Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena; Visit Siena, the Comune di Siena's tourism site, says its old town became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.
Country
Italy
Type
City
Understand the place
Not only where to go, but what to eat, what things cost, what visitors get wrong, how accessible Siena is, which scams to recognize and what is genuinely worth your time.
The complete guide
Start with the parts of Siena that matter most to your trip, then move into the practical details.
Experiences & attractions
Attractions, experiences and places actually worth your time.
Eat like you understand the place
Signature dishes, local drinks, markets and eating well.
Where to stay & explore
Where to stay, wander and choose the right area for your trip.
Beyond the destination
Nearby places worth a day out from here.
Bring home the right things
What is genuinely worth buying and where to look.
After dark
What the evenings are like, and where to spend them.
Family travel
Family logistics, strollers, transport and practical planning.
When to go
When to visit and what the seasons really feel like.
Know before it happens
Common tourist traps and how to avoid them.
Money & budgeting
Budgets, payments and everyday prices.
Transport
Public transport, taxis, walking and common pitfalls.
Travel for more people
Mobility, transport and sensory accessibility.
Understand before you arrive
Local expectations, religion and visitor etiquette.
The details that matter
Connectivity, health, photography and useful local details.
Find your fit
Solo, women alone, older visitors, LGBTQ+, pets, remote work, budget and luxury.
Travel that holds up
Tourism pressure, supporting local people and animal welfare.
Traveler experiences
Traveler reviews will appear here after moderation.
Worth the drive
Distances are straight-line, not driving time — mountain roads in this region are often twice as long as the map suggests.
Historic site · Tuscany
Palazzo Pubblico is Siena's medieval town hall on Piazza del Campo, built from 1297, which still houses the city's municipal administration alongside the Museo Civico and the Torre del Mangia.
Church · Piazza del Duomo, Tuscany
Siena Cathedral is the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta on Piazza del Duomo in Siena, Tuscany, with an inlaid marble floor of 56 panels.
Viewpoint · Tuscany
Piazzale Michelangelo is a nineteenth-century square in Florence, where the Viale dei Colli avenues meet, visited as a panoramic terrace over the city.
Park · Tuscany
The Boboli Gardens are the garden laid out by the Medici behind Palazzo Pitti in Florence, with statues, grottoes and fountains, run by the Gallerie degli Uffizi.
Museum · Tuscany
Palazzo Pitti is a former Medici grand-ducal palace beyond the Arno in Florence that now houses museums run by the Gallerie degli Uffizi.
Church · Tuscany
The Basilica of Santa Croce is the Franciscan church on Piazza Santa Croce in Florence, holding the tombs and memorials of figures such as Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli.
Explore deeper
5 guides
Italian food is organised around places, and Italy's protected food names write much of that into law: 331 agricultural products carry a DOP or IGP name, and four more are protected as traditional specialities. This guide explains what DOP, IGP and STG mean, why a city's name on a label is not the label's area, and how Naples, Bologna, Modena and Siena show up in the register.
XTOUR plans Italy around city bases rather than regions: Rome, Florence, Venice, Verona, Milan, Naples, Bologna, Palermo, Genoa, Bolzano, Pisa and Siena. This guide says what each base is for, which major sites are in a city and which are only reached from one, and where XTOUR's more detailed guides take over.
Tuscany is one of Italy's twenty regions, not a city: Florence is its capital, and Pisa and Siena are separate towns inside it. This explainer sets out how Italy's regions, provinces, metropolitan cities and municipalities fit together, why the English and Italian names differ, and why XTOUR records cities rather than regions.
Florence, Pisa and Siena are three separate Tuscan towns, each with its own World Heritage listing and its own set of sites. This guide compares what is actually in each town, so a base can be chosen by the sites that matter rather than by the region's name.
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