My husband and I are going to be in Florence for 2 weeks in June. We would like to visit the small towns around Florence by ourselves. Tour guides are quite pricey, and we don't mind going by ourselves. We aren't renting a car this time. But how can we get to them? For instance Lari or Bolgheri. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Barb

There are quite a few day trips from Florence that are basically just transportation (with some commentary while on the ride). They just drop you off & set a pick-up time.
The bus is also a good option.

I thought there was a bus there. mu husband didn't think so. Can you tell me how to find just the transportation with a little commentary?

For some of the small villages like you mentioned, it'd be a train, then a bus.
Organized day trips from Florence: Sienna, San Gimgnano, Lucca, Monteriggioni, Val D'Orcia, Assisi
GetYourGuide is a good site to see a lot of them.

Pistoia is accessible by train, but maybe too big?

https://flic.kr/p/a435t3

I suggest Certaldo Alto... a preserved Medieval walled town. You can train from Florence SMN to Certaldo (new town) in under an hour and walk or bus up to C. Alto. Certaldo was on the Via Francigena.

Another... Montecatini Alto. Train to Montecatini Terme (under an hour), funicular up to M. Alto. The Belle Epoque town of Montecatini Terme has some beautiful architecture.

I haven't been to Bolgheri, so I can't say if it's worth the 2-hour drive or 2+ hours by train from Florence. Too far for me as a day trip.

Pistoia is nice. Prato, too. Both are very easy and quick to reach by train from Florence, but neither is small.

There's a local bus to Fiesole, just outside Florence (was bus 7). It's an interesting town, with Etruscan ruins.

thanks.

But we started looking today, and all of them are booked solid in June. Guess we waited too long. Our bad.

Another question? Do we need to buy our train tickets now? I think we can buy them when we get to the train station. Am I correct?

Thanks, we"ll check them out.

Go on google maps, look at Florence and zoom out a bit looking between Pisa, Lucca and Florence for railway lines and stations. A whole bunch of ancient towns pop up and then you can also take trains down towards Pisa (Not Pisa because a bus is better). I could list where to go but really you will find your own gem on your own, with many Italian tourists, castles, walls etc and no international tourists. Enjoy.

Buy the ticket on the day

how it all works seat61.com