Here's the schedule:

http://www.sitabus.it/sita-toscana/Firenze%20-%20Siena.pdf

(Page 2)

Notice the express buses are considerably faster than the non-express buses.

In Florence, the Sita bus station is close to the SMN train station, about a block away as I recall. You can buy tickets there for future dates no doubt. I guess you can buy tickets elsewhere, but I always prefer to know ahead of time where I'll be departing from anyway.

In Siena, the Sita buses drop you very close to the center of Siena, a very easy (and enjoyable) walk.

In Siena it's via Tozzi which is a bus hub area Piazza Gramsci which is more parking lot than piazza. There is a ticket office under Piazza Gramsci, but I would buy roundtrip in Florence.

Thank you for your help.

And don't forget to punch the ticket when you board the bus in the little stamping/punching machine. (Don't punch the return ticket until you board your return bus!!!).

hello
thats great information for me too..grazie mille..
would you also know whats the best way to do ROME?SIENA ?..
i hear bus is better..
my friend is landing in FCO @ 2pm on a saturday , would she have a bus directly to siena?
again thanks a lot for yr help..lg

No, she would have to train into the city to catch the bus. She would take the local train FR1 (8€) from FCO (not the Leonardo Express) to Rome Tiburtina station. The Sena bus leaves from Tiburtina and goes to Siena. Travel time is about 3 hours and costs 15-20€ (sometimes there are discounts). Training to Siena would require several train changes and not as fast. Additionally, the train station is at the edge of town and then you have to get transport to the center of Siena. The bus drops in the center.

http://www.sena.it/Home/78-1-en.html

thank you for very useful info..
caoi

My bride and I will be visiting Italy in April. I'm considering a stop in Sienna on our way down from Florence to Rome. Don't plan on staying long, just arriving in the morning and leaving in the evening.

Does anyone know if there is a left-luggage office, or lockers large enough to accommodate a good-size suitcase, at the Sienna bus station?

There is/was storage in the ticket office under the piazza, but I'm not sure of their hours.

Training to Siena would require several train changes and not as fast.>

I believe I did it from Tiburtina with just one change of train - in Chiusi - but these are regional trains that do stop a lot and take forever but are also dirt cheap.

If you take the bus, be sure you don't get off at the first stop at the bottom of the hill. Wait until you climb the hill and get off at Piazza Gramsci. I asked the bus driver if we were at Gramsci and he said yes. We were not. We got off and had to get a taxi---the very reason we didn't take a train!

>>>at the Sienna bus station<<<

There really isn't a station. It's more a big bus parking lot with an office underground.
>>>Siena - The pedestrian underpass in the Lizza Tel. 0577 204225;
Opening hours: open weekdays from Monday to Friday, from 6.30am to 7.30pm. On Sundays, Saturdays and bank holidays from 7.00am to 7.30pm. Closed on Christmas day, New years' day and 1st May. On Easter Sunday and on December 26th bank holiday hours apply, and it is also closed between 1pm to 3pm. On 31st December closing time is at 7pm.<<<<

The bus you take from Florence to Siena is the Sita bus. You want the rapide bus.
http://www.sitabus.it/sita-toscana/Firenze-Siena2010.pdf

For Siena to Rome, it's the Sena bus.
http://www.sena.it/Home/78-1-en.html

I hate to sound dumb, but on the schedule, what does "Nel periodo estivo transita da Salceto" mean? I'd translate it to something like 'in the summer it passes Salceto' -- but what does that mean exactly? I'm looking at a 14:10 express bus Florence to Siena.

Meanwhile, Connie's post above has me confused. Do the express busses actually go to Piazza Gramsci after the stop at Via Tozzi? I thought they terminated at Tozzi -- no? I'm assuming Piazza Gramsci is the best bet if our apartment is right on the Campo?

And am I correct in assuming we'll have no problem getting Sita Express tickets just before boarding mid afternoon Wednesday in September?

Meanwhile, can anyone suggest a nice place to eat lunch right by the train/Sita station in Florence? We're coming from Venice and won't be able to get into our apartment until mid to late afternoon. Seems taking a break for lunch might be nice, but I don't recall much in that immediate area other than fast food type places. Surely there is something kind of nice?

bookmark

>>>I hate to sound dumb, but on the schedule, what does "Nel periodo estivo transita da Salceto" mean? I'd translate it to something like 'in the summer it passes Salceto' -- but what does that mean exactly?<<<

No clue, but Salceto is a street in Poggibonsi right off the highway. Perhaps there is the option to get off there on the rapid bus if you let the driver know. It's not the train/bus station stop that the other route includes.

>>>Meanwhile, Connie's post above has me confused. Do the express busses actually go to Piazza Gramsci after the stop at Via Tozzi? I thought they terminated at Tozzi -- no? I'm assuming Piazza Gramsci is the best bet if our apartment is right on the Campo?<<<

Yes, Piazza Gramsci is on via Tozzi and will be closest to the Campo. You would exit the Piazza close to the shops. With your back to via Tozzi it would be to your right up by the line of shops (pedestrian only). You could get there on via Tozzi by walking downhill and taking a left when you reach via Curatone, but it's just extra walking downhill, back uphill and I think a flight of stairs. As you exit Piazza Gramsci, you will come to another big piazza (don't know the name - just a few feet away from Gramsci). You should see a post office and bear left of it and find Via Termini which will take you to the Campo. You will have a steep hill down to the Campo from via Termini.

>>>And am I correct in assuming we'll have no problem getting Sita Express tickets just before boarding mid afternoon Wednesday in September?<<<

I don't remember these tickets being reserved seating so it's possible you could be standing if full. The Sita buses are public buses and although they have storage underneath for luggage, they don't reserve seats that I recall.

>>>Meanwhile, can anyone suggest a nice place to eat lunch right by the train/Sita station in Florence?<<<

Where is your apartment? No point sending you in the wrong direction for lunch.

Thanks. I guess the walk is pretty doable with rolling luggage.
I was thinking those buses stop at the bottom of the escalators -- at least that's where we had to get off when we took buses to Siena from Montepulciano, so thought that must be Via Tozzi. But guess not.

But for lunch IN Florence -- I'm talking between taking the train from Venice to Florence in the morning, having lunch there, and then after lunch taking the bus to Siena where our apartment is. We'll have luggage (simple, small, and rolling), but would like to have lunch near the stations so we don't have to roll luggage all around. We'll go back to Florence from Siena to explore on another day.

Piazza Gramsci is just to the edge of the historical center. No escalators and will be a fairly flat walk (with cobblestones)if you don't go downhill on via Tozzi (which is a very busy street with very narrow sidewalks).

The Florence bus station is to the right of the train station, around the corner (if your back is to the front of the station and you are facing the historic center). The station is a few feet from via della Scala which has hotels and restaurants (also the SM Novella perfume store). If you turn left on via della Scala you should find plenty of restaurants that aren't fast food.

Another option would be cross the street in front of the station where you can cut through to the Piazza di Santa Maria Novella. There are hotels/restaurants around the piazza (you can get there from via della Scala too). Either is an easy walk to the bus hub.

Reread what KYBOURON said: your back is to the train station, your front is looking toward the Duomo, the bus to Sienna is to your right.

I emphasize that, because when you come out of the train station you will see lots of buses on your left --- those are from another company that DOES NOT have buses to Siena.

The SITA station is in the middle of the block - you can't see it, all you see from the street is an alley - if you peer down the alley you might see some buses (depending on how many are in the station).

It was an easy ride - finding the station was the hard part for us.

Enjoy
Steve

NeoPatrick,
A map of Siena will make things clearer. Try http://travel.yahoo.com/p-map-486327-map_of_siena-I and enlarge until you can see street names. After getting off the bus at Piazza Gramsci walk across the street heading to Piazza Matteotti, called Piazza Poste by locals since the post office takes up one side. If you take Banchi di Sopra you will have an easier walk to the Campo, it is a gradual slope.