Florence to Siena

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The train is the obvious choice and it is the wrong one. Siena's station sits outside the walls and sixty-two metres below them; the coach sets you down at the top of the hill, a few minutes from the Campo, and gets there half an hour sooner. Almost everything else about this journey follows from that single asymmetry.

Seventy kilometres separate the two cities, and there are four sensible ways to cross them. Which is right depends on something more specific than speed: where each one puts you down. Florence's departure points are all within a few hundred metres of Santa Maria Novella, so the whole decision is made at the Siena end.

The four ways, side by side

Every figure below is stated again, with its source, in the section it belongs to. Nothing here is new — the table exists because the decision is a comparison and prose makes you hold four things in your head at once.

The train's disadvantage is smaller than it looks and worth stating fairly: the ascent is free, runs around the clock, and removes the climb entirely. What it does not remove is the extra half hour and the walk at the top.

The coach, and the difference between 131 and 131R

Autolinee Toscane runs two lines between Siena and Florence, and getting the wrong one costs you half an hour.

Line 131R is the fast service. It runs the superstrada, calls only at Poggibonsi-Salceto before the Florence suburbs, and takes roughly 65 to 75 minutes end to end. On a weekday there are around eighteen or nineteen journeys each way, first out at about 06.15 from Siena and 06.25 from Florence, last around 20.15–20.45 — thinning considerably at weekends, with only a handful on Sundays and holidays.

Line 131 is the stopping service on the old road, through Colle Val d'Elsa, Monteriggioni and Poggibonsi. It is a lovely ride and it takes 95 to 100 minutes. Same operator, same start, same finish, thirty extra minutes. Confusingly, Autolinee Toscane also labels individual departures ordinaria and rapida within a line, so read the specific run rather than the line number alone.

In Siena the coach terminates at via Tozzi, alongside the Piazza Gramsci bus hub at the northern edge of the walled centre, after calling at San Domenico, the Antiporto and viale Vittorio Veneto. From via Tozzi you walk down Banchi di Sopra to the Campo. It is level, it is short, and it is the reason the coach wins.

One caution that matters more than any timetable. The Florence departure point for the Siena coaches has moved repeatedly — between Firenze Autostazione beside Santa Maria Novella, via Orti Oricellari, and Piazzale Vittorio Veneto — driven by roadworks, and for the whole of the 2025–26 winter it was not the bus station at all. As we write, on 30 July 2026, it is not: Autolinee Toscane has departures leaving from via Orti Oricellari between 11 June and 13 September 2026. Check at-bus.it in the week you travel rather than trusting any guide, including this one. All the options are within a few hundred metres of each other, but not on the same kerb, and coaches do not wait.

Buy before you board: a ticket bought from the driver costs a surcharge. Siena–Florence is charged on Autolinee Toscane's extraurbano veloce tariff, which is banded by distance rather than published per route — Ask at the sales point. Autolinee Toscane's tariff schedule changes on 1 August 2026: the standard urban single rises from €1.70 to €2.00 and the ten-trip urban carnet from €15.50 to €18.20. Tickets bought at the old price stay valid until 31 January 2027.

Flixbus also runs the route, a dozen times a day, from Villa Costanza and Piazzale Montelungo among others. Its advertised fifty minutes is faster than the operator of the rapida claims for the same road; treat it as marketing.

The train

There is no fast train to Siena and there never has been. The city sits on a regional line — Firenze SMN to Empoli, then south through Granaiolo and Poggibonsi — and every service is a Regionale. No Frecciarossa, no Intercity, no Italo, whatever any aggregator tells you.

Direct services from Florence Santa Maria Novella run roughly hourly through the day, first around 06.20 and last around 21.38, taking about an hour and a half. In the other direction there is a single early Regionale Veloce that does Siena to Florence in seventy-one minutes, which is the fastest scheduled train of the day in either direction and leaves at 06.25.

Then you arrive at Piazzale Rosselli, outside the walls and well below them, and the walk into the centre is about twenty minutes. A free mechanised ascent — 283 metres of it, climbing sixty-two, running around the clock — carries you up through the Porta Siena centre to the Antiporto and Porta Camollia, which removes the climb but not the distance. Worth knowing: the city council was asked in May 2026 about waterproofing and safety works approved for that ascent, with no completion date stated publicly, so it is worth a glance at the operator's site before relying on it with luggage. The route, its two siblings and the free substitute taxi for disabled users are set out in from the station to the historic centre.

The Empoli–Siena line has also seen repeated engineering closures with replacement buses, including a month-long interruption in a recent summer that the Comune protested would push the journey towards four hours. Check before you travel in August.

When the train is right: if you are travelling from anywhere that already puts you on the Pisa–Florence corridor, since Empoli is on it and the change is straightforward. If you are coming from Pisa specifically, that change at Empoli is the whole journey — there is no direct service.

Driving

The road between the two cities is the RA 3, the Raccordo Autostradale Siena–Firenze — fifty-six kilometres of dual carriageway managed by ANAS rather than by a motorway concessionaire, which is why there is no toll booth on it. From the A1 it is reached at the Firenze Certosa/Impruneta exit.

It is quick, it is functional, and it is not why you came to Tuscany. Before you commit to a car for the Siena leg, read Parking in Siena and the ZTL: the historic centre is closed to unauthorised traffic twenty-four hours a day, every gate crossed is a separate fine, and the car will end up in a garage below the walls regardless.

The car earns its keep on the days you leave the city, not the day you arrive in it.

The two scenic routes, properly named

The SR 222, the Chiantigiana, is the one worth the detour: sixty-nine kilometres from Florence to Siena through Greve in Chianti, Panzano, Castellina, Radda and Gaiole — the spine of the Strada del Vino e dell'Olio Chianti Classico. It is a full day with stops, not a transfer. Pair it with the Chianti Classico wine route.

The SR 2, the Cassia, is the older line south through Poggibonsi and on towards the Val d'Orcia. San Gimignano is not on it, whatever you may read — the town is a signposted turn from Poggibonsi. See the San Gimignano insider guide.

Neither is an officially signposted tourist route in the way some guides imply. The Strada del Vino e dell'Olio Chianti Classico is a real, constituted body with its own membership, and the Chiantigiana is its principal road — that is the accurate way to put it.

So which one

Arriving for a city stay, with a suitcase: the 131R coach. Fastest on the road, and it sets you down inside the walls' northern edge rather than below them.

Arriving from Pisa, or already on the Florence–Empoli line: the train, changing at Empoli.

Arriving to tour the countryside: hire the car at the airport, take the Chiantigiana, and accept that the Siena leg ends in a garage.

Coming for the day: the coach, first thing, back in the evening — and read Siena in One Day before you go, because the Duomo complex will absorb your whole morning if you let it.

Practical Information

Coach — Autolinee Toscane 131R (fast): Siena via Tozzi ↔ Firenze (via Orti Oricellari until 13 Sept 2026, otherwise Autostazione), roughly 65–75 min, c. 18–19 journeys each way on a weekday, far fewer at weekends. Line 131 covers the same route via Colle Val d'Elsa and Poggibonsi in 95–100 min. Florence stop: currently via Orti Oricellari (Autolinee Toscane notice, 11 June–13 September 2026); Firenze Autostazione outside that window, and Piazzale Vittorio Veneto during earlier roadworks — verify at at-bus.it in the week of travel. Fares: extraurbano veloce distance bands; buying from the driver costs more. Tariff schedule changes on 1 August 2026: urban single €1.70 → €2.00, ten-trip urban carnet €15.50 → €18.20; tickets bought at the old price stay valid until 31 January 2027. Flixbus: c. 12 services a day; Florence stops include Villa Costanza and Piazzale Montelungo. Train: Firenze SMN → Empoli → Siena, all Regionale, roughly hourly, about 1h30; first c. 06.20, last c. 21.38. One Regionale Veloce northbound at 06.25 (71 min). Regional fares are distance-banded. Siena station: Piazzale Rosselli, outside and 62m below the walls; c. 20 min walk, or the free 24-hour mechanised ascent (283m, 62m rise) to Antiporto/Porta Camollia. Works to the ascent were approved in 2026 — check before relying on it. Driving: RA 3 Raccordo Autostradale Siena–Firenze, 56 km, ANAS-managed, no toll; from the A1 at Firenze Certosa/Impruneta. Siena's centre is a 24-hour ZTL. Scenic: SR 222 Chiantigiana, 69 km via Greve, Panzano, Castellina, Radda, Gaiole. SR 2 Cassia south via Poggibonsi.

Continue Reading

• Parking in Siena and the ZTL
• Siena in One Day
• The Chianti Classico Wine Route

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the fastest way to get from Florence to Siena? The Autolinee Toscane 131R coach, at roughly 65 to 75 minutes. It also sets you down at via Tozzi on the northern edge of Siena's walled centre, a short level walk from the Campo, where the train leaves you outside and sixty-two metres below the walls.

Is there a direct train from Florence to Siena? Yes — direct Regionale services run roughly hourly from Firenze Santa Maria Novella via Empoli, taking about an hour and a half. There is no high-speed service to Siena: no Frecciarossa, no Intercity, no Italo, despite what some booking sites suggest.

What is the difference between bus 131 and 131R? Line 131R is the fast service via the superstrada, calling only at Poggibonsi-Salceto, at 65–75 minutes. Line 131 is the stopping service through Colle Val d'Elsa and Poggibonsi, at 95–100 minutes. Same operator, same endpoints, half an hour apart.

Where does the Siena coach leave from in Florence? Via Orti Oricellari at the time of writing (30 July 2026) — Autolinee Toscane is running departures there from 11 June to 13 September 2026. Outside that window it is Firenze Autostazione beside Santa Maria Novella; Piazzale Vittorio Veneto has also been used during roadworks. Check at-bus.it in the week you travel.

How far is Siena from Florence by car? Fifty-six kilometres on the RA 3 Raccordo Autostradale Siena–Firenze, an ANAS-managed dual carriageway with no toll, reached from the A1 at the Firenze Certosa/Impruneta exit. The scenic SR 222 Chiantigiana covers sixty-nine kilometres through Chianti and is a day out rather than a transfer.

Can I walk from Siena station to the centre? Yes, in about twenty minutes, or you can take the free mechanised ascent that climbs sixty-two metres from the station to the Antiporto and Porta Camollia. It runs around the clock and costs nothing.

By the Siena & Toscana editors