Ground Transportation // Florence to Siena

Florence Airport is the closest and most convenient airport to fly in and out of and the one we encourage all of our guests to investigate first.

Florence to Siena // By Train

Trains travel from Santa Maria Novella Station in Florence to Ferroviaria Station in Siena every hour on the hour, with the last train leaving the station at 8:10pm. Link: Train Tickets & Schedule

The Train station is only 6.6km (15min) from the airport and we recommend traveling between the two by taxi if you opt to go this route.

The train trip from Florence to Siena often requires a transfer in Empoli. Trains from Florence to Siena leave Santa Maria Novella station roughly once an hour on most days, and a direct train – one that requires no changes – takes about 1.5 hours. The train station in Siena is roughly 2km from the historic center. You can either take a bus from the train station into the city center, which takes about five minutes, or you can walk. If you’re thinking that a leisurely walk through a Tuscan town sounds nice, consider that from the train station into the city center is mostly uphill.

Taking a bus from the train station into town, you’ll look for buses that go to the Piazza del Sale. The walk takes at least 20 minutes, if not more. A train ticket for the Florence-Siena route should be in the €6-10 range (if you’re on the direct train).

Florence to Siena // By Car

Link: Directions from Florence to Villa Cetinale

We urge our guests to try to rely on public modes of transportation and taxis as renting a car and driving around Italy can be a frustrating and nerve racking experience.  The historic center of Florence just wasn’t meant for cars, period. 

The drive time from Florence to Siena is roughly 1.25 hours on the Autostrada, and covers a distance of about 70km. The Autostrada, while not the most beautiful kind of road in Italy, does sometimes cut through pretty parts of the country – and the one between Florence and Siena runs through Chianti.

If you do decide to live dangerously and want to drive then we advise you to also look into an international driver's license, which you can pick up at your local AAA.

Also keep in mind that although Siena isn’t a huge city, parking within the old city walls – in the historic center, in other words – is very difficult. You need to have a special permit to park in this zone, so most people park outside the old walls if their hotel doesn’t have a car park. Find out from your Siena hotel what the best solution is for parking before you leave Rome. The Siena Parcheggi (Siena Parking) website can be helpful to you if you speak Italian – there’s no English version of the site.

Here is some more useful info from TripAdvisor about renting cars in Italy: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187768-c4053/Italy:Car.Rental.Italy.html