How can I get from Florence to the Beautiful Rolling Hills of Val D'Orcia by bus?

R

RollingHills37

Member
Hi there,

I will be in Florence from next week (11th April). I do not drive. What I really want to do is get to the beautiful rolling hills of Val D'Orcia by bus (or train - but Googling suggests that bus is better than train). Comments in forums suggest that to get there from Florence by bus one has to go first to Siena, and then take another bus (e.g. to Montalcino or Pienza). Can somebody please give me accurate up-to-date information on this? In other forums people link to bus timetables that are out of date (associated with bus companies that no longer run the routes).

In a nutshell, what is the quickest and easiest way to get from Florence to Val D'Orcia countryside by bus?

I don't really care which town/place in Val D'Orcia it is - Pienza, Montalcino etc. - so long as I can walk around the beautiful rolling hills!

Best Wishes

Adam
 
Ciao Adam,

Yes, I understand your frustration! To make things "easier" all of the various bus companies across the entire region were merged into one... but all the info on all the lines is not as easily available on the new website - which is this one, by the way: https://www.at-bus.it/

The old websites that had the schedules are likely the same schedules, it just is not easy to see them. The best way I've found so far is to simply use the trip planner on that new site: https://www.at-bus.it/it/strumenti/trip-planner.html

Just checking for next week, they offer both solutions with just buses or with a mix of train + bus.

The one important thing I have to recommend is that you plan to stay the night in the area, with return travel the following day. All the ways to get there take over 3 hours, so I don't think it is feasible to think you will return the same day. Especially if you want to do some hiking - I highly recommend heading to Pienza and from there hiking to San Quirico d'Orcia, or vice-versa. We've done it from San Quirico and ended in Pienza, then took bus back to San Quirico because rain threatened and we were going to get wet.
We've always gone to Val d'Orcia with a car and used a base there to explore the area and walk around.

The alternative is to do a guided tour that will get you there - you can tell them you don't plan to return with the group on the same day, make your way back the following day with buses. That way you can still get the benefit of getting there, being driven around and seeing more than what you can do on your own and then staying the night and hiking the following day. For example, this tour ends in Montepulciano so you can plan ahead and plan to stay there overnight: https://tours-discovertuscany.partn...ine-Roads-Day-Trip-from-Florence/d519-5919P28
Here's another one, with cheese tasting included: https://tours-discovertuscany.partn...asting-Guided-Tour-from-Florence/d519-6367P16

What do you think?
 
Hi Lourdes - thank you very much! Your answer is the most helpful of any I have received so far. I completely understand your point - I decided yesterday that I need to spend at least one night in the Val D'Orcia region, for example in Montalcino, or Pienza or wherever. I want to walk around the beautiful rolling hills!

The "hike" from Pienza to San Quirico d'Orcia sounds great. I've checked on Google and it says it takes about 1 hour 45 mins (or 2 hours) in each direction (so 4 hours in total if I did a round trip). I assume it's on flat ground and so not too hard(?)

My new idea is to base myself in Siena rather than Florence. It seems that to get from Florence to Val D'Orcia you have to go first to Siena. So If I am based in Siena, it should presumably be easier to get to Val D'Orcia.

However, when I use the site you linked to to plan the trip it seems to indicate that I need to take a train to Grosseto, then walk to Buonconvento, then take a bus from Buonconvento to Montalcino. Can it really be that complicated? Surely there is a direct bus from Siena to either Montalcino or Pienza?! When I put "Pienza" as the destination instead of Montalcino the answer it gave was just as complicated - apparently I would have to walk to "Porta Ovile," then take a bus to Buonconvento, then take another bus (heading to Montepulciano).

Is there really no direct bus from Siena to somewhere in Val D'Orcia?!
 
Staying in Siena would definitely make it much easier!!

Using that trip planner tool, I see you can get to Montalcino with train + bus (or just bus) and then take bus to Pienza. The train that goes to Buonconvento does head in direction of Grosseto but you get off after two stops. Then on to Montalcino where you can spend time visiting and then head on to San Quirico. Since the schedules are really bad, you’ll use the time in between to visit each. The road to hike from there to Pienza are “white” roads between farmhouses. It will take you close to the most photographed chapel in Tuscany, the Vitaleta chapel. Once you reach Pienza, after a visit, you could continue on bus to Montepulciano but check all schedules. Make sure to change departure time and insert the date you do think of traveling so you get the right schedules. Google Maps used to have all the right bus info but I’m not sure the info they have has been updated yet as results point to the old bus websites. If the bus no longer goes to Montepulciano by the time you get there, I’d suggest staying in Pienza and continuing the day after.
 
Checking the trip planner site, the lines 112 and 114 are often cited. Check the full timetables for those lines on the website, it’s likely with the trip planner you can’t see exactly all the stops they make but they are buses that cross through Val d’Orcia.
As far as Porta Ovile, it’s a location in Siena so it’s the name of the bus stop where you pick up the bus. The “walk to” is a poor translation because it doesn’t describe that you’re just changing buses or trains and need to get from one stop to the next. That’s all.
 
94AA11F8-B39B-40DE-A406-72A2858F3A57.jpegYep, the first goes from Siena to Montepulciano making stops along the way and the second one goes to Montalcino. I suggest your download both timetables and study how you can move about from Siena and make your way through, with time for hiking included.
I don’t recall how long the hike was between San Quirico to Pienza but about 2 hours sounds right. There are soft hills, it isn’t flat land. But nothing too difficult. I would not hike back, but plan to use bus from Pienza to keep moving forward.
 
Lourdes - you are amazing. Far more helpful than any of the useless websites I was looking at. It's starting to take shape now. I will stay in Siena (not Florence). I will then take the bus to Montalcino. Would you recommend staying in Montalcino? Or Pienza? Or are they both good "bases" to explore the rolling hills?
 
One other thing - how do you get the timetables for each bus number? You pasted screenshots of each bus line/number and it looks like you can then download timetables for these. But I can't find this on the site - all I can find is the "trip planner" thing but not information about each bus route/number specifically. Can you tell me how you got the stuff you've taken screen shots of?
 
Both Montalcino and Pienza are good bases, but I personally prefer Pienza more. It is smaller but to me it is more charming. It is also along the route to Montepulciano, while Montalcino is off to the southwest of Buonconvento. You would need to first head to Buonconvento to then catch a bus back to Pienza or Montepulciano or Siena.

Yes, the time tables can be downloaded from a different page, the "orari" page.
Here are the direct links for the pdfs - https://www.at-bus.it/media/mod_timetables/timetables/EXSI/112.pdf
 
In case you need other timetables, click on Orari at the top of that website, then click on "extraurbani SI" - it means out of the urban centers, the SI standing for Siena. Then from there you get a list of all the bus numbers, like on the screenshot above. How many days total will you have out of Siena? Hope you get lots of great days for being outdoors. The forecast is good for next week, so far!
 
I actually only booked everything today - prices are much higher but leaving it this late means I can almost guarantee good weather :). Almost. I have decided to say in Montalcino for 2 nights. I'm going to rent a bike on at least one day and cycle all the way to Pienza and back. Thanks for the bus help. I have to say that's one area that Italy seems to make much more complicated than it needs to be
 
A bike is a wonderful idea! There are lots of roads that go from farmhouse to farmhouse so you shouldn't be on the main roads with cars too much, but you will want to take the road between Buonconvento and San Quirico d'Orcia to see the famous because much photographed circle of cypress trees along the road, about a mile before you get to San Quirico. But other than that, try to stay to the gravel roads, much more fun! I am sure you can follow those all the way from Montalcino to Pienza.
 
How are things going? You should be in Siena already, and maybe already in Val d'Orcia??

A map is always a good idea, but with smart phone and map apps nowadays I think you can do without.
 
I just did a 30 mile cycle trip from Montalcino to Pienza via San quirico D'Orcia. Am absolutely exhausted! However, the scenery was (as always in Tuscany) absurdly beautiful
 
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