with busfox.com or by searching "autobus milan buscate". I must be doing something wrong. I'll keep trying. Thanks again.