Understanding bus timetables

The SENA site is very confusing... even in Italian!

I have never taken the bus to Siena - either driven or rode the train in. But I do have friends who have used the SENA bus service.

Unlike the trains, which arrive in Siena at the edge of town, the inter-city buses take you to Piazza Gramsci, which is right in the middle of things and only a few blocks from Piazza del Campo, the heart of the city.

There are 8-10 buses departing from Rome to Siena daily. You do leave from Rome—Tiburtina which is a secondary station to Termini. Be VERY CAREFUL while in Rome-Tiburtina, a litle bit of a rough neighborhood. When you come out of the Tiburtina train station (or metro), go under the highway overpass and there will be a large piazza with a lot of buses in front of you.

Tickets for the SENA bus to Siena are sold at the main bus terminal (across the street from the train station), and also at the Piccarozzi office at 12/14 Via G. Mazzoni, which is to your right and runs perpendicular to the highway (tel. 06 440 4495). My friends tell me the cost for a one-way ticket to Siena is €16.00.

To find the right bus, look at the front of the buses in the piazza and find the SENA bus (usually white) with a large sign, “SIENA-ROMA”. From Tiburtina, the bus to Siena takes about 3 hours. Once you reach Siena, perhaps best get off at Piazza Gramsci, which may be the 2nd or 3rd stop, and is recognizable by the Jolly Hotel on the left, opposite the piazza. (Depends on where your hotel is!).

Personally I take the train, arrive at the "on-the-edge-of-town" train station in Siena and catch a local bus into town. I just prefer trains to buses and like the extra room and ability to walk around but my friends say the bus is comfortable for them.

Continued below....

Once you get to San Gimingnano from Siena you can use their local service. It appears they have two bus routes (small town!). Here's a link you can use to figure out the "run's."

SAN GIMIGNANO

What I would do is use Google Maps and enter the names on these charts and you'll get a rough idea of the direction and location of stops around town. plotting your farmhouse you should have some better options! Can you email the "landlord" and get their suggestions on bus service? I'm sure they are very schooled in the local buses!

Hope that helps!
Ciao,
Ron

My husband is a Google Earth fan and I believe there is a layer you can put down over the area you are looking at that will give the public transportation stops, hotels, restaurants, etc. You might try that. We especially use google earth to see where we are going in new cities. It really helps!

WOW..I never considered using google earth for this. Great idea. The main reason weve chosen bus over train is the bus is much less expensive..given the awful exchange rate were faced with were trying to save when possible.

OK next question. What/where is "Poggibonsi"? A lot of timetables mention this..

I guess I should have specified-our house rental is in San Gimignano. So we soon as we get off the Sena bus, we will be trying to find the next bus to San Gimignano. Do you know where this connects? Is it in the same station?

Pggibonsi is a town in Siena province, Tuscany, northwest of Siena itself about half-way to Florence. It's at the junction of a number of roads that lead to the smaller towns like San Gimignano. Copy and paste the following coordinates into Google Earth or google maps and you'll find it. (43.472090, 11.146620)

ugh..in the interest of simplicity, would it just be easier to take the train from Roma to Poggibonsi/San Gimignano via Florence? Im so aggravated...I shouldnt be but I know I need to do my due diligence and research now because my dear husband is useless when it comes to navigation. I want to make this easy on both of us :)