carolh2o

We will be walking for 8 days from Siena to Pienza, village to village. Once in Pienza we plan to go to Cinque Terre (Monterosso al Mare) by public transportation.

There do not appear to be many public transportation options from Pienza.
So, Is it better to take a bus Pienza to Florence and then the train to Monterosso? Or are there more transportation options in Montipulciano that would make it better to end the walk there (rather than in Pienza) and take a train route Multipulciano to Monterosso?

Thanks for assistance. I'm finding the bus and train systems a bit challenging to decipher!

kybourbon

I'm not aware of a bus from Pienza to Florence although there might be one in summer months. From Pienza, you could take a bus to Siena where there is a train station. Train to Florence, this Pisa (or La Spezia), then Monterosso.

Montepulciano does not have a train station. You would take the bus from Montepulciano to Chiusi where you could catch a train to Florence, then Pisa (or La Spezia), then Monterosso.

What does your walking itinerary look like? Perhaps it would be better to end in Siena where you can catch an early morning bus (only 1 per day) to Pisa and train from there to Monterosso.

Mimar

There is a train station at Montepulciano -- but at some distance from town. From Montepulciano Stazione, it requires a minimum of 3 train changes and about 5 hours to get to the Cinque Terre. I doubt the bus from Pienza, if there is one, would be any faster.

kybourbon's suggestion of ending up at Siena is a good one. From Siena you could also take a more frequent bus (or a train) to Florence and continue on by train to La Spezia, where you switch to the local train for the CT. However, in both these options, Pisa and Florence, you still need to make 3 changes, one of which is from the bus to the train. In Florence, buses from Siena arrive across the street from the main train station. I'm not sure about the location of the bus station in Pisa.