This guide is about the journey. For what to do once you arrive, our Siena day trip guide covers the Campo, the cathedral and a realistic plan for the day, and our San Gimignano day trip guide covers the other hill town people pair it with.

The Short Version

Monday to Saturday, take the coach. Autolinee Toscane’s rapid line 131R leaves Florence’s coach station on Via Santa Caterina da Siena, a couple of minutes’ walk from Santa Maria Novella train station, and is timetabled at about 1 hour 15 minutes to Via Tozzi, beside Piazza Gramsci in Siena. On a weekday there are more than twenty departures between early morning and evening, at least one an hour through the day. You step off already at the edge of the old town.

On Sundays, look at the train first. The Sunday coach timetable in autumn 2026 has just six departures from Florence, and the first is not until 09:10. The direct regional train runs more often than the coach, takes about an hour and a half and costs €10.80, and the escalators from Siena station to the top of the hill do the rest.

And whichever you take, do not drive into Siena. The old town is a limited-traffic zone, and the one sensible place to leave a car is outside the walls, which brings you straight back to the same escalators the train passengers use.

Bus vs Train at a Glance

The two rows that decide it are the second and the sixth. A coach that drops you at the walls versus a train that drops you at the foot of the hill is the whole argument for the bus. A Sunday timetable with six buses on it is the whole argument against.

The Rapid Coach (131R)

Siena’s buses, like most of Tuscany’s, are run by Autolinee Toscane. There are two lines between the cities: the stopping 131, which wanders through Colle di Val d’Elsa and Poggibonsi, and the rapid 131R, which is the one you want. If a timetable or a ticket machine offers you a choice, the R is the difference between an hour and a quarter and a tour of the Val d’Elsa.

Where it leaves from in Florence

The 131R starts at Florence’s coach station on Via Santa Caterina da Siena, just along the west side of Santa Maria Novella train station, a couple of minutes on foot from the platforms. It is a working bus station rather than a pleasant one, so arrive with ten minutes to spare, find the right bay, and check the board.

On its way out of the city the coach also picks up on the Oltrarno side, including at Porta Romana, which can save a walk if you are staying south of the river. After its last pick-up on the southern edge of Florence, most runs head down the Florence–Siena dual carriageway without stopping until the outskirts of Siena.

Where it arrives in Siena

The coach comes into Siena from the north, stops at the Antiporto and at Porta Camollia, runs down past Piazza San Domenico, and finishes at Via Tozzi, beside Piazza Gramsci. That last stretch is the coach’s great advantage. San Domenico and Piazza Gramsci are both on the edge of the old town, and from either you walk straight into the medieval streets; the cathedral and the Campo are a downhill walk from there.

Timetable

On a weekday in autumn 2026, the 131R leaves Florence at these times (the timetable in force from mid-October):

On Sundays the same line runs from Florence at just 09:10, 14:10, 15:10, 17:20, 18:10 and 19:10. There is nothing between 09:10 and 14:10, which is a real problem for a day trip. Timetables change several times a year, so treat these as the shape of the service and check the exact times in the at bus app before you go.

Coach Tickets and Fares

The 131R is a rapid line, and that matters for tickets. It takes Autolinee Toscane’s extraurbano veloce fare, priced by distance band. From 1 August 2026 the bands that cover a Florence–Siena trip run from €8.10 to €10.90 for a single; the at bus app shows the exact fare for the stops you choose. The carnet of four extra-urban tickets is not valid on the rapid lines, so do not buy one for this trip.

Ways to pay, in order of sense:

• The at bus app. Buy, then activate the ticket when you board.
• Contactless card (“tip tap”). On extra-urban and rapid buses you tap the reader twice, once getting on and once getting off, so the system can charge the right distance. Do not forget the second tap.
• Ticket offices and machines at the coach station, or authorised resellers such as tabacchi.
• The driver. Possible, but noticeably dearer: the driver price for the same distance bands is €10 to €16.

There is no seat reservation. On weekday mornings the coach carries commuters and students as well as visitors, and at busy times you may wait for the next one. That is another reason the frequency matters as much as the speed.

The Train

The train is not bad. It is just not as good, for most people, on most days.

Direct regional trains from Firenze Santa Maria Novella to Siena leave at ten past the hour through the day and take between 1 hour 27 and 1 hour 35 minutes. Other services leave at twenty-eight past and change at Empoli, adding a quarter of an hour or so. The standard single is €10.80, a fixed regional fare, so there is no reason to buy in advance; the Trenitalia app or the station machines will do on the morning.

Coming back, the direct trains leave Siena at eighteen minutes past the hour and take about 1 hour 34.

When the train is the better choice

• Sundays, when the coach timetable thins to a few departures.
• Late returns. The last direct train back to Florence on a weekday leaves Siena at 21:40, about an hour after the last coach.
• Heavy luggage, if you are moving between hotels rather than day-tripping. A train has racks; a full commuter coach does not have much room.
• Rail pass holders, if your pass covers regional trains.

From Siena Station Up to the Old Town

This is the catch with the train, and the reason the coach usually wins. Siena station is in the valley; the city is on the ridge above it.

The way up is the risalita, a chain of escalators and moving walkways run for the city by its parking company. It starts at the station, passes through the Porta Siena shopping centre across the road, and comes out at the Antiporto di Camollia, a few hundred metres outside Porta Camollia, the old northern gate. It is free, and the operator gives its hours as 24 hours a day. It is machinery and is sometimes closed for maintenance; when that happens, a city bus or a taxi is the fallback.

From Porta Camollia you are at the top of the old town but at the wrong end of it: the Campo and the cathedral are a long walk down Via di Camollia and Banchi di Sopra. It is a pleasant walk, but it is the reason the train-plus-escalator route takes longer door to door than the hour and a half the timetable suggests.

City buses also link the station with the centre. Siena’s urban single is €2.00, valid for 70 minutes (€3.00 from the driver). The lines change with the timetable season, so check which one serves the station in the at bus app rather than relying on an old number.

Getting Back: Last Departures

The return is where day trips go wrong, so plan it before you set out.

• Coach, weekdays: the 131R runs from Via Tozzi until the evening, with departures including 17:10, 17:40, 17:50, 18:00, 18:20, 18:50 and 19:10. The last leaves at 20:45, reaching Florence just after 22:00.
• Coach, Sundays: the last leaves Siena at 19:10. Before that, there are departures at 16:10, 16:40, 17:40, 17:50 and 18:10.
• Train, weekdays: direct trains at 19:18 and 20:18, and a last direct train at 21:40, arriving at Santa Maria Novella at 23:19.

The late-afternoon coaches are popular with everyone who has just spent the day in Siena, so they can fill up. If you want a particular departure, be at the stop early or plan on the one after.

If Siena is one stop on a longer tour, our guide to the best Tuscan hill towns compares it with the others within reach of Florence.

Pairing Siena with San Gimignano in one day is possible but tiring. San Gimignano has no railway station and is reached by bus through Poggibonsi, so it adds another change and another timetable to juggle. Our San Gimignano day trip guide covers that route; most people enjoy both towns more on separate days.

Driving

Driving to Siena is easy and parking in Siena is easy, as long as you keep the two separate. The historic centre is a ZTL, a limited-traffic zone with cameras, and a hire car that follows the satnav through a gate will collect a fine by post weeks later.

The simplest place to leave a car is the station car park on Piazzale Fratelli Rosselli, run by the city’s parking company, with 480 spaces at €2.00 for the whole day (free on Wednesday market mornings). From there you take the same free escalator link up the hill as the train passengers. For anyone who has a hire car anyway, touring Tuscany, that is about as painless as parking in a medieval city gets.

If the car is only for Siena, though, it is not worth it. The coach is quicker than finding a space, cheaper than a day’s hire, and lets you have a glass of wine with lunch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Keep Reading

• Siena day trip from Florence — what to see once you arrive.
• San Gimignano day trip — the towers, and the bus via Poggibonsi.
• Florence train station guide — Santa Maria Novella and the streets around it.
• Florence transportation guide — every other way in, out and around.