Siena day trip while in Florence

Yes, I agree that the train is the best way to get to the lovely city of Sienna.

We took the bus, the bus station is just to the left , along that street to the left as you are facing the train station.

Bus= 75 minutes. Takes you on top of the hill in the historical center
Train=90 min. Drops you at the station, at the bottom of hill. Escalators are available to ease the walk up

if we choose the bus option, where are tickets purchased? somewhere near the train station bus stop?

take the bus, it drops you off at piazza gramsci

it's bus 131r, in florence the station is called autolinee toscane, and is just west of train station, they have a manned ticket office, go in, say siena, and boom, 8.40 euro later, they'll say, maybe lane 5

then at piazza gramsci, you can go down to the other manned ticket office and say florence, for your ticket back, if you didn't get a round trip ticket earlier

the tickets are open, meaning no time, just show up and go

we got to siena around 9:15, and left later that day around 6

we did this just last month

Warning:

Due to major construction of a new line of the light rail tramway, there will be changes to the Autolinne Toscane intercity bus lines currently operating out of the bus station on Via Santa Caterina da Siena (next to the train station).

Changes will occur starting this coming August 1. Many buses will depart from Piazzale Vittorio Veneto, near the Cascine park, rather than from the bus station.

When buying your bus ticket be sure to specify "rapido and return" (for a round trip). The other bus takes longer because it makes multiple stops. Taking the bus is definitely more efficient in terms of use of time,

And don’t forget to validate your bus tickets .