I'm down to some of the details of our preliminary planning for a trip to Italy next September. I'm pretty sure we'll be staying near Montepulciano, which is great for day trips by car to lots of places in southern Tuscany and even Orvieto and Assisi. We also want a day trip to Florence, but I'm thinking we'd like to avoid driving to (and parking in/near Florence) and take a train. As far as I can tell, the closest train stations would be Siena (about an hour away from Montepulciano according to MapQuest) or Chiusi (about 30 minutes). Although the train trip from Chiusi would be a bit longer, we wouldn't have to spend as much time getting there.

Suggestions? Is there a train station I'm missing that would be better?

TIA,

KnoxvilleCouple

Well, Montepulciano does have a minor train station of its own, but it's outside the town.There are trains to Chiusi from there. There are frequent (I think hourly) buses from Montepulciano to the train station at Chiusi also.

I would drive to Chiusi and take the train from there. I wouldn't rely on the bus from Chiusi to get me back to Montepulciano as they don't typically run very late.

I'm not sure all trains that stop in Chiusi also stop at Montepulciano train station as it's really small. I felt sorry for a couple getting off there a couple of weeks ago thinking they would be in Montepulciano. I hope they were able to get some kind of transport from the station to the town.

The R trains from Chiusi to Florence take longer, but go to SMN. Many of the IC trains stop at Rifredi, not SMN.

I don't think you would save time by driving to Siena and then taking the train. Buonconvento is closer, but I can't see that really saving time either.

Thanks for the quick responses. My initial inclination was to drive to Chiusi for the train. After all, a little bit longer getting to Florence in the morning and back to Chiusi in the evening can be interpreted as a time to rest and share a bottle of prosecco in the morning and a bottle of wine in the evening.

Sam

FYI - You can catch a train from Florence Rifredi to Florence SMN about every 10 minutes (travel time if 5 minutes - 1.20€). The IC only stops in Arezzo and would be faster if you don't mind the 5 minute switch at the end.