We would like to book a private tour to Siena. We will be staying in Florence and would like a day trip to Siena. Or Siena and a town nearby. We would like to book this tour for October 13th.
I am worried we may be too late to get a tour. Any suggestions?
Thank You
Maria
Go there on your own. Very easy by bus.
The bus station is next to the train station in Florence. 75 min and you are in Siena city center.
Buy a guidebook and you can do it on your own. With the 300 euro you save, you can have at least 5 dinners for two at a restaurant.
I’m in Tuscany right now, but not yet Siena. Rick Steves’ guidebook lists two local Florence guides who do Tuscany driving tours - if they can’t do it, maybe they have other recommendations: Alessandra at www.tuscanydriverguide.com and Paula at www.florencetour.com .
He also indicates that, if you can get to Siena, the Tourist Information office at the Piazza del Duomo has walking tours daily at 11:00am.
Thank You for the information.
Is there not a train we could take to Siena?
Maria
There is a train but the bus is quicker and drops you IN town as opposed to train which is outside of town.
You don't need a tour to see Siena, it is not a huge city.
While Siena isn't a large city, I did book a private tour with Federica Olla (ollaventi.com). She was recommended to me by a guide in Florence that I found in an RS book (florencewithflair.com).
Federica was wonderful - it was just the 2 of us walking around and I learned so much and gained a deep appreciation for the city that she loves so much. She arranged as much or little as I wanted and was extremely helpful.
We have been to Siena a few times but the last time in May we booked a private tour with Roberto (Tours by Roberto) and it was amazing and worth every penny.
Been to Siena many times. Listen to Roberto. Rick's guide book gives you all the info you need. Make copies of the map for walking.
Favorite place to eat is Trattoria Papei.
Thank you. Just got back. We had a wonderful visit of Siena with Federica Olla and it was very easy to get there with the bus. We got our tickets the day before.
Maria, I’m glad you had a good experience. We had one night in Siena last week, and took a train to get there from Lucca. Getting from the station to die town historic Siena was a real challenge.
The station signage for taxis and buses is confusing, counter-intuitive, and contradictive. The WC’s, which took 50 cents to get in, had turnstiles that didn’t work. Both women and ben who needed to “go” had to crawl inter the turnstile, on the bathroom floor. Really unpleasant. Then signs said to ride an escalator up to the next floor, where a sign said to go back from where you came, to get a taxi. We’ll, no taxis on underground hallway under the train station! We finally found the taxi queue, with probably 20 people waiting for a taxi, but no taxis to be found.
We wound up taking a city bus into thr center, also hard to find the station bus stop, beneath a shopping mall, accessed by an unmarked elevator. Rick Steves didn’t even mention taxis as a possibility in his 2021 “26th Edition” Italy guidebook. Our B&B had a 2015 edition, which did mention taxis, but only that they were habitually scarce back then. Apparently, 6 years later, they weren’t even worth mentioning as a possibility.
We only had 1 night available- wish we’d stayed for 2. Do plan on an expensive trip, even if it’s just a short stay.
Cyn,
We had a similar experience taking the train in and getting a taxi. Went to the taxi cue outside the station and there were a few people waiting, but no taxis. A few tried to call, but to no avail. A local family came out and said they won't pick you up there (can't remember the reason), so we followed them all the way up the escalators where they called a cab for themselves and helped us call one. It was SUPER hot out (mid-July) and I wondered how long people had to wait for a taxi down below.
We had a similar problem recently finding a taxi at the Siena station -- there were perhaps ten people ahead of us in the taxi queue and it took maybe 20 minutes until we were picked up. A person next to us in line who visited Siena often said there had been a noticeable lack of taxis in Siena ever since the pandemic, so if you want to visit there, consider taking an intercity bus that drops you close to the center, or if traveling by rail, figure out the city busses or follow the RS advice about crossing to the shopping center across from the station and taking the series of escalators -- though it's still quite a walk into town from the top.
We took the city bus from Florence to Sienna. We picked up the tickets the day before 8 euros each way. We got round trip. the tickets do not have a time on them so you could take it that day any time.
We left at 8:45 a.m. and took the 3:00 bus back to Florence.
We had 2 hour tour with Federica Olla, it was a beautiful day.
Maria
I also recommend going to Siena on your own. A bus from Florence will take you straight to the town of Siena. Very nice view. Once you are there, walk up the hill to see the town hall, square and the duomo. We did the roof top thing for the duomo and also visited its excellent museum. Honestly it is one of the most beautiful churches in the world and I have been to quite a few famous cathedrals. But the best part of Siena is just wandering the lanes especially when most of the tourists are gone and locals are out. You can have dinner there and take a late bus back to Florence.
