To and from Siena

Are those the only two destinations? If you don't need a car to tour other hill towns, take the train. They run often. A car in Venice is a pain in the posterior.

The distances are relatively short and there are fast trains for some routes, so it didn't make sense for us to try to fly to Venice from Rome, for instance, when you factor in travel time to and from airports.

It's also a thrill to walk out of the train station in Venice and be right on the Grand Canal.

Randy

Jennifer,
From Rome to Siena you can go by train or bus.

The bus http://www.sena.it/
has the advantage of no changes and drops you in town. The train requires a change, probably Chiusi, and the Siena station is about 2 kilometers from the centerof town.

I am planning on doing the same thing in may except in the opposite direction--venice/siena/rome.

You can take the train. It is about 40 euros from Venice to Siena and about 20 from Siena to Rome.

You can check out http://www.trenitalia.com for schedules and fares and you can purchase your tickets online.

Ciao Jennifer,

We've often taken the trip to Siena from Rome. In fact, we did it just this past weekend! I think you've got good advice here. We were traveling to other locations so we rented a car from Rome Termini and headed up SS 2 out of town... hitting towns like Bracciano, Sutri, Viterbo, Montepulciano, on our way to Siena. We then headed the following day to Volterra. So for this trip, cutting from town to town, a car made more sense.

We've also taken the bus and train to Siena... and I prefer the train. Yes, the bus will drop you in the middle of town, but I like the "facilities" and space on a train better - and far less stops! Once you arrive by train, you just walk under the station in Siena and catch the LOCAL bus for a Euro to the top of the hill.

We've driven back DOWN the Autostrada from the Siena access and you will pay 12 - 15 euro to get into Rome on A1 but frankly after winding your way through small towns at 20 MPH, the autstrada is a welcome relief for us.

Note - Despite living here, and traveling these roads often, we still plug in the GPS. Sometimes it leads to some off-the-path discoveries!

Whatever path you take, you'll have a wonderful time in Siena! Have fun!

Ciao,
Ron in Rome!