My companion and I only have 5 days to use our Eurorail passes, so I am trying to figure out when to take the bus and when to take the train. Does anyone know anything about Rome-Siena & Siena-Venice ? With the train-it takes 3 hours to get to Siena from Rome and 5 1'/2 hours to get from Siena to Venice. Prices of the bus would be great too !!!

I use train and busses regularly when in Italy. In Tuscany, the LAZLO line of busses are used in and around Florence/Lucca/Siena so you should be able to locate them online and find out their schedule/departure times. Alternatively, there is usually a bus terminal adjacent to (or very close by) the train stations and there is an information office that can assist you with point-to-point tickets.

The bus line is www.lazzi.it
Sometimes it is better to take the bus because it makes less stops than some trains and drops you closer to the city center.

I'll be taking a SENA bus for the Rome-Siena route. Here's the info from a previous thread:

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Author: GAC
Date: 12/04/2003, 06:22 pm
Message: Between Rome and Siena, the bus is faster and more convenient than the train. Train service requires a change in Chiusi, whereas bus service is direct, in about three hours. Buses, run by SENA Lines, depart from outside of the Rome TIBURTINA train station (NOT the Rome Termini main station). Also, there is a direct airport train from Tiburtina to Fiumicino airport (NOT the other train service which goes to Termini station). This train runs every 15 minutes (every 30 minutes on Sundays), and takes 43 minutes. Fare is Euro 4.70 one way. The SENA bus fare from Rome to Siena is Euro 17 one way.

See: www.sena.it



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Author: GAC
Date: 12/05/2003, 03:43 pm
Message: The SENA bus service between Rome Tiburtina and Siena is on a reservation-basis, with seats pre-assigned. However, tickets will be sold at the last minute before departure at the ticket counter on a space-available basis. Tickets sold on the bus itself carry a Euro 3 surcharge. The one-way bus fare from Rome Tiburtina to Siena is Euro 17. The one-way train fare from Fiumicino Airport to Rome Tiburtina is Euro 5.

www.sena.it
Toll free from Italy: 800.930.960
calls from cellular: 199.730.760



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Author: oreed
Date: 12/09/2003, 07:54 am
Message: I looked at the site but found the schedules difficult to read. It looks like there are no morning busses during the week. Is this correct?



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Author: GAC
Date: 12/10/2003, 05:18 pm
Message: There are several morning buses DAILY between Siena and Rome Tiburtina. The solitary schedule shown in GREEN operates only on Fridays and Sundays from 10/01/2003.

kybpourbon: oops! Thanks for the correction. I have ridden on their busses many times and should know the correct spelling.

What about from Siena to Venice ? Bus or train ?