How to get to Siena, Italy:

Travelling to Siena

When you are in Tuscany, a trip to Siena is often a highlight. Set on a hilltop with beautifully preserved medieval buildings, art and colourful traditions, Siena is a delightful small city to discover. The area around Siena is also world-famous and worth visiting - read our guide to the area around Siena to find out more about the Valdorcia, Chianti and the Valdelsa. How to get to Siena is key to your enjoyment of your time there.

Careful travel planning will save time and allow you to make the most of your day there. With that in mind, I have written this guide in order to share some useful tips I have gained from my own personal experience of getting to Siena.

Siena can be reached by bus, train and car. Siena centre, the 'centro storico' is largely pedestrianised. The easiest way to travel there is on foot from a car park, the train station or by bus.

Here is my advice for how to get to Siena, with travel times from the nearest airports, as well as train, bus and parking information.

Closest Airports to Siena

There is no Siena airport so you cannot fly to Siena directly, however you can drive or take a train to Siena from other airports near Siena.

Florence is the airport in Italy which is closest to Siena, followed by Perugia, Pisa, Bologna, Rome and Genoa, in that order. Pisa airport is the most popular for flights to Siena within Europe, while Rome is the most likely arrival airport for US and Canadian visitors.

Travel times to Siena from main airports — Travel times to Siena from Tuscany's main airports

Airport	Code	Address	Airport Website
Florence	FLR	Via del Termine, 11, 50127 Firenze	aeroporto.firenze.it
Perugia	PEG	Via dell'aeroporto snc, 06134 Perugia	airport.umbria.it
Pisa	PSA	Piazzale D'ascanio, 1, 56121 Pisa	pisa-airport.com
Bologna	BLQ	Via del Triumvirato, 84, 40132 Bologna	bologna-airport.it
Rome Fiumicino	FCO	Via dell' Aeroporto di Fiumicino, 00054 Fiumicino RM	adr.it/web/aeroporti-di-roma
Rome Ciampino	CIA	Via Appia Nuova, 1651, 00040 Roma	adr.it/web/aeroporti-di-roma
Genoa	GOA	Via Pionieri e Aviatori d'Italia, 1, 16154 Genova	airport.genova.it

How to get to Siena from Florence

If you are landing in Florence airport, you can get a shuttle-bus into the centre of Florence. You can buy a ticket from the bus driver and it will cost around 6 Euro. It takes around 25 minutes and it drops you off beside the main railway station of Santa Maria Novella.

You can then choose to go to Siena by bus or by train.

The bus station is close to the train station. It can be tricky to find the bus station at first when you have arrived by shuttle bus from Florence airport. To find it, see the photograph below for directions to the bus station and look for “Bar Deanna” (with excellent cakes) when leaving the train station.

Getting from Train Station to Bus Station in Florence

How to get to Siena by train from Florence

Going to Siena from Florence by train might be a better option if you are travelling as a family. Firstly, the children can run around a bit. Secondly, the surrounding scenery is beautiful. Lastly, those who suffer from car sickness may prefer it to winding country roads! The trains from Florence usually leave every hour and the trip takes around an hour and half to Siena station. To find prices, timetables and buy tickets, look at the

Trenitalia website

There is usually a direct train that goes via Empoli and takes around one and a half hours. Rail costs in Italy are low and a ticket should cost something around 12 Euro.

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How to get into Siena Centre from Siena Train Station

The train station in Siena is in a valley, below the historic centre. Helpfully, the city have recently installed escalators to take the sting out of walking up the slope. The escalators will take you up the hill, close to Porta Camollia. From there, if you turn left, you can walk in a more or less straight line to Piazza del Campo, the main square at the heart of the city. The walk is just under a mile.

If you prefer to take a bus, and with little ones it may be necessary, you can take the 0S7 from the train station to “Stufa Secca“. From the top of the escalators you can take the 0S1 to “Via Tozzi“.

How to get to Siena by bus from Florence

There are two different bus lines that run between Florence and Siena. The RAPIDA or 131R is the fastest. It goes directly between the two cities on a dual carriageway. The DIRETTA stops at Poggibonsi and in Colle val D’Elsa – and can be handy if you would like to stop off and explore. If you have luggage the driver will put it under the bus – just ask him as they don’t come out to check!

You can find timetables for the bus here – as well as other destinations. It's not the official website and has ads, but it seems the most reliable page at the moment:

Bus Timetable

Buses arrive in a square called Piazza Gramsci/Viale Tozzi. The square is closer to the historic centre than the train station and, crucially, on the top of the hill. From here it’s a short walk into the historic centre. The place to buy bus tickets is under the square, in the ‘sottopassaggio’. There are also some automatic machines on the square.

ALERT: Always remember to stamp your ticket before travel. This is the case for buses and for trains!

Train ticket Stamper in Italy — Machine for stamping train tickets in Italy - Trenitalia

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How to get to Siena from Pisa

The train may be the best way to get from Pisa to Siena. From the airport, take the PisaMover to the main central station. Turn left when you exit arrivals and the PisaMover is at the end of the airport. It will take 5 minutes to get to the central station from the airport. From the central station, you can take a train to Siena, via Empoli. The trip will take around 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Please note You cannot buy tickets for the Pisa Mover in the main railway station. You have to walk down to the Pisa Mover itself where there are separate train ticket machines.

Otherwise, you can take the bus. There are buses on the airport forecourt and people selling tickets inside the arrivals area. There are also buses from the main train station (Marozzi) and there is a new service, Flixbus. It seems very cheap but that we haven’t tried it yet and neither has anybody we know. If you have tried it, let us know.The Flixbus service leaves from the Pietrasantina car park which is 30 minutes by bus from Pisa airport.

How to get to Siena from Rome

The best option for travel from Rome to Siena, whether you’re travelling from Ciampino or from Fiumicino airports in Rome, is to take the train north and change at Chiusi-Chianciano Terme.

From Fiumicino airport it is a half hour train ride into Rome’s central train station, Roma Termini. From Ciampino airport you can take a bus then a train from Roma Termini.

A second option is to take the fast train to Florence. From Florence you can decide whether to take the train or the bus for the next section of the trip. Getting to Siena from Florence

How to get to Siena from Perugia Airport

From Perugia airport you can get a bus to Perugia Train Station.

From here you have a few options. Firstly you can take a bus. SAIS Autolinee have a bus service that takes around an hour and a half.

Secondly, you can go by train to Terontola, change and head for Chiusi, change again and go to Siena.

Finally you can choose to travel by train to Arezzo. The trip should take around an hour. From Arezzo there is a bus service to Siena that will take around 1 hour and 20 minutes.

How to get to Siena from Bologna airport

From Bologna airport you can get a shuttle into Bologna’s Central Train Station and then a train to Florence. The Shuttle will take around 30 minutes and the train to Florence will also take around 30 minutes. From Florence you can choose to take the train or bus, as detailed above. Getting to Siena from Florence

Best place to park in Siena

Fiat Cinquecento — Nick in his original Fiat 500 leaving villa Scaparzi

If you decide to drive to Siena, you will find that directions to Siena by way of road signs are well marked and frequent on the main roads in particular. It is also worth referring to Google maps before you leave in order to check for any road works.

The historic centre of Siena is entirely pedestrianised so knowing where to park your car is helpful. I wouldn’t waste my time driving around looking for a free parking spot because they’re mainly reserved for residents and there are armies of eagle-eyed parking attendants wandering around.

Zona Traffico Limitato — Always look out for Limited Access Traffic zone signs in Italy

Keep your eyes open for the red-circles of no-entry. You may well see somebody driving past these and into town because these areas where residents only are allowed. They are called ZTL (Zona Traffico Limitato) and are often controlled by video cameras that will take your photo and send a fine to the car hire company if you enter them in your car.

For a list of parking spots, have a look below. The cheapest is by the station, while my favourite is Parcheggio Il Duomo. I like the walk into town from there. Make sure you mark where the car park is on a map or phone because finding your way around Siena’s curving streets can be confusing.

Generally, with all these car parks, you take a ticket on entering and then go to a machine to pay on your return. The charges are not too bad. At Parcheggio Duomo, for example, they are around 2 Euro per hour or 35 Euro for a day.

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