Day trips from Florence
Siena on the 131R bus, Pisa and Lucca by train, San Gimignano with a change, Chianti by car — travel time for each, and when the last ride back leaves.
- One day only
- Siena: the bus, a full day in town
- Without a car
- Siena
- Sunday
- The last 131R leaves Siena at 19.10
All five classic trips from Florence work as a day out, back by evening, and the only question is how: Siena by bus, Pisa and Lucca by train, San Gimignano by bus with a change or by car, and the Chianti wineries by car only. The longest ride is San Gimignano by bus, about two hours each way.
How long, and how
Times are one way, from central Florence.
The bus, and back in time on a Sunday
The direct 131R leaves from the bus station beside Santa Maria Novella and stops on Via Tozzi, just inside the historic walls — quicker than the train, whose station sits down in the valley. On weekdays it runs roughly hourly, and the last one back leaves Siena at 20.45. On Sundays the gaps are wider: the first from Florence goes at 9.10 and the last from Siena at 19.10, so a Sunday trip is planned backwards from that bus.
By train from Santa Maria Novella
Trains to Pisa run every fifteen to thirty minutes and stop at Pisa Centrale, at the opposite end of town from the Field of Miracles, which you cross on foot. The tower climb is €20, cathedral included, in a half-hour slot. Lucca is on the same side, a little longer by train: the whole town sits inside sixteenth- and seventeenth-century walls, about four kilometres round, which are now a tree-lined promenade along the top.
San Gimignano and Chianti: where the bus becomes a problem
There is no direct bus from Florence to San Gimignano: you ride to Poggibonsi, then take the local 130 up the hill, and the journey eats the morning. The town is what is left of seventy-two family towers — fourteen still stand. For Chianti the 365 bus runs as far as Greve, but the wineries are on the hills between Greve, Radda and Castellina, off any route, and that is a trip for a car. Whoever drives does not drink: the Italian limit is 0.5 grams per litre, and zero for anyone who has held a licence for less than three years.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Which trip from Florence if I only have one day?
Siena: a direct bus, a full day in town and back by evening — on weekdays the last bus back is at 20.45.
Do I need a car for Tuscany?
Not for the towns — Siena, Pisa, Lucca and San Gimignano all work by public transport. For the Chianti wineries, yes.
Can children climb the tower in Pisa?
From eight, counted by the end of the year; younger children cannot go up, and the cathedral is on the same ticket.
Ready for Florence?
Where to next
Where to stay in Florence
→The centre puts the Duomo and the Uffizi on the doorstep, crowds included; five minutes across the bridge…
San Gimignano · 38 km
→Walls with fourteen surviving towers out of what was once seventy-two, seen from the road before you even reach the gate.
How well does Florence suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Front row for the next trip
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