Tuscany day trips from Florence

You can easily get to Siena, San Gimignano and Volterra by train or bus from Florence. The exception is Sundays when the bus schedules are heavily reduced. If you need to see more or be more flexible, a rental car would be fine. Just be sure that the license plate on your Florence rental car is registered to go into the ZTLs (restricted zones). The car rental agency could be in a ZTL to begin with.

We've never needed a car in Florence. You can get to many nearby places of interest via bus or train. Parking in the city is problematic at best and there are traffic free zones with hefty fines.

The express bus to Siena takes an hour and fifteen minutes was wasn't very expensive. Personally I think Siena deserves an overnight stay if at all possible.

Sienna is nice but I'd say San Gimingano (sp??) is more of a must-see but this might be based more on personal preference. I also want to second that you do not need to rent a car to explore Tuscany and even parts of Umbria while being based in Florence. The train and bus service is excellent, fast, and pretty well affordable.

Bus trips are the best out of FLorence, easy and low cost. Leave the driving to someone else. Vespas are a dangerous alternative!

Monica
Certainly taking a train is direct and simple but driving allows you to explore all the little treasures of Tuscany between the main towns. Try renting at least for one day with no specific itinerary. If you are more than one person, you can rent a car relatively cheaply at that time for one day and compare what that costs as opposed to your train tickets. GPS systems are helpful but advice from your hotel can go a long way.
If you only plan to stay on the autostrada then it is probably not worthwhile.
Explore---Tuscany is more than just arriving in Siena, San Gimingano or Pisa!!!

I recommend a bus trip up into the hills of Chianti. You could either go to Greve and enjoy the town and walk through the countryside, or go all the way to Siena making stops along the way. You might also look into organized day trips (castle tours, wine tasting, etc.) We did an all day bike tour (www.tuscany-biketours.com) that picked you up and dropped you back off in Florence. I wrote a review in the graffiti wall under outdoor adventures. Have fun.

Day trips to Lucca and Pisa are also easy by train. If you want to venture into Umbria, Orvieto (a little over an hour by IC train) and Assisi (about 2 hours by bus) are also worth considering.

1.) Florence to Siena? The bus is the only way to go. 2.) Greve? Panzano? Well, you could go by bus, it's not so simple, but it can be done. 3) Get off the beaten path as Michael recommends? (PS I absolutely recommend it too...) You must have a car. But it's better to stay outside of Florence when you have a car. Let us know when you have more ideas of what you want to do and we can give you better answers.

Sienna definitely. You can also consider Lucca and Pisa, or Volterra and San Gimignano. I would also recommend Cortona. Or even further afield, Orvieto or Assisi. Even some smaller, less known spots like Pistoia, Prato, and San Miniato which are nearby could be worth it. Speaking of nearby, Fiesole is worth its quick bus ride, with a nice view overlooking Florence.

All of these can be done by train or bus. I wouldn't worry about renting a car.

Monica,

We booked a day trip to Siena and San Gimignano through expedia.com. It was wonderful. The tour guide was very informative and both place were beautiful.