Is a Day trip possible from Florence to Assisi and Sienna

It is really highly unlikely that you can do this on public transportation. Assisi is a 2hr40min train trip from Florence. Then, you will find out that the Assisi train station is not in Assisi. It's in an adjoining town (Santa Maria Degli Angeli). You need t take a bus or taxi up to Assisi. Also, the hills are quite steep so here's the quick tour hint. You go next door to the small shop and buy a ticket on the Line C bus and go to the top of the town. Then, you tour the town by walking down the hills. You'll get to see everything and its more relaxing. The last thing to see is the Basilica at the bottom of the hills. You're really looking at 6hrs in the train station or on the trains. Plus, you will easily spend 3-4 hours touring Assisi unless you speed walk down the hills. We did this day trip a few years ago and we didn't get back to Florence until after 7:00pm. We went to Siena and San Gimignano on a different day. You just won't make it in one day. On public transportation to Siena from Assisi, it will take you 4.5hrs by train (most of the runs take you back to Florence first). If you know how to buy the tickets via Chiusi, the train trip is 3.5hrs. There used to be a bus run from a plaza near the Assisi train station in Santa Maria Degli Angeli. It only runs once daily and is a bit quicker than the trains.

With such little time, you probably would serve yourself better to spend your weekend in Florence. A trip to Siena from Florence is best done by bus which gets you into the center city. I found parking a car to be difficult and traffic a nightmare with large apartment complexes at the foot of the hill. We later drove down to San Gim and Volterra, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Bill, If you were planning to visit Assisi and Siena on the same day, that's going to be difficult due to the transportation times involved. It should be possible to visit each place on separate days, but that would leave virtually no time in Florence. Keep in mind also that you're going to be jet-lagged for the first few days, and not up to "touring speed". Another possibility would be to take a day trip to Assisi and then stop in Siena for a few hours on the way to Rome. I'm not sure what the luggage storage options are in Siena? As mentioned in a previous reply, travel from Florence to Siena is best via Bus as you'll be dropped in the centre of town. Travel from Siena to Rome by train (usually one change in either Firenze or Chiusi-Chianciano Terme, travel time ~3 hours). For travel on the Bus and Regionale trains, DON'T forget to validate your tickets prior to boarding! With reserved seats on trains, note that these are specific to a particular train and departure time. Not having reservations where these are compulsory can be an expensive lesson! Happy travels!

Bill, if you do go to Assisi, don't be put off by the train station being in Santa Maria degli Angeli (about 5km away) - there are buses (Line C is a good idea) every 15 minutes or so, and the ride is less than 10 minutes into Assisi.

If seeing both Siena and Assisi is important to you, consider this option. Daytrip by bus to Siena while in Florence, and then make a full day of your trip from Florence to Rome by going via Assisi. It will turn 1.5 hours of train travel into 5 hours of train travel, but will save almost 3 hours of backtracking to Florence.

And in light of the preceding suggestion... I've done the Florence, Assisi, Rome, trip a couple of times and found it to be a very pretty ride.