Travel by train around Tuscany

[Irina_B]

Dears,
I'll appreciate your help in the following - I'll be staying in Cinquale for several days and would like to travel first to Florence for 1 day and then the next day from Florence to Volterra - then get back to Chinquale. I'm trying to find trains from Cinquale to Florence at www.trenitalia.com but there are none. The most obvious solution would be to get by taxi from Cinquale to Pisa and then from Pisa take a train to Florence, but taxi is quite expensive. Can you, please, help me find the most cost-efficient solution to visit above two cities considering Cinquale as the origin location, from where I would start these 2 days journey.
Your prompt reply will be highly appreciated!

[Lourdes]

Cinquale as in the one on the Versilia coast between Forte dei Marmi and Marina di Massa?

If that is the case, then I recommend either taking a BUS to the train stations in either Forte dei Marmi or in Massa and heading to Florence OR
takking the E1 bus from Forte dei Marmi or Marina di Massa to Florence - you can see the bus schedules here: http://www.lucca.cttnord.it/Linee_e_...raurbane/L/461

I suppose you are then spending the night in Florence before heading to Volterra?
Not easy as it is in the province of Pisa but you're starting in Florence and passing through the province of Siena.

To get to Volterra:
1. go to Colle Val d'Elsa (from Florence you need bus 131O R - http://www.tiemmespa.it/index.php/Vi...na/Extraurbano
it passes through Poggibonsi
2. then catch CPT bus to Volterra - timetable for bus 770 here:
http://www.cpt.pisa.it/orari/extra/linea770.htm

It isn't easy to get back to Pisa direct from Volterra, you need to first go to Pondera:
http://www.cpt.pisa.it/orari/extra/linea500.htm
and from there either bus (190) or train to Pisa and then back to Cinquale.

[Irina_B]

Cinquale as in the one on the Versilia coast between Forte dei Marmi and Marina di Massa?

If that is the case, then I recommend either taking a BUS to the train stations in either Forte dei Marmi or in Massa and heading to Florence
...
.

Ciao, Lourdes
Thank you very much for your prompt and detailed reply! Really appreciate your time and kind help.
Indeed, I'll be located at Cinquale, which is 5 km from Forte dei Marmi.
Now I see that my initial itinerary was complicated.
I guess I just take a train from Forte dei Marmi to Florence (Firenze), spend a night there and get back the next day to Forte dei Marmi. My last question - if I take a regional train at www.trenitalia, the one without changes (to Florence and back), do I buy tickets directly at the railway station right before the departure, correct? How much time should I plan in advance considering possible lines to buy a ticket? and how much it can cost? somehow I can't see the cost at this resource and can't buy tickets in advance.
Once again, Lourdes, thank you for your time and help.

[Lourdes]

It definitely is not that easy to get across all of Tuscany on public transport once it requires changes of buses.... even from Cinquale to Volterra you need to arrive to Pontedera and then bus from there. All routes take over 3 hours to get there. If you really want to visit Volterra, I'd suggest renting a car for a day. You can do a search here at the bottom: http://www.discovertuscany.com/tuscany-car-rental/

As for trains. here is a print out so you can see sample fares --- you can buy directly at the train station, try to get there 30 min before the train is to leave so you have ample time to buy tickets and then get to right track and board. That site is finicky - you need to start typing the city but then select the one from the menu otherwise it won't do the correct search. I can't link to the results pages as the URL is tracked funny so it doesn't maintain the parameters. SO to see details, you'll need to go back and then click on the "i" icons you see by the train as then you'll see times and stops.

[Joy]

I will be in Florence for 3 days on August. After lots of thoughts and math , I'm planning to buy the Firenze card. Is the Florence City hop on and off bus included on the card?

[Lourdes]

No, the City Hop-on/Hop-off bus is a private company, not part of the partners of the Firenze Card. You can ride the ATAF city buses unlimited times - for example, it would be useful to get to Piazzale Michelangelo or to go to Fiesole. Particularly if it continues to be really hot to walk ;-) (we are having a heat wave at the moment )

[Lorimchan]

Hi there,

We will travel from Florence to cinque terre in September, I wonder if it is wise to book train tickets on trenitalia in advance or can we purchase the tickets while in Florence.

We will stay in Florence for about 3 days.

Thank you

[Lourdes]

You can just purchase tickets when you are here!!

Enjoy

[Ricchese]

Hello,

I'm trying to plan a trip for the second week of September,but the itinerary looks hard to do moving around with train. But I love to travel using public transports and I hate to drive. Basically,I would like to get some advice for a long travel.
Starting from Milan, the idea would be to come to Capalbio, stop for a few days and then go back to Siena, continuing to Pisa, finally coming to Lucca and from there back home. All in about a week. A lot to do for a handful days!
It's uneasy for me to organize the trip and accomodation because I don't know how to reach Capalbio: I read the train station is not closer to the town and the bus isn't available for the whole day. How I can arrive to Capalbio's center from the station?

I think I can dedicate only a day for the subsequent cities so I'd like to know the most appropriate times to take trains and lose as little time as possible (although it will be difficult ...) , in order to see everything I can in Siena,Pisa and Lucca.

Every useful advices will be really appreciate!

[Lourdes]

Ciao Ricchese,

The Capalbio Stazione FS (train station) is 10km from Capalbio town (high up on a hill). You can get there from a bus from one to the other, you just have to plan to be at Capalbio Scalo in time to catch the various ones through the day:
6.43am - 8.48am - 10.06am - 12.30pm - 1.55pm - 5.54pm Monday through Saturdays. Seems no buses on Sundays.(http://www.tiemmespa.it/var/ezdemo_s...05ad5141c1.pdf)

Note that any stop marked with FS usually means train station as it means Ferrovie Stato in Italian.

Since the bus line also starts in or passes through Orbetello FS, you can also choose to catch the same bus earlier there (just one bus seems to not start in Orbetello). It is a bit to the north of Capalbio.

While in Capalbio, you'll need to sit tight unless you can make the bus schedule work for you. To be honest, it isn't a great base if you don't have a car but the town is quite charming.... it comes alive in the evenings when the restaurants get full of people that have been at the beach all day. In the day, it is pretty quiet.

From the Capalbio train station, you should be able to take trains back to Grosseto to then continue on to Siena and from Siena either take train or bus to Pisa (bus passes through Florence - have you already been?).

You can check all timetables on www.trenitalia.com for each leg of your trip --- but if you also search for each leg on Google Maps and then click on the "public transport" tab, you should also see a mix of solutions that have train and bus as well. I would suggest you try Google Maps first