Beautiful medieval city (Siena)

Member Name: SaveMeTheMoney

Product:	Siena
Date:	13/02/09 (89 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great place to see

Disadvantages: none!

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 were no other guests so we had the place to ourselves!

Siena itself is very old. The focal point for the city is the main square (Piazza del Campo). It is very big and there were people sitting everywhere, eating and drinking. It is in this square where the famous palio takes place. This is a horse race where the square is filled with sand and people stand for hours to watch as the local Contrada (which are like the main historical families) race against each other round the square.

The Palazzo Pubblico is at the bottom of the square (I say bottom as the square is on a slant down to this town hall). It is a beautiful building with the famous clock tower that is recognisable from many postcards and the city government sits here still.

The square is lined by bars and restaurants - obviously these are not the cheapest places to eat - there may be the odd 'tourist price' for things. However off the main square in the side streets are some great restaurants which serve authentic Italian cuisine - I had great examples of buffalo mozzarella, Chianina meat (it is a gigantic cow), fresh fig, rabbit stew, grappa and prosecco.

It was such a great holiday looking back now!

We hired a car to help us get around and the driving was fine, no worries. It is not as hectic as Rome or the south of Italy. We drove out to Poggibonsi and took the ferry to Elba, where Napoleon had been exiled. This is definitely worth a day trip.

We also drove to Greve in Chianti where we were lucky enough to happen upon the Chianti wine festival! This was in September, but basically we paid about a tenner and you get to go round tasting as much wine as you want. Obviously I am recommending this day trip....!

Another day trip worth going to is out to San Gimignano, not far from Siena. There the families competed against each other in a different way as they built high towers to see who could build the highest!

There is a lot of history to Siena, the cathedral is another very beautiful building. Siena was once a big rival to Florence and was a very powerful city region.

The cathedral (or Duomo) is a main focal point in Siena. It is really impressive andseems to be made with black and white stripes. Black and white are the symbolic colors of Siena, etiologically linked to black and white horses of the legendary city's founders, Senius and Aschius. Black and white are the colours of the civic coat of arms of Siena. The football team also plays in black and white!


There are delicious ice cream (Gelateria) shops around Siena and some of the delicatessans are the best in all Italy!

Definitely worth visiting!

Summary: Worth a visit