Hi, I am planning to make a one day visit from Florence to Siena on Fri, June 15. It will be me, my 70 year old parents, and my 9 year old children. We want to make it a relaxed trip and not too intense. My parents cannot climb and I have claustrophobia, so none of us will be climbing anything.
I was thinking of doing the following things:
Take a bus from Florence in the morning, leave 9 am, arrive around 10 am. Do I need to pre-book the bus or can we just show up 15-30 min before?
Visit the cathedral at 10:30 am when it opens. (Arrive earlier and queue up if necessary). We might use the free Rick Steves audio tour to guide us inside.
Possibly visit the Library to see the frescoes.
Hang out in the Piazza; have lunch there or nearby. Any particular spot you think we would all enjoy?
Stroll around the town for a few hours, stopping for coffee or treats whenever we feel like it. Any must sees on our stroll?
Return back by bus around 3 or 4 pm. Purchase ticket at the station.
Does this sound like a good plan to you? Is there anything I should add or remove? In Florence, entrance to the Cathedral is free but there is a fee for the museum and climbing. Since we don't intend to see the museum or climb in Siena, can we enter the Cathedral for free? Or do we need to purchase the Opa Si pass anyways? Is it helpful to purchase the pass to pre-book an entry time and skip the queue? If we do need to purchase, is there an individual ticket we can get to Just the Cathedral or Just the Library without the combo Opa Si pass?
Thank you for any advice you have!
Aparna
I was thinking of doing the following things:
Take a bus from Florence in the morning, leave 9 am, arrive around 10 am. Do I need to pre-book the bus or can we just show up 15-30 min before?
Visit the cathedral at 10:30 am when it opens. (Arrive earlier and queue up if necessary). We might use the free Rick Steves audio tour to guide us inside.
Possibly visit the Library to see the frescoes.
Hang out in the Piazza; have lunch there or nearby. Any particular spot you think we would all enjoy?
Stroll around the town for a few hours, stopping for coffee or treats whenever we feel like it. Any must sees on our stroll?
Return back by bus around 3 or 4 pm. Purchase ticket at the station.
Does this sound like a good plan to you? Is there anything I should add or remove? In Florence, entrance to the Cathedral is free but there is a fee for the museum and climbing. Since we don't intend to see the museum or climb in Siena, can we enter the Cathedral for free? Or do we need to purchase the Opa Si pass anyways? Is it helpful to purchase the pass to pre-book an entry time and skip the queue? If we do need to purchase, is there an individual ticket we can get to Just the Cathedral or Just the Library without the combo Opa Si pass?
Thank you for any advice you have!
Aparna