Wine Tasting FirenzeHow to Visit Chianti From Florence Without a Tour
Last reviewed August 2026
To visit Chianti from Florence without a tour you need two things the guidebooks tend to skip: the 365 bus timetable and a plan for who is not drinking. There is no train into the wine country, estates charge 50 to 74 euro for their own guided tastings, and Italy's drink-drive limit is 0.5 g/l with zero tolerance for young and new drivers. This page prices the independent day honestly against the guided wine tastings we compare, using figures read in August 2026.
Quick answer Bus, car or neither: what each costs, and the law that decides it for you
You can reach Chianti from Florence without a tour, and the bus is the honest way to do it: Autolinee Toscane line 365 runs from the Montelungo hub beside Santa Maria Novella to Greve in Chianti in about 56 minutes, roughly hourly, for a few euro. What you cannot do is drive yourself around tastings, because Italy's limit is 0.5 g/l and zero for anyone under 21 or licensed less than three years. Add what estates charge at the door, 50 to 74 euro a head, and independence usually costs more than a guided half-day.
Key takeaways
- Bus 365 from Firenze HUB Montelungo reaches Greve in about 56 minutes; buy the ticket before boarding
- Driving means somebody stays under 0.5 g/l, and zero if they are under 21 or a new licence holder
- Estates charge 50 to 74 euro for their own tours, which is why the cost breakdown favours a guided day
- The $38.40 guided half-day is cheaper than any independent version we could build
- Independent works best as a slow day in one town, not a tour of four wineries
- Everything the guided trips include sits on the Florence wine tasting comparison
How to Get to Chianti From Florence
Three ways, with the real numbers
There is no train to Chianti: the railway runs to Siena the long way round and misses the wine country entirely. That leaves the bus, a car, or a taxi you will regret paying for. Distances are the ones published for the estates nearest Florence, and the bus detail comes from Autolinee Toscane's own line page.
Last verified: August 2026.
| How | Cost | Time to Greve | What it means for the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bus 365 from Montelungo hub | A few euro each way, urban single is 2 euro | About 56 minutes, roughly hourly | Drink freely; you are limited to what is walkable from the stop |
| Rental car | Rental, fuel, ZTL risk and parking | 35-45 minutes | Full freedom, and one person cannot drink at all |
| Taxi or private driver | The most expensive option by far | 35-45 minutes | Works for a group of four splitting one fare, rarely otherwise |
| Guided half-day | From $38.40 | 5-6.5 hours door to door | Two estates, the driving solved, nothing to plan |
Getting the bus right
Line 365 runs Firenze to Grassina, Impruneta, Greve in Chianti, Panzano, Radda and Gaiole, terminating in Florence at the Montelungo hub next to Santa Maria Novella station. Greve to Florence takes about 56 minutes and services run roughly hourly, thinning at weekends and on holidays.
Two practical rules. Tickets are bought before boarding, at a tobacconist, the AT desk or in the Autolinee Toscane app, and boarding without one is a fine rather than a conversation. And check the return time before you order the second glass: the last useful bus back is earlier than you would like, and a taxi from Greve to Florence costs more than the day did.
The Rule That Decides This For You
Italy's drink-drive limit is 0.5 grams per litre, and it is zero for three groups: drivers under 21, drivers who have held a licence for less than three years, and professional drivers. That is article 186 and 186-bis of the Codice della Strada, and the zero-tolerance band carries a fine of 163 to 651 euro plus suspension. Above 0.5 the penalties escalate through administrative, criminal and aggravated tiers.
Read that against what a Chianti day looks like. Two estates, six to eight pours between them, spread over an afternoon, on winding secondary roads. There is no version of this where the driver tastes properly and stays legal, and spitting your way through a tasting you paid to enjoy is a strange way to spend a holiday.
So the honest options are a designated driver who accepts the deal in advance, the bus, or a guided trip. The Vespa day sits in the same category, and its operator can withdraw your permission to ride at any point if you are judged unfit.
One more thing the guidebooks skip: Florence's historic centre is a ZTL, a limited-traffic zone monitored by camera. Collecting or returning a rental car to a hotel inside the walls is how people acquire fines that arrive by post months later.
Where the Bus Actually Takes You
Line 365 heads south from Florence and follows the Via Chiantigiana. These are the stops worth getting off at, with the distances published for the nearest estates. Pins mark the towns, not individual wineries.
A Day in Greve Without a Car
What actually fits between the buses
This is the independent day that works, built around the 365 timetable rather than against it. Times are indicative: check the current departures on the Autolinee Toscane app before you go, because services thin at weekends.
| When | What | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Morning bus from Montelungo | About 56 minutes to Greve | You arrive before the square fills and while the enoteche are quiet |
| Late morning | Piazza Matteotti and the arcades | The market square is the town's centre and everything below is a few minutes' walk |
| Midday | Booked visit at an estate near town | Castello di Verrazzano's Classic tour is about three hours at 74 euro; book it, do not turn up |
| Mid afternoon | Lunch, then an enoteca by the glass | This is the part a coach day never gives you: sitting still in a Chianti town |
| Late afternoon bus | Back to Florence | Check the last useful service before the second glass, not after |
What you give up, and what you gain
You give up the second estate, the back roads and the person who explains what you are drinking. A guided half-day visits two cellars precisely because a bus cannot.
What you gain is a town rather than a schedule. Nobody counts heads, nothing starts at a fixed minute, and the afternoon ends when you decide. For some travellers that is worth more than the extra cellar, and it is the honest case for going alone.
Independent or Guided
If You want two estates and the back roads
Book a guided day: the two-winery coach trip does it for $57.34 with pickup
If You want to sit in a Chianti town all afternoon
Take the 365 to Greve and treat the wine as one part of the day
If You have a rental car for other reasons
Book one estate directly, and settle who drives before the first pour
If You are staying overnight in Chianti
Go independent throughout; the transport problem disappears once you sleep there
If You are counting every euro
The $38.40 half-day beats every version of the independent day on price
What Independence Actually Costs
Building the day yourself, priced honestly
Here is the arithmetic for two people spending a day in Chianti without a tour, using published prices read in August 2026. The comparison line at the bottom is the cheapest guided half-day we compare.
| Line item | By bus | By rental car |
|---|---|---|
| Transport | Two return bus tickets, a few euro each | One day's rental, fuel, parking |
| Winery visit | One estate near the stop, 50-74 euro per person | Two estates if you plan well, same per-person fee |
| Lunch | Whatever the town charges | Same |
| Who drinks | Both of you | One of you |
| What you see | One town and what is walkable from it | Two or three estates and the back roads |
| Compare with | $38.40 guided half-day: seven wines, one estate, transport, no planning | $57.34 two-winery day: 6-8 wines, hotel pickup |
When doing it yourself is still the right call
Three cases, and they are real. You are staying overnight in Chianti rather than day-tripping, so the transport question disappears. You want one specific estate that no group tour visits, and you are willing to pay its door price and arrange the trip around its opening hours. Or you want a slow day in Greve, sitting in the square, buying at the enoteca and taking the bus home, which is a lovely day and not a wine tour at all.
What does not work is trying to build a guided day for less money. Every version of that costs more, takes longer, and puts one person in charge of not drinking.
Doing Chianti Independently: Common Questions
What is the best way to get from Florence to Chianti?
Bus 365 from the Montelungo hub beside Santa Maria Novella, which reaches Greve in Chianti in about 56 minutes and runs roughly hourly. There is no train into the wine country. A car is faster but puts someone permanently sober.
How far away is Chianti from Florence?
Greve in Chianti is about 26 kilometres, Montespertoli about 25 and the closest estates at Scandicci about 7. The Chianti countryside starts well under an hour's drive from the city.
Can I visit a winery in Chianti without booking a tour?
Yes, but book the winery. Estates run scheduled visits with fixed prices, from 50 euro at Antinori to 74 at Castello di Verrazzano, and turning up unannounced at a working cellar rarely gets you a tasting.
Is it cheaper to visit Chianti on my own?
Almost never. Two estate fees alone exceed the price of a guided half-day that includes transport, and the bus limits you to one town while a car costs you a drinker. The cost comparison prices both versions line by line.
Can I drink and drive a small amount in Italy?
The limit is 0.5 g/l and zero for drivers under 21, drivers with a licence under three years and professional drivers. On a day built around two tastings, plan for the driver to taste nothing.
Which Chianti town should I go to if I only have one day?
Greve in Chianti: it is the closest of the line-365 towns with a real market square, several enoteche within walking distance of the stop, and estates like Castello di Verrazzano nearby.
Independence in Chianti buys atmosphere rather than savings. Take the bus to Greve, sit in the square, drink what the enoteca opens and go home on a later service, and you will have had a fine day for very little. Try to replicate a two-estate tasting day on your own, and you will spend more, plan harder and hand one person a glass of water.