Florence, Siena and San Gimignano

icelatte

New member
I only have a weekend (Saturday and Sunday) to visit Florence, and would like to also drop by Siena and San Gimignano. San Gimignano was highly recommended by my friends who have visited Italy.
I will be arriving by train to Florence. Should I head to Siena first by bus, then by bus to San Gimignano, then back to Florence? And is it hard to buy tickets for the buses, as I do not speak Italian :(
 
Dear icelatte,
a weekend is definitely a very short time for touring Florence, Siena and San Gimignano, but I also understand that if you've the chance to come to Tuscany, you MUST take best advantage of the time at your disposal!
So, maybe it's better travelling by bus or train on Saturday, so you won't run into any Sunday restriction.
Bus station in Florence is located exactly in front of Santa Maria Novella train station, so once got there, you may also choose if travelling by train or bus.
If you want to have a look at train timetables to Siena (in San Gimignano there's no train station, the closest one is in Poggibonsi, but since you've got limited time, you'd better decide on the simplest and easiest solution), visit trenitalia website (English flag on the right top of the home page).

Have a look at these articles also, where you may find useful information for getting both to Siena and San Gimignano from Florence:
http://www.discovertuscany.com/siena/tourist-info/getting-to-siena-without-a-car.html
http://www.discovertuscany.com/san-gimignano/how-to-reach-san-gimignano.html

I would visit both Siena and San Gimignano on Saturday and leave the tour of Florence on Sunday, taking advantage of a full day for exploring all main sightseeings.

You should not have any problem in buying tickets even if you don't speak Italian, Florence is a tourist city with lots of people coming from abroad that do not speak Italian (maybe you'd better buy a round-trip ticket in Florence).

Hope this may help, have a nice Tuscan weekend!!

Chiara
 
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