Florence to Siena: the Bus Beats the Train, and Nobody Says So
Updated 22 September 2026 · Coach fares, stops and times from Autolinee Toscane’s own documents
Every guide to day trips out of Florence, including our own, gives you the train fare to Siena and moves on. Ten euros eighty, an hour and twenty-eight minutes, done.
When we wrote that page in August we noted, in the file, that we had not verified the coach and had not measured how far the station is from the centre. This page is us going back and doing the first of those two properly, with the operator’s own documents. The answer turned the recommendation around.
Train or coach, side by side
The train figures are our own, queried from Trenitalia’s booking system and already published on the day trips page. The coach figures come from Autolinee Toscane: its fare tables, its line list and its winter timetable PDF.
| Train | Coach, line 131 | |
|---|---|---|
| Journey time | 1h 28 | 55 to 65 minutes |
| Single fare | 10.80 € | 9.90 or 10.90 € |
| Where it drops you | Below the old town | Via Tozzi and Via Gramsci, in it |
| Operator | Trenitalia | Autolinee Toscane, line 131 |
| Departs Florence from | Santa Maria Novella | Firenze Autostazione |
| If you buy from the driver | Not applicable | 16 € instead of 9.90 |
Half an hour saved, the same money, and you arrive in the town rather than under it. For a day trip where the walk from the station is the first thing that goes wrong, that is not a small difference.
One thing the coach loses on: it leaves from Firenze Autostazione, not from Santa Maria Novella. They are close to each other, but if you have planned your morning around the railway station, check the walk before you cut it fine.
Siena, San Gimignano and Chianti Wines Day Tour from Florence
Ten and a half hours, and it solves the arrival problem by not having one: a coach that collects you in Florence and adds San Gimignano and a Chianti tasting to the day. At 65 € it costs six times the bus fare, so book it for the other two stops rather than for Siena alone.
Tuscany Day Trip from Florence: Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa and Lunch at a Winery
Twelve hours covering Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa and a winery lunch, with 24,015 reviews behind a 4.86. It is the deepest record of any Tuscan day trip we have found. Long day, and the trade is depth for coverage: you will not get more than a couple of hours in Siena.
The 6 euro mistake at the door
This is the part worth knowing before you travel, and it is in the operator’s own fare table rather than in any guide.
The fast Siena to Florence corridor has its own fare table, separate from ordinary regional coaches, priced by how far you are going. In every single band, a ticket bought from the driver costs dramatically more than one bought in advance.
| Distance band | Bought in advance | Bought from the driver | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50.1 to 60 km | 8.80 € | 13 € | +48% |
| 60.1 to 70 km | 9.90 € | 16 € | +62% |
| 70.1 to 80 km | 10.90 € | 16 € | +47% |
| 80.1 to 90 km | 12 € | 17 € | +42% |
There is no band where boarding without a ticket does not cost you money. On the band this journey most likely falls in, it is 16 € against 9.90, which is a penalty of 62 per cent for not having sorted it out beforehand.
The operator adds one more thing worth repeating: the driver is not obliged to give change, so if you are buying on board anyway, bring small notes.
Where each one actually leaves you
Line 131 runs Siena to Colle to Poggibonsi to Florence, and it is the only line connecting the two cities in an operator list that runs to 416 of them. In Siena it calls at Via Tozzi and Via Gramsci. In Florence it uses Firenze Autostazione.
The train, by contrast, arrives at Siena’s railway station, which sits in the valley below the walled town rather than beside it. We flagged this on the day trips page as the reason Siena is the awkward one of the nine towns there, and it is the single thing that changes the recommendation.
Compare with Lucca, where the station is a few minutes outside the walls, or Pisa, where it is a walk but a flat one. Siena is the exception, and the coach is the answer to it.
What we could not pin down
Three things, and we would rather say so than round them off.
The exact fare. The fast route is priced by distance band and we could not confirm which band Autolinee Toscane applies to this journey. It is either 9.90 or 10.90 €. Both are close enough to the train’s 10.80 that the price does not decide anything, which is why we have not chased it further.
How many coaches a day. The winter timetable contains 44 scheduled services towards Florence and 40 towards Siena, but those columns mix weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays behind validity codes we have not decoded. Forty-four is the number of timetable columns, not the number of buses on a Tuesday, and we are not going to present one as the other.
How far the station is from the Campo. Still unmeasured, exactly as we admitted in August. We can tell you the station is below the town and that the coach stops in it, because that comes from the stop lists. We cannot give you a walking time, so we will not.
If you would rather not work it out
All of the above assumes you want to go independently, which for Siena alone is the sensible choice: it is an hour each way and the town is small enough to do on foot.
The organised day trips exist for a different reason. They bundle Siena with San Gimignano, sometimes Pisa, and a winery, in a single coach day. That is worth paying for if you want three places in one go and have no car. It is not worth paying for if Siena is the destination, because you are buying transport you could have had for ten euros. What each of those towns is actually like, once you are there, is in our guides to Siena and San Gimignano.
Questions
Is the bus or the train better from Florence to Siena?
The coach, on the two things that matter. It takes 55 to 65 minutes against the train's 1 hour 28, and it stops at Via Tozzi and Via Gramsci in Siena while the railway station sits below the old town. The fares are close enough not to decide it: the train is 10.80 euros and the fast coach fare falls in a band that is either 9.90 or 10.90. This is the one major Tuscan day trip where the train is not the obvious answer.
How much is the bus from Florence to Siena?
Autolinee Toscane prices the fast Siena to Florence route on its own fare table by distance band, published in the fares valid from 1 August 2026. The bands either side of this journey are 9.90 euros for 60 to 70 km and 10.90 for 70 to 80. We have not been able to confirm which band the operator applies to this specific route, so we give both rather than guess. What is certain is the penalty for buying on board, which is 16 euros in both of those bands.
Can you buy the Florence to Siena bus ticket on the bus?
Yes, and it is the most expensive way to do it. On the operator's own fast route table, a ticket bought from the driver costs 13 euros where the advance fare is 8.80, and 16 euros where the advance fare is 9.90 or 10.90. That is a surcharge of 42 to 62 per cent depending on the band, and there is no band where buying on board is not penalised. Buy before you board. The driver is also not obliged to give change.
Which bus goes from Florence to Siena?
Line 131, Siena to Colle to Poggibonsi to Florence, run by Autolinee Toscane. It is the only line connecting the two cities in the operator's list of 416 lines. In Florence it uses Firenze Autostazione rather than the railway station, and in Siena it calls at Via Tozzi and Via Gramsci.
How long does the Florence to Siena bus take?
Between 55 and 65 minutes on the fast services in the operator's winter timetable. The 06:40 from Siena Via Tozzi reaches Firenze Autostazione at 07:35, and the 07:30 and 08:25 both take 65 minutes. That is faster than the 1 hour 28 the regional train takes, on a route where the train has to swing west through Empoli.
How often does the bus run between Florence and Siena?
We are not going to give you a daily figure, because we cannot verify one. The winter timetable contains 44 scheduled services towards Florence and 40 towards Siena, but those columns cover weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays with different validity codes that we have not decoded. Anyone quoting a clean number of buses per day is either reading the same PDF more confidently than we are or repeating another guide.
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