Tuscany

you can use a bus/train, but you will be restricted to the schedules. i asked this exact question last year before our trip to italy. we took the bus from florence to siena and rented a car through auto europe in siena for 3 days and went to 6 hilltowns. driving in tuscany was an enjoyable experience for us, when we did get a little lost the very friendly italians were more than happy to steer us in the right direction. rent a car you'll have a great experience !! good luck :):)

There are SITA buses from Florence to either Siena, San Gimignano and Volterra. Once there, there are buses between these towns but these buses run less frequently and almost not at all on Sundays. Bruce's idea is great. You can get a SITA Corse Rapide (Express) bus to Siena. Note that the SITA bus terminal is about 1,000' feet south of the Florence train station. You have to cross a busy street but there is a traffic light and it's an easy walk. It's not the large bus station that adjoins the train station.