Best Things To Do in Siena

Siena is a small city, but it has many of Tuscany's main attractions, so it is no surprise that it is one of the region's top destinations. With a beautiful historic centre, which is crowned by the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, Siena offers interesting alternatives for visitors.

Among the things to see and do to discover Siena, you can wander around the Piazza del Campo, take in the open views and sunsets from the Torre del Mangia, take a wine tour, tour Tuscany on full-day excursions, see the city's medieval fountains and visit the Museum of Torture, which is one of the most striking museums in Italy.

Siena is a city that had its heyday in medieval times and is therefore built around the historic centre. During your tour you will visit it frequently to see the Cathedral, the Piazza del Campo, the Torre del Mangia and the Palazzo Comunale, but I also recommend that, before leaving the city, you wander through the intricate streets of the old town to discover the local spirit.

There you will find taverns with Tuscan flavours, quiet stone streets and many of the city's most beautiful buildings, which may not house museums or exhibitions included in the tourist circuits, but will undoubtedly provide some of the best photographs of your tour of Siena.

Moreover, walking around the historic centre is one of the best things to do in Siena at night, especially when the squares are artificially illuminated and the bars and restaurants become the most visited places in the city.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, with its façade that neatly combines Gothic and Romanesque styles, is Siena's main attraction. Located in the heart of the historic centre of the city, it occupies a huge complex that also contains museums, but the Duomo is a spectacle in itself and not only for its architecture, which is heavily influenced by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

The interior floor of the Cathedral is considered the most beautiful in the world, featuring a Roman tile and mosaic layout that was designed by Pinturicchio and inside the central nave the pulpit, frescoes and sculptures were designed by Michelangelo, Raphael Sanzio, Nicola Pisano and Amico Aspertini.

You can also attend mass in the Cathedral, which is celebrated every weekday at 9:30 am and on public holidays at 8:00 am, 11:00 am, 12:15 pm and 6:00 pm in different shifts. These times are modified during the summer and you can visit the Duomo until 7.30 pm.

Interesting details

• Price: entrance to the Cathedral and museums costs approximately 20 euros for adults and 5 euros for children up to 11 years of age.
• Opening hours: daily from 10.30am to 5pm. The museums' programme is modified on public holidays.
• Location: Piazza del Duomo 8, Siena.

The Piazza del Campo is included in the best tours of Siena as one of the most representative sites of the city and for its reputation as the most beautiful square in the world, as the French philosopher Michel de Montaigne described it in his diary of his trip to Italy.

This square marks the heart of the city and in the disorder of the historic centre it is striking for its perfect concave plan, which is made up of 9 parts that symbolise the 9 districts of Siena. The Palio, one of the most important popular events in Italy and Europe, has been held here every summer for more than 500 years.

In the area of the Piazza del Campo you will find some of the best restaurants in town, making it an ideal place to stop for lunch during your tour of the city, or you can simply relax by fulfilling a tradition in Siena, which is to sit on the ground of the dry square and enjoy the scenery.

Very close to the famous Piazza del Campo you can visit the Torre del Mangia, which is an 88-metre high bell tower and clock and has the privilege of being one of the highest points in the old town. Moreover, this tower keeps alive some of the legends of Siena, such as the intoned sound of its bells that can be heard in every edition of the traditional Palio.

The name of the building, which in English means "tower of the eater", refers to its first caretaker, Giovanni di Duccio, who was famous for spending all his income on meals served in local restaurants and bars. Hence Siena's reputation as one of the most gastronomic cities in Tuscany.

From the top of the Torre del Mangia you can access one of the best wide open views of the city, especially during the summer, and if you visit in the late afternoon you can also enjoy one of the best sunsets in Siena.

Note also that the whole walk from the base to the top, including the descent, takes less than an hour, so it is compatible with a short visit to the city, as it won't take you long. If that is your case, here is a list of things you can see and do to discover Siena in 1 day.

Interesting details

• Price: the entrance to visit the top of the tower has an initial cost of approximately 10 euros per person.
• Hours: You can visit it every day from 10am to 7pm.
• Location: Piazza del Campo 1, Siena.

Siena is an ideal city to use as a base for touring Tuscany's best vineyards, as wine tourism is one of the region's main attractions. On these half-day or full-day food tours you can go wine tasting, enjoy Tuscan food and also see some of the most beautiful sites around Siena.

Whether you choose a tour to the vineyards of Chianti, Montalcino, Pienza or Montepulciano, you can discover the local wine varieties and also the best landscapes of Tuscany. On your tour you can taste the Chianti, which is one of the most famous Italian red wines, or the Brunello di Montalcino wine, which is one of the finest wines in Italy.

Keep in mind that doing a wine tour in Siena will take you almost the whole day, so if you have a short visit planned, it might go against your plans to see other parts of the city. In that case what you can do is visit some of the wineries in the old town and do some wine tasting in the cellars in the centre, without having to travel to the outskirts.

Siena is a very eclectic city, so besides religious temples, majestic towers and perfect diameter squares, you can find beautiful medieval fountains, which are ancient architectural masterpieces used in the past to drain water from the countryside to the city.

You can visit these fountains in the old town of Siena and also in the green areas near the city walls and in all cases you will find yourself in front of artificial tunnels that allowed the city to access a permanent flow of water, even when there is no surrounding river or other fluvial resource in the area.

The best known of these fountains is Fontebranda, which not only dazzles with its design, but is also famous because it was named by Dante Alighieri in the Divine Comedy. Furthermore, the nearby area was the birthplace of Saint Catherine of Siena, who is the patron saint of Italy, and who is religiously known as the Saint of Fontebranda.

You can also find fountains on the fortified peaks of the Monastery and in the historic centre, where you will see the Casato fountain and the Market fountain, which in the past was used as a public washing place. In all cases you can also discover Siena' s medieval past as an Italian power.

The Museo dell'Opera Metropolitana houses the works of the Siena Cathedral and is located within the Duomo complex, but it is a separate and distinct attraction from the religious building, as you could even choose to visit only one of them during your tour, although I recommend that you visit both and get the most out of your visit to the city.

In this museum you will find the sculptures that were removed from the Cathedral during the alterations, such as the Virgin and Child, believed to have been made by Donatello. In the pictorial heritage, which reaches 500 works, Maestà, by Duccio, is an impressive two-sided altarpiece.

If you want to visit this attraction, which is one of the best museums in Siena, you can choose to buy the full ticket that will allow you to enter all the museums of the complex and also the Cathedral for approximately 20 euros or buy the ticket for the museums, which has an initial cost of approximately 13 euros.

Useful details

• Price: Admission to the museums in the complex starts at approximately 13 euros for adults and 2 euros for children up to the age of 11.
• Opening hours: daily from 10.30am to 5pm. The museum programme is modified on public holidays.
• Location: Piazza del Duomo 8, Siena.

If you are planning a multi-day trip to Siena and want to see more than just the main attractions of the city and the old town, you can make the most of your trip by taking in some of Tuscany's best scenery as well. To do this, you can opt for a full-day excursion and visit some of the major sites in the suburbs such as San Gimignano, Volterra and Monteriggioni.

On these tours you can go on hiking tours, sunset walks in the Tuscan hills, take in the rugged landscapes and also enjoy the local cuisine, which is noted for its pecorino cheese and red wine. A day trip from Siena will also allow you to get to know the heart of Tuscany and the rural roads of one of the most beautiful regions in the world.

These full-day excursions to Tuscany are usually by bus, but depending on the activities you want to do, you can opt for Vespa rides through medieval village lanes or tours in vintage cars along flowery regional roads.

The Oratory of San Bernardino is a minor basilica in Siena which, while not a major influence as a religious building in the city, is home to some of the finest works of art in the diocesan museums. In its small rooms you can find frescoes and paintings by Sienese artists such as Sodoma, Domenica Beccafumi, Girolamo del Pacchia and Sano di Pietro.

Moreover, the Oratory is still a place of worship and its proximity to the Basilica of San Francesco makes it one of the most visited sites for religious tourism in Siena, which includes the Cathedral and the adjacent museums, but also the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta in San Gimignano, the complex of Sant'Agostino and the Benedictine Abbey of Sant'Antimo.

If you want to visit the museum you can buy the ticket separately at the ticket office of the Oratory or if you buy the ticket to visit the Cathedral of Siena and the museums of the complex, you can also visit the exhibitions of San Bernardino at no extra cost.

Interesting details

• Price: entrance to the Oratory Museum costs approximately 9 euros. Children under the age of 12 are free.
• Opening Hours: usually open daily from 10:00 am to 6:30 pm.
• Location: Piazza San Francesco 9, Siena.

The Torture Museum has one of the most striking exhibitions not only in Siena, but in all of Italy. Here you can take a journey through the long history of torments and the elements that were used to extract confessions and inflict punishments from ancient times to the present day, including the Inquisition and contemporary wars.

The rack, the lathe, the nail chair, the clearing rooms and the saws of the medieval inquisitors are some of the elements of the exhibition, which you can visit on your own or with the assistance of an expert local guide, who will tell you the reasons for the location of this museum in Siena and the influences that the city has had on the history of torture.

The total tour of the museum will take approximately 2 hours, so you can combine it with a short visit to the city. If that is your case, here is a list of things you can do to get to know Siena quickly in 2 days.

Interesting details

• Price: entrance to the museum costs approximately 10 euros for adults and 7 euros for children under 12.
• Opening hours: usually open daily from 10.00 am to 7.00 pm.
• Location: Chiasso del Bargello 6, Siena.