Rome to Tuscany in a day: can it be done?

The short answer

For a single day, the best choice is Florence by train. If you are dreaming of hills and vineyards, take a group tour to Montepulciano and accept that it will be a long day. If you have two days, sleep in Tuscany: for the same number of hours of travel you will see three times as much.

Tuscany day trip from Rome: the real numbers

The Tuscan places everyone wants to see are further from Rome than they look on the map. By car, Siena is about 2 hours 45 minutes each way and San Gimignano about 3 hours 15; Montepulciano and Pienza are closer, at about 2 hours. That is why tours from Rome last 10 to 14 hours, and your time in the towns shrinks to an hour or two per stop.

Two things to know before you choose. First, a 14-hour tour means leaving at dawn and getting back to Rome late in the evening. Second, Siena and San Gimignano together, as a day trip from Rome, are the least efficient combination, with about six hours on a coach.

Group or private tour?

A group coach tour is the cheapest option and the one with the most reviews. For southern Tuscany, prices start from €81 (Montepulciano, lunch and wine, 12 hours) and from €99 for the most-reviewed 11-hour tour, which at our last check had more than 3,400 ratings and an average of 4.7. These are wine tours in every sense: a winery, a tasting, lunch among the vines and a stop in town. The drawback is the pace, which is set by the group.

A private or small-group tour costs a great deal more: for Siena and San Gimignano from Rome, prices start from €248. You get a smaller group, less waiting around and, on genuinely private tours, often the chance to change a stop: ask before you book. The distances stay the same, though: it will not turn a 10-hour trip into a 7-hour one.

Florence and Pisa in a day does exist, from €103.35, but it takes 14 hours. It only makes sense if you absolutely want a photo with the Tower and you will not be coming back to Tuscany.

Partner prices change and we check them regularly. Before you book, read the hour-by-hour itinerary: if the stop in a town is one hour, it really is one hour.

All day trips from Rome on GetYourGuide

Going independently by train

Rome → Florence

This is the simplest day trip from Rome. There are about 47 trains a day between Frecciarossa and Italo; the fastest take from 1 h 19 to 1 h 35, and if you buy ahead fares start from about €10.90. On the day you will usually pay much more, so book as soon as you know your date. Italo and some Frecce trains also leave from Roma Tiburtina.

A typical day, with approximate times:

1. 07:30
   Rome TerminiFrecciarossa or Italo, bought in advance for the lowest fare
2. 09:00
   Florence Santa Maria Novellafrom the station you can explore the centre on foot
3. 09:30
   Piazza del Duomothe Cathedral is free; the Dome only with the Brunelleschi Pass, booked for a set time
4. 11:30
   Uffizi Gallery or Accademiajust one of the two, with a booked entry
5. 13:30
   Lunch between San Lorenzo and the Oltrarnoan hour, no more, if you also want to see the Oltrarno
6. 15:00
   Ponte Vecchio and the OltrarnoSanto Spirito and the artisan workshops, then the climb to San Miniato or Piazzale Michelangelo
7. 18:00
   Palazzo Strozzi or an aperitivo in the centreduring exhibitions normally open until 20:00
8. 19:30
   Florence Santa Maria Novellareturn train; allow half an hour's margin
9. 21:00
   Rome Terminiarrival

Pick just one major museum: the Uffizi or the Accademia, not both. For tickets, opening hours and what to book, see the page on Florence. If you arrive on a Trenitalia train, keep your ticket: at Palazzo Strozzi it gets you a reduced price for the exhibitions.

Rome → Chiusi → Montepulciano

Chiusi-Chianciano Terme is the gateway to southern Tuscany: Montepulciano, the Val d'Orcia, the Chianciano spa and the Etruscan museum in Chiusi. There are about 20 trains a day, mostly fast regional services and a few Intercity trains, taking 2 h 14 on average, with fares from €9.90.

The problem is the last stretch. From Chiusi to Montepulciano it is about 20 km: there are buses, but not many, and you need to check the timetable on the Autolinee Toscane website before you set off. If the return journey does not connect with the last train, take a taxi. Do not confuse Chiusi station with "Montepulciano Stazione", on the line to Siena, which is a long way from the town.

Pienza and the Val d'Orcia have no practical rail connections: if you want to see them, hire a car at Chiusi. This is the smartest approach if you are coming from Rome, because it cuts out the two longest stretches of driving. For what to see, go to the Val d'Orcia page.

Rome → Grosseto and the Maremma

The Tyrrhenian coast line takes you to Grosseto in about two hours and to Orbetello in about an hour and a half. From Grosseto, Autolinee Toscane buses run to the Maremma Regional Park and to Saturnia, but they are infrequent and rare on public holidays: for the hot springs, in practice, you need a car or a tour.

Rome → Orvieto (Umbria)

Orvieto is about 1 h 26 by train on average, with some twenty services a day and tickets from €9.90. It is beautiful, but it is in Umbria. Many tours sold as "Tuscany from Rome" are actually Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio: if the Tuscan hills are what you are after, read the itinerary carefully.

By car on the A1

The Autostrada del Sole takes you to Florence in about 3 hours (about 275 km) and to the Chiusi-Chianciano exit in 1 hour 45 to 2 hours (about 160 km). That is the exit for Montepulciano, Pienza and Chianciano; for Siena, leave at Valdichiana and take the Siena–Perugia link road. For tolls, check the Autostrade per l'Italia website.

For Saturnia and the Maremma the right road is a different one: the A12 and the SS1 Aurelia via Civitavecchia, about 2 hours 30 minutes to the hot springs according to the official website. See Maremma and Saturnia.

Never drive into the historic centres. Florence, Siena, Montepulciano, Pienza and San Gimignano have camera-controlled ZTLs (limited traffic zones, closed to non-resident cars), and the fines reach your home months later, even abroad.

When it is worth staying the night in Tuscany

The day trip works for Florence and, to a lesser extent, for a single town in the south such as Montepulciano. In every other case, one night transforms the trip:

• Siena and San Gimignano. As a day trip from Rome, that is six hours on a coach for four hours of sightseeing. With a night in Siena you can see both at your leisure. See Siena and San Gimignano.
• Val d'Orcia. Pienza, Montalcino, Bagno Vignoni and the hills are at their best at sunset and at dawn, which is exactly when the tours are on the coach.
• Chianti and wine tastings. If you actually want to drink, do not drive: stay in the area or go from Florence on a wine tour.
• Saturnia. The free hot springs are at their best at dawn or late in the evening. Combine them with Pitigliano and a night in the Maremma; see also the thermal baths of Tuscany.
• Florence plus the hills. Two nights in Florence and an organised day trip from there are more restful than two return journeys from Rome: see the plan below.

If you have two or three days

With a few extra days, the train plus a hire car beats any coach tour. Two plans that work:

Two days in southern Tuscany. Day one: morning train from Rome to Chiusi, hire car at the station, Montepulciano and a winery in the afternoon, night in the Val d'Orcia or in Pienza. Day two: Pienza early in the morning, Bagno Vignoni, lunch, drop the car back at Chiusi and take the train to Rome. You only drive on the hill roads, never on the motorway.

Three days based in Florence. High-speed train from Rome, two nights in the city. One day for Florence, one day on an organised trip from there to the Chianti, Siena or San Gimignano, and then back. From Florence the choice of tours is much wider and the days are shorter, because you are already in Tuscany when you set off. You will find the options among the day trips and the borghi.

Mistakes to avoid

• Booking a "Tuscany" tour that goes to Umbria. Check the names of the stops.
• Choosing the longest tour to "see more". More stops mean less time at each one.
• Getting off at Montepulciano Stazione. The town is a long way off; from Rome, the right station is Chiusi.
• Buying your Florence train ticket on the day. The price difference is usually large.
• Thinking you can do the Val d'Orcia by public transport in a day. Without a car it cannot be done.