I am planning our family vacation to Italy and am wondering how to divide our time in Tuscany.
We have 4 1/2 days in Florence and I am wondering if we have time to take a day trip to see Pisa and another day trip to see Siena. Also, I am debating whether to go by train or to rent a minivan (there are 7 of us). Any help would be very appreciated!

You could also take a bus to Siena or Pisa. We took a day trip via bus (bus station is close to the train station) and enjoyed a full day in Siena. If I recall, there were multiple departure times and they gave us a schedule when we purchased the tickets. It is about an hour trip.

We also rode a bus from the Pisa airport to Florence and it was about an hour long. Both bus rides were okay and thus we did not have to rent a vehicle (there were only two of us). Buying bus tickets was easy and we bought the Siena day trip tickets the morning of. We purchased tickets for trip to Florence (from Pisa airport) at the airport upon arrival. Our trip was in November of 2005 and we can't wait to go back. I hope you enjoy your visit! We stayed in Florence and loved it!

I forgot to mention that the bus station was close to the train station in Florence.

Hi I,

Adult bus fare to Siena is about 13E pp RT.

Much more convenient than the train.

Are you sure that you want to go to Pisa?

Thanks for the advice about the bus, I hadn't even thought of that as an option.
I've been to Pisa but the rest haven't and they want to see the tower.
Any thoughts on renting a car? I though this might give us more flexibility to stop and see things along the way. Is there anywhere we'd want to stop and see along the way to either Pisa or Siena?

On the road from Florence to Pisa you can stop in Vinci and visit the Leonardo da Vinci museum. Also, a car is slightly more convenient than train because the tower and duomo are on the north side of the city and the train station is on the south side (take the bypass around). But not a big difference, really.

The bus to Siena is more convenient than the train to Siena, because the (Siena) bus stop is closer to the center of town. (In Florence the bus station is behind the train station, just across the street). The drive is not bad, but not much difference from the bus trip, really.

Driving in downtown Florence can be nerve-wracking. Other than that, and comaprative price, I can't think of much reason to choose one over the other

I think you will find a one day minivan rental to be expensive and parking in cities is a challenge. Train from Florence to Pisa is 5.4€ per person one way. We took the bus from Florence to Lucca (Lazzi bus 4€ - a little over an hour travel time)and later caught a train from Lucca to Pisa S. Rossore (2.3€ - 25 minutes travel time). Pisa S. Rossore is closer to the tower than Centrale.
www.lazzi.it