I need some advice. We are renting a villa outside of Siena and will have a car. We want to spend a couple of days in Florence. What is the best way to get to Florence? I know driving into the city is probably a nightmare. Do you park outside of the city and take a cab or is a bus a better option? The train routes don't seem direct either.

Thanks,
John

Most people bus between the two because the bus stops in the city center of Siena and takes about the same amount of time (bus is slightly faster 70 minutes vs 80-90 for the train. I'm not sure why you think the trains aren't direct. The train makes several stops, but they are only one minute.

If you drive, Florence is restricted to permits and traffic cameras are everywhere. The ticket is mailed to you after they track you down through the rental company.

Bus to Florence, or spend 2 days there before you go to rural Tuscany---they really are seperate destinations.

I agree with bob -- if you want to spend multiple days in Florence, you should split your hotel nights.

If that's not possible (or desirable to you), I wouldn't go into Siena's city center to catch the bus. I'd drive to the station and take the train. What direction out of Siena is your villa?

As someone that lives here, and has received my fair share of tickets, I still think driving into Florence is not quite as bad as the reputation seems to be as long as you limit yourself (i.e. don't get too close to the center). From Siena, you get off the highway and follow the signs to Piazzale Michelangelo - where there is FREE parking! Then you can walk down to town through the porta San Niccolo (awesome views), or take a taxi, or bus (all located there). Follow the route below from Google maps - not sure where you will be picking up the highway, but follow this map and you will avoid the cams and ZTL, tickets, etc.

The only part to avoid, is once you are off the highway, through Galuzzo and on the via Senese, is to make sure you bear right onto via Del Gelsomino - there is a light there, and there is also a ZTL entrance. DO NOT continue up the via Senese there and you will be fine.

Also - do not speed! There are several new Autovelox cams on the highway (max speed is 90) and there are also cams (speeding) along the way on the via Senese -

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...e+michelangelo

Wow, thanks for the great responses and ideas. Not sure which way to go yet but this is a big help!

Hi IF,

Just an FYI: If you have a very long URL you can convert it a www.tinyurl,com and save a lot of space (bandwidth).

Select autovelox and ztl, then zoom in a couple of times to see the camera locations and the restricted zones.

http://news.comune.fi.it/muoversi/se...ervizi=Servizi

Yes - funny I know all about those URL shorteners... just forgot. But seriously - bandwidth on a couple of lines of text?

Here is something really funny about URL shorteners

http://www.mnftiu.cc/2009/08/31/devi...url-shortener/

kybourbon this helps too "Aree ZTL" - then you can see the whole area you can't drive in (during the restricted hours). That is a great map - never saw that one before. But I don't think it is exact (for instance I am pretty sure you can not head toward Florence on the via Senese past a certain point which on this map looks ok to drive on. Also - I am pretty sure you can drive down Via Nazionale... and around the station, to get back to the main car rental places...

Also - check this "Corsie riservate" - those are camera entrances that if you mistakenly drive through you are in big trouble! For instance, you can come into the ZTL at night and on Sundays, but you can never come through a "Corsie riservate" - as far as I know. (I did this several times to the tune of over 1,000 euros!)

We just spent a month in Florence (no car) but rented one for our trip to Siena and tuscany. We found driving in Siena, Perugia and Rome nightmarish. One way streets, roundabouts,very fast drivers, lanes ignored, and scooters made for a stressful entry into those cities. I would either take the train to bus to Florence on the days you go there or spend a set number of days there at one time.

We drove from Florence to Siena (then to Venice) last year and, other than getting lost while exiting Florence, didn't have any trouble with the drive. Stayed for 4 nights in a Rick Steves suggested nunnery right in the center of Siena, and the parking was free about a block away (in front of the soccer stadium). The car was terrific for picnics in hilltop towns, and for a day trip to Assisi.