| |
Getting around Siena
Things to see and do in Siena
Daytrips from Siena
Guidebooks
Local weather & news
Film & literature set in Italy
Getting Around Siena
Siena is aranged like a "Y" along
three ridges with deep valleys in between, effectively dividing the
city into thirds, called terze. The terze are each drawn
out along three main streets following the spines of those ridges. The
southern arm, Terza di San Martino, slopes gently down around
Via Banchi di Sotto (and the various other names it picks up along the
way). To the west is Terza di Città (home to the Duomo
and Pinacoteca), centered on Via di Città. Terza di Camollia
runs north around Via Banchi di Sopra. These three main streets meet
at the north edge of Piazza del Campo, Siena's gorgeous scallop-shaped
central square.
There is no efficient public
transportation system in the city center, so it's up to your feet to
cover the beautiful territory, but you won't be sorry! Be aware there
are some steep ups and downs, as in many Tuscan hill towns. Footsore?
Each terza's main ridge-top street is relatively flat -- for
Siena --while off either side medieval alleyways drop precipitously.
If you hate climbing hills, the shortest (or at least less strenuous)
distance between two points in Siena isn't a straight line but a curve
that follows the three main drags as much as possible.
The city does run minibuses, called
pollicini, which dip into the city center from 6am to 9pm.
You can also hire a taxi; they queue at the
train station and in town at Piazza Matteotti.
More information on parking
in Siena and a detailed
map of Siena's city center (large, 1 MB file).
^top
Things to do see and do in
Siena
Siena is more an experience than a checklist/attraction destination.
See Il Campo, the central piazza, and the Palazzo Pubblico, the city
hall, which contains the Museo Civico, and the Torre del Mangia (the
city tower), and the Duomo and the Baptistery, and the Church of San
Domenico, and then you're free to wander. Savor an espresso at a cafe
on the Piazza del Campo, enjoy a stroll through the old city exploring
its winding brick streets and walled gardens. Siena is at its best in
the evening, when it returns to being a sleepy medieval town.
For more information, visit Siena's
Official City Tourist Board or Commune
di Siena.
Day Trips from Siena
Siena is a great location for day trips into Tuscany's cities and hill
towns, such as Florence, Lucca, Pisa, San Gimignano, Volterra, Montalcino,
Montepulciano, Cortona, Arezzo, Pienza, Castellina, and Monteriggioni.
For a great insider's list of things to do in the Tuscany region, see
Slow
Traveler's Italy: Travel Notes and Things to Do in Central Italy.
Need a map or directions? Maporama (www.maporama.com)
is a great site for online maps and directions in Europe.
^top
Guidebooks
Rick Steves'
Guide to Italy was a staple of our last Italy tour for its great restaurant
and accommodation recommendations as well as activities off the beaten
path. Rick Steves also hosts a television show on PBS and broadcast
a marathon of shows
on traveling in Italy. Fodors
and Frommers
are also great guidebooks for the general traveller, and provide a good
deal of online content about Siena specifically. A more adventurous
traveller may prefer Lonely
Planet, Let's Go, or Rough
Guides' Italy guides.
Beyond the online and print guides noted above,
we've also found the following websites useful:
and everyone should read Bob
The Navigator's 22 Terrific Travel Tips!
^top
Weather
Generally, the weather in Tuscany in
mid- to late September averages in the 70s. Check the current
weather in Siena -- looks like the heatwave will break in time for
the wedding!
Italian News and Magazines
Italy
Italy - Richly illustrated bi-monthly magazine, visits a different
region in Italy every issue.
Bell'Italia
- A travel magazine created by and for people who are passionate about
Italy and all things Italian, and who are interested in detailed information
about the country's art, architecture, history, culture, food, and wine.
Italy
Weekly - A partnership between the International Herald Tribune
and the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Italy's most respected
and most widely circulated daily, Italy Weekly is a twelve-page weekly
edition offering a comprehensive mix of news, analysis, opinion and
features written by a dedicated team of English-language editors. It
also features articles on politics, current events and finance, as well
as distinctive columns and feature articles on lifestyle, culture and
sports.
^top
Getting in the Mood...
Reading:
- Vanilla Beans & Brodo: Real Life
in the Hills of Tuscany by Isabella Dusi
- Hills of Tuscany: A New Life in an
Old Land by Ferenc Mate
- Frances Mayes' Under the Tuscan Sun,
Bella Tuscany, or In Tuscany
- Travelers' Tales Tuscany: True Stories,
edited by Tara Austen Weaver
- Tim Parks' Juggling the Stars (Cara
Massimina) and Mimi's Ghost are thriller/murder mysteries
set in Italy. He also has two great books about living in Italy, Italian
Neighbors or, A Lapsed Anglo-Saxon in Verona, and An Italian
Education – The Further Adventures of an Expatriate in Verona.
- Pasquale's Nose: Idle Days in an Italian
Town by Michael Rips
Movies about, or set in, Italy:
The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di biciclette)
(1948)
Roman Holiday (1953)
Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
Summertime (1955), a Hepburn classic set in Venice
Come September (1961)
The Agony and the Ecstacy (1965)
Romeo & Juliet (1968), filmed in Pienza
A Room with a View (1986), set in Florence and Fiesole
Cinema Paradiso (Nuovo cinema Paradiso) (1988)
Mediterraneo (1991)
Enchanted April (1992), set on the Ligurian coast
Much Ado About Nothing (1993), filmed at Villa Vignamaggio near Greve
II Postinio (1994)
Only You (1994), filmed in Tuscany, Rome, and the Amalfi Coast
A Month by the Lake (1995), filmed at Il Lago Como
Big Night (1996)
The English Patient (1996), filmed in Siena, Pienza, Montepulciano
Stealing Beauty (1996), filmed in Tuscany, just north of Siena
The Portrait of a Lady (1996), filmed in Lucca
Life is Beautiful (La Vita è bella) (1998), filmed in
Arezzo
Tea With Mussolini (1999), San Gimignano
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Venice, Rome, and the Amalfi Coast
William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999), set in Tuscany
in the 19th century
And of course any films by Zefferelli, Fellini,
or Rosselini!
^top
|
|
