Mariastefnyc

Is it possible to do both in one day?
Which should we do first?
How can we get from Florence to San G. and siena? How do we get back(time)

PalQ

Possible but not practical. Siena easily occupies a full day trip - San Gimi less so, a much smaller town. Buses best way to go between the three - trains take longer and don't go right up to the hill towns. San Gimi station is six miles by bus from town.

ira

Hi M,

You can take the SITAbus from Florence to Siena. There are buses between Siena and SanG.

I, also, would not recommend both for one day.

See http://www.sita-on-line.it/
http://www.sangimignano.net/bus/

Patrick

The only way I'd try to do both in one day is to head to Siena first thing in the morning, explore the city, have lunch, and sometime in the mid to fairly late afternoon head to San Gimignano. Spend the late afternoon, sunset, and even dinner there, then return to Florence.

Of course, I'm not sure if the bus schedules permit this itinerary, but late afternoon and evening are the BEST times to see San Gimignano.

TuckH

Wouldn't make sense to rent a car for that one day, being free of bus timetables?

I'd pick it up the night before so as to get an early morning start.

rbnwdln

We just did this last Wednesday. There were brochures in our hotel for guided coach bus tours so we made a reservation and off we went. We spent the morning in Siena and had lunch there. We got a guided tour of the town, including seeing the trials for the famous horse race. Then we went to San G. for a few hours and back to Florence. It was great! Can't remember the name of the tour company but their offices are located near the termini. Ask your hotel desk personnel.

lavender

rbnwdln,

Do you remember what you paid for the tour and any idea of the comparative cost of taking a regular bus?

capxxx

I think it is do-able in one day by bus. We left Florence around 9:30: in Siena we saw the Piazza, climed the tower, went to the duomo, had a nice leisurly lunch, and strolled a little before heading back in mid-afternoon. The return bus to Florence stops in San. Giminano. We didn't stop in San G., but could have (just had a reason to get back to Florence) -- SITA buses are frequent and go right to the center of towns.

The round trip bus fare was just a couple Euros. It was a double-decker bus so the views were great.

rbnwdln

Yes, I think we paid 49E per person. Remember this was a coach bus and guided tour. Very worth it, in my opinion. Actually, worth it to get out of the 90 degree heat for a few hours!!!