Italy Travel Forum

Hi, we'll be visiting Italy in mid-July. After 3 days in Florence, we would like to go to Pisa, Siena and Assisi (stay 1 night in each of these places) and finish in Rome. Is it feasible to do this short tour by bus?

At first we wanted to station in Florence for 6 days 5 nights, and cover the 3 places in 3 day trips. However, on second thoughts, perhaps it is better to experience the evenings in these places which should be more quiet after tourists leave.

As far as Pisa is concerned, I guess day trip from Florence serves the purpose unless one has very special reasons. May I run the risk of saying that Pisa is all about Leaning Tower and that too to the extent of some funny pictures from the outside showing one's creativity.
Secondly, for Florence-Pisa-Florence train is the most optimal solution. Nearly one hour drive, return ticket will cost you less than 12 euros, and the train is frequent. For fares and timetables you may refer to www.trenitalia.com which is the official and the most reliable website in this regard. In this case, you don't need to buy tickets in advance, just go to the Florence SMN station, buy the return ticket from the easy-to-use machine, and board into the first available train. The train will leave you at Pisa Centrale, its about half an hour almost unidirectional walk from there to the Leaning Tower. Upon your return just board into the first available train to Florence SMN. For this route only regional Train operates, for which tickets are not train specific and there is no seat allocation.
Further, I will suggest you to Pisa first thing in the morning so that you don't miss evening fun in Florence. Day trip will also save you from the hassle of taking your luggage and finding an accomodation which will also save your time. I observed that one night stay is the most unwanted scenario as it takes time and energies which can be utilized elsewhere for a better purpose.
Since I haven't been to the other two places so I leave for other fellow VTers to share their valuable experience for a customized plan.
Happy Travelling!

I would have to agree with Muzzammil that of the three places where you don't need to spend the evening, Pisa would be it. There is certainly more to Pisa than the Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles) where the Tower and the Duomo are found, but compared to Siena and Assisi, it's not the same.

Of the three, Assisi is the most typical hilltown. That is, the old part of Assisi is indeed on a hill, with walls and "la rocca" (the fortress). It is priceless to walk through the upper city at night when all the tourists have left. If you're looking for a lot of action, you may not find it here, but if you want to find a little bit what it's like to live in an Italian hilltown, stay here after dark.

Siena is also a nice place to walk around in the evening, but it's really too large to give you that hilltown feel. Still, it has plenty of the medieval and Renaissance feel as you amble through its streets, looking for the two heads of St. Catherine (local joke).

As Muzzammil noted, getting to/from Pisa from Florence by train is easy, so don't bother with a bus. In the case of Assisi, there are direct trains every couple of hours or so, and the trip takes about 2.5 hours. In the case of Siena, the train station is farther out of town, so the bus from Siena is actually more convenient than the train.

Bill

No, don't try to find buses. Even if they exist trains are the usual form of transport, much quicker and very reasonably-priced.

Take the train. It is safe, comfortable and reasonably-priced. All the stations you will use have ticket machines with english language options, and there is no need to buy tickets online in advance unless you wish to do so. You can buy them from the station at any time before you travel......perhaps the day beforehand if you are worried.

This link:

http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html

will give you train times, details and fares in English.

However. Going to Siena from Florence is much easier and quicker than travelling there from Pisa, and going there by bus better than train because the railway station is some considerable distance from the historical centre. I don't think that there is a regular bus service from Pisa to Siena, although there is a (very) limited service from Pisa airport

The Sita bus station is more or less opposite SMN Novella in Florence (buy your tickets there just before you leave). Bus timetable here (click 'Linea Firenze>Siena')

http://www.sitabus.it/wps/portal/DovePartire_Toscana

I would suggest that you stay and extra night in Florence (or not) and visit Pisa as a morning or afternoon trip. Whilst it has much more to offer than just the Campo dei Miracoli (see my Pisa pages...I was based there for 5 nights last year) Siena would be a better overnight stop.

You see if you want to visit Assisi, or Siena, from Pisa you still have to go back into Florence and change trains.

Florence > Assisi is a longish train journey, 3.5+ hours from Pisa but an hour less from Florence. Trains run roughly hourly....no changes, apart from at Florence.

Assisi>Rome takes about 2 hours.

You certainly have the right idea about staying in Assisi overnight. As Bill has correctly pointed out, it is the most wonderful of Italian hillside towns and is pure joy to stay in after dark. Take a bottle of wine and some disposable cups and climb up to the fortress and watch the local Umbrian countryside twinkling for miles around. We found a great little bar/cafe on the way back down where the locals were having a very sociable time enjoying a drink and some nibblies. They made us very welcome so we joined in. It seemed like it was the only place open at that hour but gave us such a different perspective on Assisi than we had seen on a previous trip some years before when we went on a day tour from Rome.