Train travel

An excellent day trip from Florence is Siena by bus (1h 15m). Siena’s train station is further away from the center and the train takes longer. The bus drops you off at the city center.
The only two Tuscan towns I know of with train stations are Lucca and Pisa. If you go to Lucca direct trains are sporadic so get an early start: https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html. The name of the train station in Florence is Firenze S.M. Novella.
Why stop along the way while traveling to the Dolomites when you can take a direct train from Florence to Bozen Bozen (3h 15m).

Regarding the Dolomites portion of your trip, it is easily done by train and bus. Take a train to Bolzano and switch to the bus, the #350 which leaves from a bus station a short walk to the right as you exit the station. The trip to Ortisei, the easiest village to reach, takes about an hour. This area is called the Val Gardena and is the most accessible by public transportation in my opinion.

There are three villages, Ortisei, Selva, and Santa Cristina. Your hotel will give you a pass to use for buses that connect these three villages as well as some high mountain passes. There are several lifts to take you to higher elevations for the views or easy mountain walks. You can buy a pass for the lifts which we find a very good value.

What time of year are you traveling? There is a seasonality to the mountains. The best time, with the most facilities open, is from mid-June through late September, or in winter for skiing.

Some of the Tuscan towns have bus service, though it can be slow. For answering the most basic question, "Is there train service?", the website Rome2Rio.com is helpful. If it gives train info (without indicating a connecting bus or taxi is required), that probably assure there are at least some trains. Unfortunately, much of the other information on that website is very unreliable; that includes fares, travel times, and frequencies.

For accurate train schedules and fares you should go to the trenitalia website. It requires use of Italian rather than English station names, so you'll need to use Firenze SM Novella as your point of origin for trips from Florence to smaller towns/cities in Tuscany. Change the departure date and time to match your plans. For the Dolomites, you can check destinations like Bolzano (Bozen) and Bressanone (Brixen). For buses, you can usually find the name of the bus company you need if you keep clicking through the Rome2Rio website. Sometimes you may also get a link to the company's website; otherwise, you can probably find it with Google.

Although I haven't used the company myself, I recall a number of positive comments on this forum about the small-group tours run by Tours by Roberto. I think there are departures from both Florence and Siena. These are not big-bus tours; the company uses vans.

As a traveler who depends on trains and buses to get around, I can tell you that it's difficult to see more than one small town a day if you have to use buses. Since some of the little places can be seen in their entirety in just a few hours, it can be somewhat frustrating to spend so much time traveling out and back. That's why I recommend considering at least one day-tour; it will allow you to see more than one place without a lot of dead time dealing with public-transportation schedules.

The usual recommendation for trips to the Dolomites is to stay up in the mountains in a place like Ortisei (in the Val Gardena) rather than down in the valley. There are some very attractive towns down in the valley--Bolzano (perhaps the most convenient for day trips), Bressanone, Chiusa/Klausen among them. Others have spoken highly of Merano/Meran. But there's a potential problem: The valley can be hit with hot weather in the summer, and many moderately priced hotels down there do not have air conditioning. (They think they don't need it, but if there's a heat wave while you're there, you will disagree.)

There's convenient bus service from Bolzano (also from Bressanone) up into the mountains. There are also lifts that will take you even higher, to places where even those of us not so young can walk on safe paths surrounded by mountain peaks. It's a lovely area. You could stay in Ortisei (not the only option, but a popular one) and take side trips by mountain lift, and you could go on to Santa Cristina by bus. A day trip down to Bolzano (or stopping there for some time on you way in or out) would be very worthwhile. The city has very attractive, Austrian-inspired architecture, and the South Tryol Museum of Archaeology has a brilliant exhibition about Otzi, the Iceman.

We have some folks on the forum who've spent a lot of time in the Dolomites; they'll be able to help you as you make more progress on your itinerary.

The trains needn't be a problem for you as long as you travel light and can handle your luggage. From Florence you'd be able to take a direct train to Bolzano with no changes; those are probably heading to Austria. There are also trains that require one change in either Bologna or Verona, plus others with multiple changes; the latter are a lot slower. You can save some money on the fastest trains by buying your tickets well in advance, but be sure you understand the refund/change rules.

Bolzano is a lovely town but it is hot and humid in the summer, and it is not “in” the Dolomites. It is a gateway but not a mountain village. I recommend staying in one of the Val Gardena villages, or if you prefer a larger town with train connections and then bus into the mountains, Bressanone is a good choice. But if you really want to experience the spectacular scenery of the Dolomites, and enjoy the ambiance of the village hotels, stay in Val Gardena, or up on Alpe di Siusi. Many hotels are situated to offer wonderful views from your room’s balcony. And the food is so good—half board includes dinner and breakfast and is a good value. We have never had a bad meal at a Dolomites hotel.

The next valley over, Val Badia, is also lovely, if you want a second or third place to stay. We like the village of Colfosco in the Alta Badia. This is the first village one comes to if coming from Val Gardena over PassomGardena.

From Florence you would take the train to Bolzano, and bus from there. Laurel explained it all. The buses are large and comfortable and very reliable.

As for exploring Tuscany by train from Florence, I prefer to use the train websites to find routes and intermediate stops. For this purpose, the German site bahn.de it the easiest to use—-more user-friendly than Trenitalia, and it shows all the route and intermediate stops.

For example,,if you enter Siena as the destination from Florence, you will see that the train stops at Certaldo and Poggibonsi on the way. At Poggibonsi you can transfer to a bus to San Gimignano, which is what many people want to see. But it is a hill town and maybe not the best choice for people with mobility limitations.

Or you could head toward Lucca, and the train will stop at Pistoia, Montacatini Terme,and Pisa, among others.

But if you are spending only a few days in Florence, you will want to see the local sites as well, and will not have all that much time to explore Tuscany. Maybe one daytrip out of the city will suffice.

As for how easy it is for seniors to travel by train, I will just say that so long as you can manage your luggage on and off the train you should be OK. Make sure you understand the process of buying tickets, whether online or in person, and finding you way to the correct platform for your train in time for departure. There is lots of good information here one this subject.

My husband and I are close to your age ( late 70’s) and had a wonderful trip to Italy in September, traveling by train in the Veneto and to the Dolomites. We have chosen not to rent cars in Italy any more because of age. We do not yet have mobility issues, but we saw lots of people older than us who managed just fine.

We are spending a week in Selva in the Val Gardena in late June. This will be our second time there. We are also going by train and bus. Like others have said, it’s easy to take the bus from the Bolzano train station. It’s the number 350. If you stay in the Val Gardena, you have so many options for outdoor activities. And many are included in your stay at your hotel, and some apartments. Please send me a direct message if you’d like more detailed information. You will love it there. That’s why we’re returning after six years. And we are also going to Siena by bus from Rome.

Hanna, there are several towns to visit by train. All about 1 hour other than Lucca.
Lucca, Siena, Bologna, Prato, Pistoia, Monticattini
Terni/Alta.

Tours by Roberto will take you thru the Chianti villages in a Van.

I was in Florence this past September, and went to Pistoia and Arezzo for day trips.
I went on market days, and both were really charming and interesting.
You can also get to San Gimignano easily by bus for the day.
Lots of choices!

Hannah, a direct train from Florence’s S.M. Novella station to:

Pisa’s Centrale station (1h)
Lucca (1h 30m) if you take a direct train but there are not a lot of them.
Bologna (45m). Bologna is in Emilia-Romagna region not Tuscany. I don’t recommend a day trip because Bologna is big and you need to sleep there to appreciate it. I took a day trip once and missed a lot.
Prato (45m).
Pistoia (1h).
Monticattini Terni/Alta (1h).
Siena (1h 30m) take the bus.
Arezzo (1h 45m)
San Gimignano is only accessible by bus and requires a connection making it a very long day.

Most of us are not as mobile as we were. The question is whether you have physical problems that limit your mobility or whether you just want to go at a slower pace. I think buses and trains are equally easy, you do have to go up 2-3 steps to board a train, so a bus may be a bit easier. Most of the Tuscan towns are hill towns which means lots of uphill/downhill walking, often on cobblestone streets.

If you want to avoid hilly towns, consider staying in Bologna and day tripping by train. Towns that I have visited that are easy walking: Ferrara, Ravenna, Padua, and Verona. They are each worth a full day's sightseeing.

Public transportation possibilities are plentiful. I want to commend you for your willingness to try a new way of travel. Good for you!

You might find this a helpful tool: https://direkt.bahn.guru/

It tells you all the train stops that are direct from a single train station. So enter Florence and you can see each stop with a direct train as well as travel times. It doesn't give you information beyond that -- like what is in the town or if it would be of interest -- but it is a good place to start, and to visualize the options and distances.

One advantage of city-to-city buses is that your large suitcase can be stored in the luggage bay below the bus; you don't have to carry it up the steps onto the bus and lift it onto an overhead shelf.

Chani wrote:

Most of us are not as mobile as we were. The question is whether you
have physical problems that limit your mobility or whether you just
want to go at a slower pace. I think buses and trains are equally
easy, you do have to go up 2-3 steps to board a train, so a bus may be
a bit easier.

acraven wrote:

One advantage of city-to-city buses is that your large suitcase can be
stored in the luggage bay below the bus; you don't have to carry it up
the steps onto the bus and lift it onto an overhead shelf.

Sage advice from respected forum vets Chani (HEY girl!) & acraven, on a subject that rarely gets discussed.

I am mid-60's and decidedly not as mobile as I was on my first Italian journey 12 years ago. So in my purview, that issue has to be factored in to all plans. I prefer train to bus 10x, 100x. But from experience, especially on a tight change, there is the stress of very quickly climbing those 3 (big!) steps onto the train, then torqueing (bad hip!) to walk down the aisle, then the hoisting of bag(s) onto the rack. Doing that a lot over the course of a day becomes tiresome indeed.

The prospect of those challenges, for our upcoming Sicily-to-Rome adventure next October, will make me revisit Rick's 'Pack Light, Pack Right' series of videos. I have to get it down to one less than 20# bag and my CPAP. Wish me luck!

If you are in your 80s, I would not consider the towns to visit as your main problema, but how mobile you really are. Train travel is not difficult as long as you can take care of your luggage on your own and you can easily walk both the three stairs into carriages and occasional stairs between tracks.

Generally speaking, even if I am around 60 and fit, I reduce my luggage size when my travel involves a train leg. Traveling by air you can arrange to arrive and leave airports by taxi, you have to deal with your luggage only till the checkin counter and almost everywhere on flat surfaces. But on trains you are on your own and almost never surfaces are completely flat. Reading on screen, your plans seem too heavy for old people, maybe possible if you are very fit and/or some younger fellow is traveling with you to help.

Thank you to all for good advice

Using the rail system in Italy is easy. Go on-line before you leave and use the GERMAN rail website and print the schedules using the button for show "intermediarly" stops. Follow along using your watch/phone, that way you know when to move to the door with your luggage so you can hop off. No reason to rent a car in Italy unless your staying way out in the country in places not covered by bus/train/taxi. All of the major cities/towns can be reached by rail or bus. Orvieto, Sienna, Assisi, Spoleto,Cortina. And a big shout out to Seniors navigating the trains. You can do it!! It just takes us a bit longer than when we were 30. J

Hi Hannah,
I reviewed one of your early posts that said your husband is 87 and walks slowly with a cane. Excellent to no longer think about driving.
It’s a difficult choice, but you may really want to look into one of the RS tours even though it is not your preferred method of travel. Luggage is definitely taken care of as is the transportation. Then again, if you are able to handle both pieces (I assume each of you will have a suitcase) of luggage and your personal item, then go for the train/bus combination for transportation.
If you stay with traveling by regional type trains (lots of very new ones between major destinations) they often have a level entrance on to the train and a section for seating that doesn’t require stairs. We encountered any number of this type on our recent trip. Even though we took a few of the Freccia, I don’t particularly remember the entrance, BUT, many of the Italian trains now have a space between the two backsides of seats for floor storage of bags. It’s a pyramidal space that can easily hold two fairly normal size carryon style bags. You just need to look for the spaces and be aware they exist. A lifesaver for sure. The overhead racks are getting pretty compact so the overhead lifting isn’t used so much. Another hint-if you can figure out if a train is originating at a station, try to arrive at least 10 minutes prior to departure as you can board early and take your time getting settled. This information is available on trenitalia.com. I highly recommend that you download the app on your phone and get used to its’ advantages, which are many, and how it operates.
For any of the day trips recommended-wow-so many are hilly and the streets are a bit difficult to navigate. All are very much worthwhile destinations so I would say to start googling any and all info you can find including using google maps. Time consuming but you will be much more familiar with what you might encounter once there. DO NOT let any of it deter you from visiting as there is always a way to make it work! Slow and steady.
I can only hope my husband and I are still willing to give it a go in our next decade. So good for you!
I look forward to reading about your adventure next spring.

Hannah- I was also looking at some of your previous posts where you mention that your husband uses a cane.
If so I am guessing he won’t be able to handle his luggage or yours so it will be up to you to get it on/off trains and everywhere else. Does he also need your assistance to navigate steps, etc?

We are 67/71 and have both developed a few mobility issues. My hands/wrists are no good and my husband’s feet are touch and go. My hip and back is a nuisance and can flare up at anytime. We are determined to continue traveling.

Just some suggestions from things we have learned/adjusted-

We never mastered the 1 carry on only for our travels- used to use 24 inch bags and that was fine…until it wasn’t!
We now use RS Convertible Backpacks, keep it as light as possible- soft clothes in packing cubes. Keeps your hands free. We can both carry our own along with a 21 inch roll aboard swivel- we put heavier stuff in that- shoes, toiletries, cords. Slip a flight bag over the handle and that is plenty of packing space.
We check the backpacks so only have roll aboard/flight bag for flight. Easy to handle, with 1 hand.

https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/carry-on-backpack

If you could carry a backpack and use just 1 suitcase that YOU can handle you might be able to handle the trains. Can your husband carry anything? A smaller backpack/napsack?

We find we like a 3 night stay minimum with hotel in center so we can be close to “home” for a midday rest. We’ve realized we just don’t like day trips much anymore. If a location is worth a visit, we’ll give it 2 nights or we skip. Too much moving around (on/off trains, in/out of stations) wears you out.

Transportation— due to our new limitations we’ve allocated more of our budget to transportation costs. We feel it is money well spent.
- Limit number of train changes, arrive earlier than necessary. Book any changes with a decent amount of time between- 30 min is usually enough. Book early for discounts, chose seats close to exit doors. Research the stations, know where elevators are or if they even exist. Know where your coach will stop, there are signs along the track noting this.
- Take taxis from station to hotel.
- Hire drivers when necessary.

I’m not sure a RS tour is the solution, there is still an awful lot of walking on those tours. Maybe one of the My Way Tours?

Bottom line- if you don’t think you can handle all of your luggage and getting on/off trains then you might want to reconsider WHERE you visit on this trip and give some thought again to renting a car.
That might mean staying in a town like Pienza- flat- with a car and just driving around the area. Not so many stops in other hill towns. (One of your threads has a list of the “flatter” towns).
Or hiring a driver for the day, so you can set the pace.
Depends on what your priority is this trip. Maybe just being there, driving around enjoying the scenery together, then back to your “flat base” for time in a piazza, etc.

We just enjoyed a trip with visits to all flat towns. (Stresa, Bologna, Verona and others)
Stairs, steep streets are difficult, have to limit them. We do enough walking as it is.
I would be happy to make some suggestions.

Ah yes- a My Way tour! Forgot how much walking is involved in the regular RS tours. Thank you Christine.
Florence for the most part is flat unless you get involved in the off the Arno part of the Oltrarno.
Bologna is flat too. Only part there are some cobblestone areas, especially by San Stefano, but there are sidewalks under the portici as well as some narrow uncobbled areas in the piazza. You could manage to still visit and walk easily. Good bus transport in Bologna.
Ravenna is flat and Lucca too although there’s a bit of a climb in most access areas to get onto the wall. Some are easier than others but the main town area is flat and very walkable.

Most other towns, cities we visited this trip were far from flat-Assisi, San Gimignano, Volterra, Siena.
I still think because the trains are easier to enter, etc., with smaller bags you could manage. The locals using the train-might well assist with a bag just so they can get on!
I didn’t travel this time taking note of barriers or difficulties for moving through places even though that would have been a good idea! We are in our early 70’s and in fairly good shape. However, that can change in a nano second.
I am taking notes.