Friday, April 11, 2014

siena, italy

 
 Okay guys, I'm very excited about this post because I'm obsessed with Siena. It's hard to decide, but it may have even been my favorite stop on our Italian adventure.

[How to Get to Siena]

We stayed for two days/one night. There is a bus almost every hour that leaves from Florence to Siena (If coming from Florence, do not take the train--take the bus) It is only about an hour ride--and it's beautiful! The busses have plenty of room for all luggage sizes.
More info on the bus can be found here but I would also recommend asking your concierge about it--whether coming from Florence or somewhere else.
B&B Il Corso Siena Italy
[Where to Stay in Siena]

The B&B we stayed in was in a PERFECT location and the service was wonderful. The concierge was so helpful and polite. I would 100% recommend it--B&B Il Corso.
 
[What to do in Siena]
 
Siena can definitely be seen in a day, but I enjoyed having the extra time there.
It's a completely charming little Tuscan village dating back to the middle ages. You might recognize it by Piazza del Campo known for its famous Palio horse races.
 
(Fun sidenote* The horse races [Hollywood version of course] can be seen in 2008's James Bond hit 007 Quantum of Solace)
It was obviously much quieter and emptier when we were there...and sadly there were no James Bond sightings, but it is a beautiful square--full of character and history. We were lucky to experience it on one of the most beautiful days of our trip.
 
Blue skies, fluffy clouds, and perfect temperatures...
Siena had us smitten.
I would start here. Enjoy the main square and get a feel for the city.
While in the main square, visit Palazzo Pubblico and the Torre del Mangia. The tower was built in the 14th century to be taller than the tower in Florence.
Rivalry maybe? :)
 
travelling to sienna italy
 Next, head over to the Siena Cathedral. I'll be honest--at this point, we had definitely seen our fair share of cathedrals and churches in Italy, but I must say that this one was one of my favorites!
 
You can buy a day pass that will get you into the Siena Cathedral, Baptistery of St. John, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, and the Piccolomini Library. They were all exquisite, but I was particularly captured by the library. It was quite the site! I definitely recommend buying the pass to get into all of the sites. It's also a better deal than buying them individually.

sienna italy travel guide
 The highlight of the day was the view from the top of the Museo dell'Opera Metropolitana. It was breathtaking! Check out the view of those rooftops. Oh hannah, I just couldn't get enough of Siena!
sienna italy travel
Love my handsome main squeeze. He's such a world traveler. He keeps me on my toes for sure!
Behind us you can see the main square--Piazzo Del Campo.


View of Sienna Italy
I mean....
How much prettier can it get?

Things to do in Sienna Italy
 
 sienna italy
 View from inside the Museo dell'Opera Metropolitiana.
We did not do a tour guide or a guided audio tour just because of time, but I would recommend doing one if you can. There was so much to see and learn about!
A couple shots from inside the cathedral....
 It really was amazing--one of my favorites from our time in Italy.
I'm so glad we had Siena recommended to us by multiple people, because our trip would not have been the same without it!
things to do in sienna italy

I was 20 weeks pregnant...and this was a common site for my husband.
I was sitting down every chance I had!
We did a lot of walking, and as y'all know traveling is tiring in general (especially the touristy-type of travel when you're constantly on the go seeing different sites) but being pregnant and traveling is a whole different level of tired.
We also stopped at the Basilica di San Francesco.
I honestly wouldn't recommend this stop if you are only there for a day, but it was beautiful and not that far out of the way. If you have time--it's another great piece of history in the city!
On our way to dinner we stopped to admire this sunset view!
This city is so colorful and full of life.
 
Please--if you have the time--make Siena part of your Italian Itinerary even if it's only a day trip! It's a perfect day trip from Florence, and you definitely won't regret it! 
 
[What to eat in Siena]
 
 There are lots of great food options in Siena & we aren't wine drinkers but from what I've read it is a very popular destination for wine tasting! You can read more about that here, and TripAdvisor also has a great list with restaurant ratings that you can see here.
 
One quick tip that may or may not matter to you: most of the restaurants don't open for dinner until 7:30-8:00pm. For a pregnant lady, I found this to be a surprisingly frustrating challenge (This also happened to us a couple times in Florence)
 I would get real hungry for dinner by 6:00pm, and we found that most the highly rated eats we wanted to try were not open until much later.
 
Not a big deal, but something to remember when making dinner plans.
 
Siena Italy
[Conclusion]
 
As you probably have already concluded, I really encourage you make time to stop in Siena on your trip to Italy. It was so beautiful, so charming, and simply can not be beat.
If you're in Florence for a few days, just take one of the days to make a day-trip out that way.
It's a refreshing visit to the Tuscan countryside
and you can definitely see all the main attractions in one day! 
 
Stay tuned for the final destination of our Italy trip--and one of my favorites--ROMA!
To see our other Italy destinations visit here!
 
 
(All pictures seen above were taken with our Canon Rebel T3I or iPhone5)
 

8 comments:

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  4. I visited Siena last fall on a Perillo Tour and I fell in love! We were only there for a few hours and i didn't want to leave. The view from uptop Mangia Tower was breathtaking!!! Love your pics!

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