Florence Travel Forum

Hi,
İn May I will be in Italy with a tour but I would like to free out of the group.We will stay in Montecatini.How can I go from Montecatini to Firenze or from Firenze to Pisa with the lowest cost in shortest time?.Because I have to turn bact to Montecatini in the same day.
And also I want to go to Verona in the other day.Which is best,going from Venice or from Rome to Siena?
Thank you all.With my best wishes.

Train is your best bet.

www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html will give you train times, fares and information in English.

Montecatini Centro > Florence takes around an hour, one-way second-class fare from 3.50 euro.

Florence > Pisa also takes around an hour (then 25 minutes walk to the Campo dei Miracoli, or take bus 4 or taxi), one-way fare from 5.60 euro.

Verona is much nearer to Venice than Siena is to Rome. Venice to Verona by train takes around 1h 10 min+, one-way fare from 6.15 but mostly 13.20 euro.

Rome >Siena takes 3+ hours, one-way fare from 23.50. Rome to Florence can be as little as 1h 37 m, but the fare is higher for such trains. You will have to change in Florence anyway and at that point you might do better to take the Sita bus to Siena from the bus station (more or less opposite SM Novella railway station). Siena railway station is some considerable distance from the historical centre. Bus journey time is around an hour, timetable here:

http://www.sitabus.it/wps/portal/DovePartire_Toscana (Linea Firenze>Siena)

J has given you the links you need to research to get train schedules. Note that most (if not all) of the trains along Florence-Montecatini-Pisa are regional trains, which means that there are no reservations and no need to buy tickets in advance - if there's room to stand, you can get on.

I myself have stayed in Montecatini Terme and commuted to Florence, when a fashion show took up all the hotel rooms in the city. We'd walk down to the Montecatini train station in the morning, catch the next regional train to Florence, spend the day in Florence, then catch a regional train back to Montecatini - it's quite doable.

I am a little confused on your agenda...you were hoping to go from Montecatini to Florence, then Florence to Pisa, then Pisa to Montecatini all in one day? If you do this, you won't see a lot of Florence, and the best museums (the Uffizi and the Accademia) have very long lines - in fact, the Uffizi requires timed tickets bought in advance. You will spend about 4 hours on trains on that day, and even more time waiting for the next train at the station, so be sure that you really want to see both places on the same day.

Note that of you want to go straight to Pisa from Montecatini, that you would take a regional train west (i.e., away from Florence) to Lucca, then change to catch the train to Pisa. BTW, there is one direct train a day (during the week - I didn't check for Sunday) from Montecatini Terme to Pisa that leaves at 7:06 a.m.

And I didn't understand your last question. Are you wanting to go to Verona or Siena...or both?

Bill

Hi
You are right sorry.I have written so quick why I have mixed up all the things.I would like to visit Siena and Verona.We will stay both in Florance and Roma.So from which city(Florance and Rome)it is better to visit Siena and Verona.
I hope it is more accurate now.Thank you for your interest.

Siena is an hour by bud from Florence.

Verona is to the north, and Florene is further north than Rome.If you are ot staying anywhere further north on your trip (e.g.Venice) then visiting Verona from Florence makes more sense.

Check the train times on Trenitalia for Florence>Verona.