Ground Transportation // Rome to Siena

Rome, Italy (FCO)

Depending on when you book, flights to Rome's Leonardo Da Vinci Fulmicino Airport can be significantly cheaper than FLR but is about twice as far away and requires a nearly 3 hour train ride or drive to get to Siena.

Rome to Siena // By Train

One important thing to realize, however, is that the train journey between Rome and Siena requires one train change along the way – which is easy if you’re traveling light, but if you’ve got more than one bag to carry on and off of trains then you’ll want to do everything you can to limit the number of times you have to do that.

The quickest train from Rome to Siena is a high speed AV train – the Frecciarossa – that makes the trip in 2 hrs 40 mins, with one transfer at Chiusi. There’s a Frecciabianca (another AV train) that makes the trip in just over 3 hours and includes a train change at Grosseto. Some of the slower trains can make the trip in about 3 hours, if you’re willing to get up early to take a 6:30a or 8:45a, or leave as late as 7:00p (these trains change in Chiusi). Longer trips on genuinely slower trains can take 3.5-4.5 hours.

The price of tickets varies along with the duration of the trip. A 1st class ticket on the Frecciarossa is €45.90 (2nd class is €32.90). On the Frecciabianca a 1st class ticket is €41.30 (2nd class is €31.80). The slower trains are cheaper, with tickets running €22.90-31.30 for 1st class, and €22.90-26.30 for 2nd class.

Rome to Siena // By Car

Again, driving in Italy’s big cities is not recommended – it can be a headache to deal with city traffic and limited parking. The Italian countryside, however, is ideal for a drive – so if you’ve got a few days of exploring Tuscany by car on your must-do list, your biggest hurdle will be getting out of Rome! If you can swing it, find a rental car agency on the outskirts of Rome rather than one closer to the city center. Then take a taxi to the agency’s office and drive away from there, avoiding the worst of the historic center’s traffic.

The trip between Rome and Siena should take about 2-2.5 hours, barring any major traffic backups and assuming you’re sticking to the main roads. We recommend using the Via Michelin site as your starting point for plotting your trip. It’s a good idea to have a GPS unit in your rental car and also a detailed driving map handy, but this site will help you get started.

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