merriam

I'm looking into day tours of Sienna/San Gimiginano from Florence for April, and the cheapest one I've found online so far was with tours-italy.com (Avventure Bellissime) for EUR115 per person (not a private tour). Is this too much? Do you think I'll find something more reasonable (say EUR50 or so)? And can anyone please recommend some other tour operators in the area that offer similar daytrips?

thanks!

AllieNC

If there are more than just you who want to See Siena & San Gimigninano, why don't you rent a car? It's easy to get to Siena & San Gimiginano from Florence, and they are close together and roads are well marked. I drove around this area last summer and had no problems.

annhig

Hi merriam,

do you want to do both in one day? if so, a car would be best. but if you have the time to spread your day trips over two days, the easiest way is the bus. it goes from the bus station just along the road from the train station.

the bus is very cheap.

I've never got it to San Gim, but i gather it's very simple - search this site for reports. as for siena, the bus stops just outside the centro storico - it's about a 10 minute walk to the main campo. you can get the train, but it's a bus ride or long walk up to the town.
have a great time,

regards, ann

ira

Hi M,

Bus fare Florence to Siena is 6.5E pp each way.

elaine

more on the bus suggestions;

Florence's SITA bus station is on the far right corner of the square street as you leave the Santa Novella train station. This is more convenient for travel to Siena than the train because it's faster (1:15 hr) than most available trains and because it leaves you within the city, at Siena's Piazza Antonio Gramsci, which is one short block from Siena's main pedestrian thoroughfare.
Purchase your bus ticket before boarding and stamp it on board.

Florence to Siena bus schedule
http://www.sitabus.it/sita-toscana/o..._SI%202005.pdf
or this one: http://www.trainspa.it/home.html click at the top on Orari (schedules), then fill in the box on the upper left on the next page using Firenze and Siena.
Rapide express buses connect Siena with Florence in 75 minutes. Accelerate buses stop more often and are slower than their name would suggest. (Avoid traveling on Sunday, when buses don't run as often and are likely to be crowded.)

Do-it-yourself day trip from Florence to Siena and San Gimignano (I got this info originally from this forum):

Take an early (6:30am or 7:10am) SITA bus through from Florence to Siena. After visiting some of Siena and lunch, take another SITA bus to San G. After visiting and having an early dinner, get a taxi to Poggibonsi and a train back to Florence (check schedule in advance of course).

Jean

CAF operates daily day tours to SanG/Siena for 52 euros per person.

http://www.caftours.com/en/regtoursac.htm

ravel

definitely the bus from Florence to Siena. to San G... always had a rental car. was very easy to navigate and park in the lot just outside the walls. if you drive to San G. you can be there after all the people and tour buses leave, find a great restaurant for dinner, with great wine and have the town to yourself practically.

sebinah

We took the bus tour (52E). It was wonderful not to have to worry about driving, buses, etc. A very nice tour was given of Siena.

Steve_James

Hi Merriam - Besides CAF, another company which offers Siena & S. Gimignano as a day-trip from Florence is SITA. € 50

http://tinyurl.com/2tevuh

Steve

willit

You may want a tour if you wish to do both in a day, but they seem very expensive to me.

The bus to Siena from Florence runs 2-3 times an hour, and takes 75 minutes. There are also buses from Florence to SG, and Siena to SG - so you could start early and go to SG, then get a bus to Siena, then a late bus back to Florence.

Personally, I feel that Siena deserves more time than this, but that may just be me.

If there are several of you, then a car may be the best bet with the following provisos :
Driving in Florence itself is not for the faint hearted (consider a pick up from the Airport - more expensive but less stress)

Parking in Siena is expensive - €1.5 - 2 an hour. SG is slightly less if I remember correctly.

sacc

I've taken the Caf bus tour that Jean mentions, and it worked out pretty well, in that I really only wanted to see the hill towns and didn't want to rent a car. (I've returned to both places on my own since then, and stayed several nights in both, but the bus tour wasn't a bad way to see both towns if you only have one day and are on a budget.)

The Caf bus, which was packed, left Florence around 8 a.m. and returned around 5:30 p.m. We headed first for San Gimiginano where we had only about 90 minutes of time (which really isn't a lot) Then it headed back to Siena in time for lunch.

The only actual "tour" or info about the towns came during an hour-long walk after lunch in Siena. We were obviously a pretty large group, probably about 50 people. The tour guide was rather bored and impatient and wanted to talk mostly about the Palio.

I realize this doesn't sound very glowing and it might be that Avventure Bellissime would have smaller groups and more actual information about the towns. But if you don't mind doing your own research and really just want a convenient way of getting around for the day, the Caf tour might suit you.

sjde53

Many hotels can arrange a driver or tour for you.

Is there any time allotted for shopping with the Caf tour?

Susan

tuscanlifeedit

Depending on your numbers, I think a driver might be a good idea, although it can be very expensive.

You can ask at your hotel or you can use Luca of Hills and Roads, who gets a lot of recommendations here on Fodors. A search here for drivers/guides in Tuscany or Florence ought to turn up a lot of recommendations.

rosetravels

We took a daytrip to Sienna from Florence last week and it was so easy. We got on the SITA bus to Sienna, hopped off, and started walking around. It was very fun. I wouldn't want to do a day trip that went to Sienna and San G as Sienna is a whole day. I can't imagine why you'd pay for a tour. Sienna is a great place to wander.

If you do this, check the time of the last bus back to Florence as it doesn't run late. Our day trip was accidentally extended into the next day.....;()

francophile03

We also took the CAF tour to San Gimignano and Siena. It was what we preferred to do instead of taking the public bus so it was worthwhile to us. There is time to browse and do shopping.

tdk320n

bookmark

sacc

Susan, I found that there was a fair amount of free time with the Caf tour, which suited me. Siena in particular has wonderful shopping, and when we arrived there for lunch everyone left the bus and went their separate ways until we regrouped 90 minutes later for the brief walking tour.

I had a sandwich standing at a bar, then took an hour or so to shop. I found the perfect handbag, which I still love and use!

Reisender

Re: Siena parking. You can park for free around the back (northwest) side of the Fortezza all week long. However you must be LUCKY to find a spot. We looped through several times hoping someone would leave but no luck. So we had to go to the pay lot on the other side.

merriam

Thanks everyone! Great suggestions- but I don't think I'll be renting a car because 1) I'm a terrible driver, and probably worse in another country, and 2)I'm leaving for venice soon after by train. Am going to look into the CAF tours or just taking the bus to both- thanks for your help everyone!

Graziella5b

I think the advice from elaine really makes sense.
San Giminiano is tiny and easy to walk around and visit.
Same with Sienna oldest part the one you wish to be in. Of course both in a same day seems a little too much, if you do not have and extra day, I would visit Sienna and leave San Giminiano for another time.