Day Trips from Florence: Five Worth the Journey, from €8.90

How to choose

Five trips leave Florence by rail or road. Pisa and Lucca go by direct train, Siena by bus, and San Gimignano needs a change at Poggibonsi. Chianti works best on a short coach tour.

Pisa: a fast train and the Tower’s fixed slot

Pisa’s Piazza dei Miracoli holds the cathedral, baptistery, bell tower and cemetery on one lawn, so a half day is enough. The rule that catches people out is the Leaning Tower: entry is for one fixed time, and late arrivals are refused without a refund.

See or book a Pisa half-day trip →

1. Take a Regionale Veloce from Firenze Santa Maria Novella to Pisa Centrale, about 1 hour; slower regionale trains take about 1 hour 10 minutes.
2. From the Stazione 1 stop at Pisa Centrale, ride Line 1+ to the Torre 1 stop; it runs every 10 minutes.
3. Arrive at the Tower before your slot: the climb is 251 steps, the visit takes about 30 minutes, and bags stay in the cloakroom.
4. Use the remaining time for the cathedral, baptistery and cemetery; areas can close for restoration or events without notice.

Lucca: the walls on foot, from €8.90 by train

Lucca’s walls run 4.2 km around the old town, were built between the mid-1600s and the early 1800s, and are still intact. Since the late 1800s the top has been a public park, so the day is a loop on foot.

1. Take a direct regionale from Firenze Santa Maria Novella to Lucca; the fastest take about 1 hour 20 minutes.
2. Walk up onto the walls and circle the 4.2 km ring; benches, drinking fountains and play areas are set around the bastions.
3. Add Pisa: regional trains run from Pisa Centrale to Lucca in about 30 minutes, so Pisa in the morning and Lucca in the afternoon works.

Chianti: vineyards, by bus or a short coach tour

Chianti is a landscape, not a town: vineyards, castles and hill villages between Florence and Siena. Bus 365 reaches Greve in Chianti in about an hour, but the wine estates are what a half-day coach tour is built around.

See or book a Chianti wine tour →

1. Take bus 365 from the Florence bus hub at Montelungo toward Greve in Chianti; the ride takes about an hour.
2. Walk to Piazza Matteotti, Greve’s asymmetrical main square with its arcades and porticoes.
3. Stay on the bus toward Radda and Gaiole for a longer day among the villages.

Siena: the full medieval city, by rapid bus

Siena’s old town is a World Heritage Site built around the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo. Rapid bus 131R takes about 75 minutes, faster than the direct train, and the cathedral opens only at 1:30pm on most Sundays and public holidays, though earlier while its marble floor is uncovered.

See or book a Siena and San Gimignano day trip →

1. Take rapid bus 131R from the Florence bus station toward Siena; some runs board on Via Orti Oricellari, outside the station, so confirm the stop.
2. Or take a direct regional train from Firenze Santa Maria Novella, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
3. Walk to Piazza del Campo, then to the cathedral; on a Sunday when it opens at 1:30pm, do the Campo first.

San Gimignano: the tower town, with a change

San Gimignano’s skyline of medieval tower houses has been a World Heritage Site since 1990. No service runs straight from Florence, so the choices are a change at Poggibonsi or a coach day that pairs it with Siena.

1. Take the direct regionale toward Siena to Poggibonsi-San Gimignano station, about 1 hour.
2. Change to bus 130, which runs between Siena, Poggibonsi and San Gimignano, and ride to Porta San Giovanni.
3. From Siena the same line 130 reaches San Gimignano, so a Siena morning can end among the towers.

If you only do one

Siena, if you go once: a whole medieval city reached by direct bus, with the Campo and the cathedral both on foot. The trade-off is a full day and, on most Sundays, an afternoon-only cathedral.