Day trips from Florence, one line each
- Pisa, Siena and San Gimignano: the most popular and the most tiring. Take it if you only have one day and want to see three famous names.
- Siena and San Gimignano: two stops instead of three, more time in each, back before dinner. The best choice for almost everyone.
- Chianti: half a day among wineries and hills, and you are back in town by the afternoon.
- Val d'Orcia: the postcard landscape, far away and awkward without a car. Here a tour really is worth it.
- Cinque Terre: Liguria, not Tuscany. It can be done, but it is thirteen hours.
- Lucca and Pisa: no tour needed, two regional trains are enough.
The classic Tuscany bus tour: Pisa, Siena and San Gimignano in one day
This is the most reviewed trip in the category. GetYourGuide's version with lunch starts from €49 and has about 11,700 reviews, with an average of 4.6: no other Tuscan day trip on that platform has as many. It lasts 12–12.5 hours, lunch included. Below that price there is a version with optional lunch from €45.78; above it, variants with a stop in Chianti from €58.50 or with lunch at a winery from €121.50, which has the highest rating in the group (4.8).
On Tiqets the equivalent trips cost more and have far fewer reviews. The options with a wine tasting start from €64, the one with lunch from €105: it is run by CAF Tour & Travel – Gray Line, with a 07:15 meeting time at Piazzale Montelungo and free cancellation up to 24 hours before. The most complete option adds a guided tour of Siena and lunch, from €135. Partner prices change often and we check them regularly.
How to read the table: the price differences come almost entirely from lunch and wine, rather than from the route, which barely changes. Before you pay, look at three lines in the listing: what lunch includes, whether Siena is guided or free time, and the cancellation terms. Some Tiqets options are non-refundable, others can be refunded up to the day before or up to the departure time.
What the day is really like
Times are approximate: they vary from operator to operator, and some run the loop the other way round, starting with Pisa.
- Florence, meeting pointthe one on your voucher: Piazzale Montelungo, Santa Maria Novella station or Villa Costanza; depending on the operator, departure is between 07:15 and 07:45
- Sienawalk through the centre with the guide, about 2 hours; usually no entry tickets
- Lunch in the countrysideat a farm or a winery, only on the versions with lunch
- San Gimignanoabout 1.5 hours of free time, at the busiest hour
- Pisa, Piazza dei Miracoliabout 1 hour; the Tower climb only if you added it
- Florenceback in town, later with traffic
Between Florence, Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa and back to Florence you spend four to five hours on the coach. In Siena there is usually a guided walk between the Campo and the Duomo, but without entry tickets: there is no time left for the Duomo complex. You reach San Gimignano in the early afternoon along with all the other coaches. In Pisa you have an hour, enough for the photo with the Tower and a stroll around the square. You get back in the evening tired, often after 20:00.
What "optional Leaning Tower" means
You will find it written in the listing as "optional Leaning Tower". It means the climb is not included: you add it and pay separately when you book, if the operator offers it, or you buy it yourself. The official ticket for the Tower and the Duomo costs €20 on the site of the Opera della Primaziale and has a precise time: if you arrive late you will not get in and will not be refunded. If you buy it yourself, choose a slot that falls within the hour-long stop, allowing for the 15 minutes' early arrival required and the compulsory cloakroom for bags. Children who do not turn 8 within the calendar year cannot climb. For rules and tickets see the page on Pisa.
Coaches, groups and meeting points
The budget trips use large coaches, usually with 50–60 seats. Some listings on Tiqets state a maximum of 55, 60 or even 70 participants. With a group that size, every stop takes longer: getting off, counting heads, setting off again. A small group in a minivan costs more, but it changes the day.
The meeting point is printed on your voucher, and it is worth checking before you book. The centre is a limited traffic zone, so the coaches leave from the edge of the historic centre or from outside the city:
- Piazzale Montelungo, the coach hub next to Santa Maria Novella station: CAF Tour – Gray Line meets here (at 07:15, at the bottom of the station ramp), and so does Civitatis (at the newsstand).
- Inside Santa Maria Novella station: Sightseeing Experience meets at its Visitor Center in the ticket hall and asks you to arrive 20 minutes early.
- In front of the station, at the taxi rank: this is Walkabout's meeting point, with the guide holding a sign with the company name.
- Villa Costanza, the car park on the A1 motorway at Scandicci, at the end of the T1 tram line: myTour in Italy leaves from here. Add the tram time and check when the first suitable tram runs.
Siena and San Gimignano, without Pisa
Dropping Pisa changes the day: about nine hours instead of twelve, more time in Siena and back in the late afternoon. On GetYourGuide the basic option starts from €49 and the one with more free time from €60, with an average of 4.7. The versions that add Monteriggioni, the walled village mentioned by Dante, and a wine tasting start from €65. On Tiqets the Siena and San Gimignano trip starts from €60, and the one with Monteriggioni and wine from €75.
Siena, San Gimignano & Monteriggioni: Day Trip from Florence + Wine Tasting
(51 reviews) from €75
Book on Tiqets
Florence: Day Trip with Free Time in San Gimignano and Siena
(2,276 reviews) from €60
Book on GetYourGuide
Florence: Siena, San Gimignano & Monteriggioni with Tasting
(3,852 reviews) from €65
Book on GetYourGuideIf you want to see the floor of Siena Cathedral or climb the Torre del Mangia, this option is tight as well. For tickets see Siena and San Gimignano; for Monteriggioni, the page on the borghi, Tuscany's hill towns and villages.
Chianti in half a day
Chianti begins just outside Florence, which is why it is the only trip that fits into half a day. Group options last 5–6 hours, with one or two wineries and tastings: from €38.25 on GetYourGuide, from €45 on Tiqets. The most reviewed winery tour, with about 11,600 ratings, starts from €49.50. For a small group with better tastings, prices start from €89. And at the winery you drink: on a tour, you are not driving.
From Florence: Small Group Wine Tasting Tour to Tuscany
(4,594 reviews) from €89
Book on GetYourGuideIf you would rather go on your own, the 365 bus leaves from Piazzale Montelungo and reaches Greve in about an hour, but several services only run on school days and there are few on Sundays. Everything else, from the wineries to the Black Rooster, is on the page about Chianti; the comparison between small groups, private tours and Vespas is on the one about wine tours.
Val d'Orcia: the trip worth doing as a tour
Pienza, Montalcino and Montepulciano lie well south of Siena, and the local buses are designed for schools: few services, almost none on Sundays. Without a car, an organised tour is the only realistic way to see them in a day. Trips from Florence last 11–12 hours: on GetYourGuide there is a budget option combining Monteriggioni and the Val d'Orcia from €49.50, while those with Pienza, Montepulciano and a wine tasting start from €92. On Tiqets prices start from €82.80.
Florence: Monteriggioni & Val d'Orcia Optional Wine Tasting
(299 reviews) from €49.50
Book on GetYourGuideMontepulciano, incidentally, is not part of the Val d'Orcia UNESCO site. Towns, abbeys and bus stops are on the page about the Val d'Orcia.
Cinque Terre and Pisa
The Cinque Terre are in Liguria, but they are one of the best-selling trips from Florence. A typical itinerary leaves at 06:55 from Piazzale Montelungo, reaches La Spezia in about 2 hours 20, continues by train to Manarola and Monterosso and comes back with an hour's stop in Pisa: about 13 hours in all. Cinque Terre-only options start from €41.30 on GetYourGuide, and the one with an optional hike, from €55, has an average of 4.9. With Pisa, prices start from €89 on GetYourGuide and from €99 on Tiqets.
Florence: Cinque Terre Day Trip with Optional Hiking or Pisa
(6,091 reviews) from €55
Book on GetYourGuide
By train from Florence to La Spezia it is €15.90 and about two and a half hours each way; between the villages you use the local train, and if you take it several times the Cinque Terre Card is worth it. The card, closed paths and the Via dell'Amore are explained on the page about the Cinque Terre.
Lucca and Pisa: better by train
Here you do not need a tour. Florence–Lucca on the direct regional train costs €8.90 and takes about an hour and 20 minutes; Lucca–Pisa costs €4.10 and takes half an hour; Pisa–Florence costs €9.80 and takes about an hour. In total you spend €22.80 and decide for yourself how long to stay. If you like cycling, there is another option in Lucca: on GetYourGuide a self-guided bike route from Lucca to Pisa starts from €29.
From Florence: Half-Day Pisa Tour and Optional Leaning Tower
(2,163 reviews) from €39
Book on GetYourGuideIf Pisa alone is enough, the half-day coach trip from Florence lasts about 6 hours and starts from €39. For the walls and towers of Lucca see the page on Lucca.
Florence to Tuscany on your own, by train or bus
Everything starts at Santa Maria Novella. Regional trains have fixed fares, the same whether you buy a month ahead or at the ticket office.
| Destination | How | Cost each way | Journey time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pisa | regional train | €9.80 | 51–60 min on the fast service |
| Lucca | direct regional train | €8.90 | about 1 h 20 |
| Siena | fast 131R bus, arrives in the centre | €10.90 | about 75–80 min |
| Siena | regional train | €10.80 | 1 h 27–1 h 35 direct, up to about 1 h 50 with a change at Empoli; station 2 km below the centre |
| San Gimignano | train or bus to Poggibonsi, then bus 130 or 133 | — | 20–25 min from Poggibonsi, 1 h 30–2 h in all |
| Greve in Chianti | bus 365 from Piazzale Montelungo | — | about 1 h |
| Cinque Terre | train to La Spezia, then local train | €15.90 to La Spezia | about 2 h 30 |
For Siena the bus is almost always better than the train, because it drops you in Piazza Gramsci, a quarter of an hour's walk from the Campo. On the way out, though, the 131R terminus has been temporarily moved to Via Orti Oricellari: check the stop on the Autolinee Toscane website. Siena and San Gimignano together by public transport means the 131R to Siena and then line 130, which goes via Poggibonsi to San Gimignano. You need a timetable to hand: there are few services on Sundays. All three towns of the classic loop in one day by public transport is something we do not recommend.
Which Tuscany tour from Florence: a guide by type of traveller
- You have a single day and want to "see Tuscany": the classic Pisa, Siena and San Gimignano. Take the version with lunch and accept that it is an overview.
- First visit, with a little more time: Siena and San Gimignano on a tour, and Pisa by train on another day.
- You are into wine: Chianti in half a day; if Brunello and Nobile are what interest you, the Val d'Orcia. Whoever drives does not drink, and if you have held your licence for less than three years the limit is zero.
- A family with young children: no twelve-hour days. Pisa and Lucca by train, or Chianti in half a day. Check the minimum age for the Leaning Tower before you promise the climb.
- Travelling alone on a tight budget: the €41–49 options on GetYourGuide are hard to beat on public transport if you want to see more than one place.
- You enjoy walking: the Cinque Terre, but better by train with a night there than on a tour.
- You cannot stand large groups: pay for a small group or hire a car. In the Val d'Orcia a car gives you the most freedom.
All day trips from Florence on GetYourGuide
Mistakes to avoid
- Booking without checking the meeting point. Villa Costanza is not in the centre: in the morning you need the tram and extra time.
- Assuming the Leaning Tower is included. "Optional" means "paid separately".
- Booking a dinner reservation on the evening of the classic trip. You often get back after 20:00, and later still with traffic.
- Choosing the trip on the lowest price without reading the terms. Some options are non-refundable.
- Doing the Val d'Orcia or San Gimignano by public transport on a Sunday. There are very few services.
Related pages
For the starting point, with its museums, transport and station, see Florence. Each destination has its own page: Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano, Chianti, Val d'Orcia, Cinque Terre and Lucca. If you are starting from the capital, see Tuscany from Rome. Who sells these trips, and how they handle changes and refunds, is covered in our appraisals of the operators and of the platforms Tiqets and GetYourGuide.