Folks, I have looked all over that Sita site and I must be groggy from so much trip planning.

I see the schedule (great, downloaded), but I cannot find the actual cost of a round-trip ticket Florence-Siena on the rapid bus.

Anyone have recent experience or can give me a ballpark figure?

Thanks!

It's about 6-7€ I think. Around the same cost as the train. It's been a couple of years since I rode it.

Here is the fare chart:

http://www.sienamobilita.it/EN/regionale.html

The google map says 75km. Last year I also paid 7.10EU one way for a ticket purchased at the ticket window and not on board.

7.10€ one way. You can get prices on Siena Mobilita, but it rolls over to busfox.com. You must enter the Italian spellings and date format.

http://www.busfox.com/timetable/

Be sure to get off the bus at the top of the hill, IN town, at the Gramsci station, not at the first stop at the bottom of the hill, outside of town. I specifically asked the bus driver if we were at Gramsci station and he said yes. We were not. It's a taxi ride to the top of the hill.

I found the bus to be very clean and comfortable. We were not sorry we chose to take the bus.

Thanks, all. I knew you'd come through! (and grazie, Connie, good info!)

We were recently in Florence trying to make our way to Montepulciano. Had very bad luck with the buses (many people working in the bus stations, both in Florence and Sienna giving us false information). I bid you good luck!

It's been a while, but in 2007, I had absolutely no trouble getting from Florence to Siena and back by bus. The hardest thing was FINDING the bus station in Florence (it's right across the street from the SMN train station but not openly visible as I recall). I don't recall having to ask for a special stop in Siena; I just stayed on til the end of the line which was right outside the center of Siena, a few steps to enter the town, and when I was going back to Florence, I just got on another bus back from Siena waiting in the same location. (There may be different bus companies and maybe also some different routes; I think one of the buses I took was an express.)

Maybe things have changed since 2007?

I don't see stops listed for the train station. If you enter a your info on busfox, you will get a selection of buses/times. Highlight the time you want, go down and click in the box that has the bus and Firenze/Siena listed. You will get a pop up column listing the stops.

We were there in May. It cost 7.10 Eu one-way for the rapido bus from Firenze to Siena. It was very easy and clean and comfortable, as others have said. We also were a bit concerned about where to get off as there were no signs, and the bus made a lot of random stops. Another passenger reassured us (in Italian, which we do not know) that the final stop would be Piazza Gramsci, which seemed to be a sidewalk in the middle of the road. We were very disoriented so bought an excellent map at the tobacco shop at Piazza Gramsci, and the very friendly shopkeeper walked out and showed us where to go from there. Our experience with staff at bus and train stations was excellent. Everyone in the restaurants and shops were so helpful and friendly, so I hope you have the same experience.

The rapido bus took 1 hr. 15 min. from Firenze to Siena.

We also took a bus from the Siena train station to Chiusi and had an equally pleasant experience with train station staff and bus driver. Riding a bus in Italy is far superior to riding a bus in the US.

Just the info I was needing. Went to the www.sitabus.it site. We're doing this on a Sunday and buses are fewer, so am thinking about taking the slow bus to Siena (takes an extra 20 minutes) and the fast bus back. Was wondering if the slow bus might be a more scenic trip?

Piazza Gramsci is a big bus hub lot for distance and local buses, not a cute little piazza. There is a travel agency underneath the lot.

Thanks to all of you for helpful links, and the tips!

We would like to take the bus from Florence Airport to Siena, as soon as we arrive at the airport. What I can't tell from the timetable is where Firenze, Via Luigi Alamanni 3, the starting point relative to the airport? and how do we get there?

Andrew says the bus stop is across the street from the SMN train station, but where is is relative to the airport?

The bus station is next to the train station. Will you take the shuttle bus from the airport into the train station? The airport is about 15 minutes away.

If there are several people, it will cost close to the same as a taxi which is a set fee of 20€. Have the taxi take you to the bus station (auto stazione). The bus is 6€ per person.

http://www.aeroporto.firenze.it/en/p...port/taxi.html

TTT