Getting the bus to San Miniato

Here’s a little visual to help you feel confident getting the bus up the hill from San Miniato train station!

It’s not far, in the car it’s only a 5 min drive but walking would take you about 45 minutes depending on the route (and it’s uphill!). The bus takes about 10-15 minutes to get up to Piazza Dante Alighieri, the main car park in San Miniato’s historical centre and the site of the market on market days, Tuesdays.

First off, don’t follow Google, unfortunately it doesn’t seem to get the updates from the actual bus schedule so please don’t rely on what Google tells you. A much more reliable source is the official local bus app, download it or check the website here. You can also buy your bus tickets from that app so you have them (otherwise you can buy tickets at the Caffe Marconi just below the bus stop or if you need them from San Miniato, you can get them from the Tabaccheria on Corso Garibaldi 6).

You should look for the 320 bus. The schedule posted from September 2023 is just above — look up the times going to “S.MINIATO P.ZA DANTE” — the block saying “feriale” are weekdays, sabato is Saturday, while Sundays and public holidays there are no busses (see below for the taxi driver). But there is also a digital schedule that shows when the next bus will depart.

If taking the bus to meet for the market class and you arrive on the 8:53am train direct from Florence to San Miniato at 9:33am you should be able to catch the next bus (10am) to meet us in time for the market visit.

Note that sometimes even if the schedule says the bus will leave at 10am (this would get you up to San Miniato for 10:15am), the digital schedule will tell you when the bus might actually arrive/depart, which could be…. who knows. This is Italy! When I was there to take these photos for this post, the bus showed up at 10:12am (below). We totally get this and will wait for you, don’t worry!

On market days the bus doesn’t go all the way to Piazza Dante Alighieri where it normally stops, but will stop just below it. There is a short flight of stairs to get you directly to Lo Chalet, the little cafe where we meet for the market day cooking class (see pictures below).

If you prefer to get a lift, send a WhatsApp message to the local taxi driver (Antonio, +39 338 298 5310, he speaks English well) to get picked up from the station. If there are others coming on the train too you might be able to carpool and split the taxi cost (15 euro) — let us know if you need this option and we can help coordinate. As Antonio is the only driver in town, it is a good idea to book him early!

The orange bus from the station stops here on market days (Tuesdays) instead of Piazza Dante Alighieri.

There is a short flight of stairs to get you to Lo Chalet (the wooden structure you can see peeking behind the lamp post), a little cafe which is the meeting point of our market day cooking classes.