Some friends of mine are spending five days in Florence, they will be meeting some friends in Montalcino that will have a car. What would be the best way for them to travel on July 5th. Would they take train from Florence to Sienna and then get driver. What advice can you give us. Thank you

A lot of folks here will advise you to take the bus to Sienna vs the train from Florence because once you arrive in Sienna the train station is outside the walls and you have to take either a public bus or a taxi up to the town itself.

Personally I prefer the train because it affords more room to move about and the scenery along the way (mostly farmland) is a bit nicer than along the highway.

Thanks Dukey, I haven't had a lot of folks respond so I guess I am topping this or do I just go ttt....whatever gets this back to the front of things around this time of the evening when all the planners are on..I also think they should take the train from Sienna but I just don't know what to tell them from Sienna to Montalcino. I know that when we were there several years ago we had a driver service but there were four of us touring.

You do want the bus to Siena which will drop you at the main bus station in Siena, from where you catch a bus to Montalcino---no idea of the timing. I believe the line may be SENA.

Do you have an idea of how long of a ride this is. Forence to Sienna and Sienna to Montalcino? Would they be better off getting a driver from Florence or would it be so expensive? Just any options I could give them. Thanks

I had bookmarked this site because it had bus information for Montalcino. But I'm not very good at reading bus timetables and someone else will have to help you figure out if it goes FROM Siena.

Start here:
http://www.trainspa.it/en/Home.html

Open the "Timetables" tab.
At the top of the new window, choose "Extaurbano".
Scroll down about half way and you'll find Line B21 - R. The last stop on that line is Montalcino. You can click on it for that route's timetables.

But it starts at "S. Angelo FF.SS". I don't know if that is Siena??

You want the Train SPA bus. Click on the link above, timetables, extraurbano, bus 114.

FYI - To help your internet searches, it's spelled Siena.

BTW, is there no direct bus service from Florence to Montalcino? Do you have to travel through Siena (which is the Italian spelling btw)

The great advantage of the bus is speed. The journey takes around 75-80 minutes and arrives near the centre of town at Piazza Gramsci.

The Train often requires a change at Empoli, and can take over 2 hours. added to this is the problem of getting from the station up to Siena itself, which is an additional , albeit short, bus ride.

Having said this, in answer to the original question, a train may be easier if the OP doesn't mind catching a bus to Montalcino as the latter leaves from the railway station. The 11:10 from Florence arrives at Siena at 12:38, and the 12:45 bus then takes you to Montalcino for 13:45. Unfortunately there do not seem to be many other solutions that don't mean long waits.

Not all the trains require the change at Empoli...depends on which one of those departures from Florence SMN you take.

And that LONG journey up from the train station into Siena is beginning to sound like a trek up Everest

Well it's not Everest, but having walked up from the station to the centre carrying 25kg of luggage, it is hardly a stroll through the flatlands of Holland.

I have done the train trip from Empoli to Siena several times, as I have the bus from Florence to Siena, and the only advantage I can see to the train is the slightly lower fare.

As always you guys have done a wonderful job directing us. I will get this information to them. I love this site, it helps me to have wonderful travel and keeps me on my toes with spelling. Good job guys, have a good weekend.

Catch a bus to Montalcino from the railway station in Florence at 11:10 - arrives in Siena at 12:38, and then take the 12:45 bus that takes you to Montalcino arriving at 13:45.

Do you know of a private driver for these folks to have just in case they need to hire.

Is there any advice on bus tickets or do you just go to railway station and purchase your tickets there. Many thanks

Sorry, cannot help ith a private driver.

The 11:10 from florence is a train from Firenze SMN station to Siena. At Siena train station there is a ticket office for the buses just to the right of the main entrance to the platforms.

The bus stop is directly in front of Siena station.

Willit, this gives these people seven minutes to get off train, get their bus tickets and board the bus, have you done this....Are the bus people aware that most likely people are coming in to take that bus to Montalcino....

Are there Taxis there and has anyone taken a taxi from Siena to Montalcino?

I was just going to send this information and thought I had better get some more information.

Thanks

yes there are taxis there, but I expect a taxi from Siena to Montalcino would be quite expensive - it is about 50km (33 miles)

As far as trains are concerned, 7 minutes might be a little tight, particularly if the train is delayed.

I was just trying to offer alternatives. There is a Eurostar train at 11:00 that gets in at 12:10 but it will be more expensive.

The alternative is to get a bus from the main bus station in Florence (it is right next to the Santa Maria Novella railway station), catch the bus to Siena (There is a fast bus nearly every hour - one at 10:30 arrives 11:45), then a local bus to the station