Siena

Siena sits deep among the Tuscan hills as a Gothic counterpoint to Renaissance Florence, compact, not terribly overrun with tourists, a fruit of civic spirit rather than aristocratic patronage. Throughout Italy and the world, Siena is known for Il Palio, an ancient horse race conducted in the main square of the town, not just a pageant, but very much a real-life interest of many a Sienese. The race is between the contrade, 17 districts originally of administrative role, but still having a huge influence on local identities. Each contrada has its own imagery, symbols, colours, church and a bar too. Siena's original prosperity was built on banking ...  Read the complete review

Siena is a beuatiful old city in Tuscany, Italy. I spent a holiday there a couple of summers ago and had an amazing time. We stayed in an 'agritourismo' which is like a converted farmhouse up in the Tuscan hills, maybe twenty minutes outside Siena itself. The agritourismo is in the middle fo fields, but was very well kept and clean and modern and I would definitely recommend this type of accomodation as it is a little cheaper - also there is your own kitchen so you can cook if you want to, although obviously the restaurants are amazing, so I would recommend eating out too! We also had a swimming pool at the agritourismo and we were lucky enough that there ...  Read the complete review

I can only describe Siena as a beautiful medieval Italian city. I was more than impressed with this place when I spent a marvellous day there last month. Originally Etruscan, it became a Roman colony and later the capital of a medieval republic and the principal rival to Florence. The focal point of the town is its shell shaped Piazza del Campo, built on the confluence of 3 hills on which the city sits, providing a stage for the Palio di Siena, a famous annual horse race. Situated at the base of the sleepily sloping piazza and waving heraldic banners is the Palazzo Pubblico. This 14th century building housed the offices of Siena's government. At its ...  Read the complete review

The thing about travellers, is that most of them are either young or on a conducted coach tour. It came as a nasty shock to us just how much climbing was necessary in Siena, not only to get up to the old town, but all the monuments, towers, churches, steps and so on. The suburbs sprawl for ages, and the centre is a fierce concentration of old Tuscan bastion, but like so many walled cities in that part of the world, what was great for a defesive system makes for a difficult ingress and egress on foot. There is little through traffic, and lots of the old city is virtually pedestrianized. Architectural detail abounds, and it is worth looking up the walls of many of the ...  Read the complete review

I don't have time to do a full review, but I wanted to make several major points about Siena for experienced travelers who want to see Tuscany. Siena is, first, an interesting tourist city in its own right. It was a rival of Florence during the Renaissance and although it was eventually eclipsed by the powerful Medicis, it has a fine and unique Duomo, and Duomo museum, and several other nice historical attractions. The defining feature of Siena is the Campo, a central piazza shaped like a half moon, around which the Palio is run twice a year. There are 17 ancient "contrade" or neighborhood associations, of which 10 compete in the Palio. ...  Read the complete review