Siena to San G and Voltera

Stacie...

Rent a car! For what the six of you would spend on the bus tour, having your own vehicle, just makes more sense. Keep in mind, some of the best memories of our trips end up being "lost" in some way or another. Driving in Tuscany is no different than in the US. From Seina you're about 50min from San Gimignano and Voltera 30 min from San Gim. great roads marvelous vistas. Have a great trip!

You are at the mercy of the public transportation system's scheduling if you want to do a single day trip encompassing all three towns, and this is not practical in my opinion. I would recommend driving it yourself in an SUV or minivan. Buy a GPS with European maps preinstalled and you will be fine. I did Siena and San Gimignano by car from Florence last year and was back in Florence before dark. All three towns are fairly close together and driving the Autostrada was a breeze once we figured out how to use the automated tollbooth. Our GPS got us where we needed to be without a hitch, and the backroads were very well maintained and not crowded. The landscape is beautiful. You will enjoy the drive. If you are renting from Florence, do so from the AIRPORT to avoid entanglements with the ZTL there.

Rent from Autoeurope.com You can easily get a car rental from the Avis car rental in Siena. Drive to San Gimi and Volterra is a cinch. And you will welcome that you can be at your car to rest or drive back on your schedule espec. with 6 p. The Tuscan roads are easy and simple to navigate. If you have add. time with your convenience of a rental car you may wan to drive by Assisi, cortona or some other fab tuscan village like nrby Montepulciano.

i took the bus from siena and it was awesome. i left early, so early, that the bus was stopping to pick up the kids going to school. what a great idea, and really fun to watch their interaction. the driver stopped outside the walls of san g. for me and told me where to wait for the bus back to siena. it took maybe an hour, but was restful, and the views beautiful. have fun, be safe.

I would recommend renting a car too. My husband I just returned from here 2 weeks ago. Stayed a few km outside of San Gim. Had a car with a gps we brought from home. Drove to Volterra, Florence (parked easily and free at Piazelle Michelangelo), Chianti wine route, etc. Skipped Siena this time as have been there several times already. Have been to these other places previously too and my husband is comfortable driving over there. We love the freedom a car gives you in this region and we love, love, love stopping at the Autogrills on the autostrada!! Got rid of our car upon arrival in Bologna.

The bus from Siena to San G is no problem whatsoever, as long as you get an early start. Getting from Siena to Volterra is something i've never done, but I know there's a transfer involved in the town of Colle di Val d'Elsa. My opinion about driving in Italy is it's not all that convenient. More of a headache. I believe a car insulates you from people. I always take public transportation.

To reiterate what others have said, if you want to visit multiple cities on the same day, it is better to rent a car. If you visit one city per day from Siena, you can easily do that by bus.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. We are a group of 6 which makes renting a car a little more difficult. I was trying to see if we had other options without a car since we would either have to rent 2 cars or pay more for a van. It is starting to look like renting a car might be the best idea.