Public Bus Question

rjacmuto32

New member
I'm going to be in Tuscany for 2 weeks in August for the Palio in Siena and the Bravio in Montepulicano and the Medieval fest in Volterra. I'm planning on staying in each town for several days and then 2 nights in both Montalicino and San Gimignano. The price of renting an automatic car is expensive and I will be relying on public transportation and the buses. I'm not sure how to get from the cities below. I figure i could maybe change in Siena but I'm not exactly sure. There are several stops in siena for each and I'm not sure if I get off at one how to find the other. Or is there a better city to change in for these? I also don't know what the symbols at the top of each page in the link below mean for days of the week.

If anyone could provide any assistance on how I can get for these specific trips?

1 - Siena to San Gigmignano - I see the 130A can get there there. Is there a direct bus or only those with the stops?
2 - San Gigmignano to Montalcino - ??????
3 - Montalcino to Volterra - ?????
4 - Volterra to Montepulciano ????

http://www.trainspa.it/train04/extraurbano.pdf

Now before someone goes an mentions why not do San Gim and Volterra back to back then go south to Montaclino and Montepulciano is that I want to do medieval festival and the bravio in the same week. And before that i have a wine event lined up just outside montalcino. So I have to do the towns in that order above. I don't mind traveling by bus.

Thanks
Robert
 
Ciao Robert,

I understand trying to make the main events in August so you'll have to go back and forth.... but 2 weeks means you have time to not be in a hurry and thus miving by bus will work out fine - you'll become a pro!

First, here is the legend for the .pdf you have listed: http://www.trainspa.it/legenda.pdf
Basically the hammers are Mon-Sat while the cross is for Sundays.
The A in the circle is for Monday-Friday.
All others marked with day of the week mean they run only on that day.

From Page 49 you'll find the 130 schedule from Siena to San Gimignano, from page 54 the return times.
Basically, they make all those stops, some buses more stops, some less. Average time is about an hour. The important thing is to determine where in Siena you can pick it up closest to you.

In Siena, the main bus stop is near the stadium on Viale Tozzi - look for it on Google Maps and you'll clearly see the buses in the pictures once you zoom in. The first bus that makes it to S.G. is at 7.05am.

For the others, the easiest thing to find the best route is to use this site to search for timetables - http://www.busfox.com/timetable/
as it gives you the route and bus numbers you can take... if they all have you pass by Siena, it means there is no direct connection, lets say between S.G. and Montalcino for example.
It is, unfortunately, only in Italian but I think it shouldn't be too hard if you see most are NAMES of bus stops within Siena. For Montalcino, from S.G. you have to head back to Siena, go by foot to Piazza del Sale (just 3 minutes away from Viale Tozzi, again use Google Maps to find it) and wait there for bus 002 to take you to Coroncina, get off and wait 12 min for the next bus 114 to Montalcino... or bus 114 from Piazza del Sale goes to Montalcino all the way, which one you should take depends on time you are there. This site lists all from the time you search, so it will make sense for you to bring everything along, I recommend in printed form because you never know with a smart phone or ipad when power runs out or wireless is available.

To get to Volterra, you'll need to go to Colle Val d'Elsa (from Siena by bus 130 - 30 min and 3 euro) then catch CPT bus 770 to Volterra - timetable here: http://www.cpt.pisa.it/orari/extra/linea770.htm
(yep, Volterra is in the province for Pisa and not Siena so that site above won't give any results, since the various regional bus companies don't seem to talk to each other or connect services in any way - sigh. Buses to Florence are listed, though...).

To get to Montepulciano, go back to Siena --- then you can take either the 112 from Siena Porta Ovile (passes through Pienza) - or the 139 which is a shorter bus ride (does not pass through Pienza). Porta Ovile is just 3 minutes from Viale Tozzi.

Hope all of this helps everyone who is planning to move about to the south of Siena by BUS!
 
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