The first and partially definitive tourist review of Siena
[ This is not complete, but I will sequentially add to it when I find more things to add! ]
I have lived in Siena for over 18 months now. I have experienced the fun of living here, and too the absolute frustrations of living in Siena, living in Italy, and most pertinently, the frustrations of being a Brit abroad. This is my attempt to encapsulate all this into a rough travel guide of Siena.
Of course there are many many far better guides, far more detailed with a better representation, but this is MY remembrances, and my personal tastes, and my personal stupidities running through it all. It's all for me baby. Use and abuse with caution!
Getting here.
Siena is located in Tuscany, approximately 60 km south of Florence (Firenze) and 200 km north of the capital Rome (Roma).
SIena is located away from any main airport, road or train station. This can make it hard to access, but I think also helps to isolate it and preserve it's mediaeval charm. Florence airport is closest, but it's small and not well served especially to the UK. If you do manage to fly to Florence there are very infrequent trains, but a very rapid, cheap and regular bus service for a couple of Euros. Most likely you will take Ryan Air fly to Pisa, which is approximately 150 km away. It sounds like a long haul, but actually it's ok. There are some bus services which are supposed to be good, however the train is the best option. Buy a ticket from the ticket office just to the right when you come through security and ask for a "biglietto per Siena" - cost is €7.20 each way - absolute bargain. Do not buy a return ticket. To catch the train from Pisa to Siena you have to do the following: 1) Catch any train from Pisa Airport to Pisa Centrale (5 mins), 2) Change for a train to Empoli (approx 45 min), 3) Change for a train to Siena (approx 1 hour). So, total about 2 and a quarter hours to Siena for a few bucks - sorted.
Where to stay
This is a tricky one for me, as I have very rarely stayed in a hotel since I've been here, however I can recommend a few options.
Hotel NH Excelsior, previously known as The Jolly
http://www.nh-hotels.it/nh/it/hotels/italia/siena/nh-excelsior.html
Right in the centre of town, opposite the Irish Bar, location Piazza Gramsci. Good rooms, good service and well located for everything. Expensive but not too bad, approx €100 per night. Highly recommended. One night when I stayed there, Inter Milan were staying there - so it can't be too bad. More on that later!
The Garden Hotel
1 km out of town - great hotel with a lot of options, similar price to the Jolly. Avoidable as it is always full of Novartis people, next door to Novartis Siena campus. Nice swimming pool, but beware as the Sienese (and maybe the Italians) only open the pool when it is stinking hot - so only June to Early September, whereas in the UK it would be open all year long!
Hotel Italia
Closer to town that the Garden, similar set up, without swimming pool. Good enough for work people.
The campsite. Surprisingly good so I am told, lots of cabins and not so many tents with good facilities. Located a couple of km outside town, but beware as Siena that side is VERY hilly. But a great view, and probably a very good low cost option, plus no need to a tent.
Any agriturismo
An agriturismo is basically a farm with some converted buildings for holiday lets. THe laws changed in Europe about 10 years ago to allow farmers to do this, in the past it was not possible to mix businesses like this. In fact, we live in a very typical agriturismo about 6 km outside Siena. We have a 2 bed flat, 2 bathrooms, with use of washing machines, private gated compound with parking, plus a swimming pool and games room (table tennis, table football etc). This is located on an olive farm and vineyard, and you can buy the wine and oil, sadly though the wine is not worth it. The price is ok, for us it is not too bad as it is one price all inclusive including rent, rooms, towels, sheets changed once a week, electricity, internet (super slow) all inclusive.
Where to eat
Well, Siena and all of Italy is very focussed on eating, so eating is very important. So here are my favourite restaurants of Siena. One note, Siena is very mediaeval, and there are very little non-Italian eating places here. However, my review will be non-Italian heavy as we have been to them all - anything just to get away from Italian food!
Taverna di San Giuseppe
http://www.tavernasangiuseppe.it/
This is my favourite place in Siena. It is just off Piazza del Campo, and set into a cave which is originally Etruscan (pre-Roman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscan). It is famous for its wine, which are a little expensive - maybe €25 a bottle but the food is a good price, maybe €12-15 for a basic secondi.My current favourite wine is the Avignonesi vino nobile at about €35
Il Ghibellino
Via Pelligrini, 6. Very close to the piazza and serves very simple wholesome Italian food. You have to try the pici con chingiale (local pasta spagghetti variant with a wild boar ragu), and it is owned by one of my time. Very good prices.
My favourite things to do in Siena
1) Sitting in the main square
As dull as it sounds, the main square is a strange place with a strange magic and electricity to it. Sitting in the square, just sitting on the ground, watching the world go by, is the greatest thing to do in Siena. It is a strange shell shapoed space which means that you can sit comfortably without a chair, and just watch people walking around. Of course there are plenty of bars, some good some bad, restaurants, some good some bad, and the famous Gaia fountain - well actually the original is in the hospital museum, bt you get the point. Just sit and watch the world go by.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_del_Campo
WIne shcool
Duomo
Torre del mangia
Palio
Abbazia di san golgano
How and when to eat
Italian eating is broken into four main stages:
Antipasti - starter. Usually, bruschetta, assorted meats, cheese and honey, vegetable tart (sformata verdure). A classic in Siena is pane nero - bruschetta with spleen. Can be amazing in a good restaurant, not so good, and very tripey elsewhere.
Primo - usually pasta. Normally a pasta or risotto dish, and very simple. Classic for Siena is pici senese - "Pici of Siena". Every town has its own special pasta, and pici is the one for Siena. It is a thick cut and hand cut spagghetti, and of course you have to eat it only by winding it with a fork, nit using a spoon! The classic dish is in winter with a tomato sauce with cinghiale (wild boar) - in the summer food tends to be lighter, sometimes salmon with lemon juice and pepper, simple and beautiful. Even when I make it!
Secondo - this is the meat dish, very typical here is bistecca alla fiorentina "Florentine steak" - a great big hunk of meat, sold by the 100g. One that i like is taglio di manzo - a piece of beef cut into strips. The secondo is the time when you can order a side dish - courgette (zucchini), sformata di verdure (vegetable tart), ceci (chick peas).
Dolce - pudding. You have to take a vin santo with pudding, that is a sweet wine, for which the sienese are famous. There are many sweet wines in Italy - passito, vin santo, moscato and marsala. Vin santo is the most common sweet wine in Siena and also often served with hard almond biscuits, for dunking. The other classic is a panforte which is like a very dense fruit cake. And of course all the standard italian classics - tiramisu, panacotte etc.
5th course is of course extremely important - coffee (espresso, caffe) and for those who don't a lovely substitute is Orzo or Cafe d'orzo - a caffeine free coffee substitute, used in the war when coffee wasn't available and still available everywhere. Of course, you cannot have a coffee without a grappa (some fools may have a sambuca but I hate the stuff). Some are ruffff, but others, the expensive ones with a hint of grape colour to it are lovely. I really like dic'otto which is outlandishly expensive (relatively speaking) at about €18 per bottle, but I really like it and some grappa I really hate, just too strong. Of course, the sweeter toothed of you can sample a limoncello, which is essentially alcohol and lemons, and is lovely!
Quick tips
Dinner - don't expect to find anywhere to eat before 8 pm in the evening.
Don't worry about tipping. Tipping is not expected in Italy, especially in the local places. Of course you can tip if food has been good, but any more than 10% would be excessive.
Don't eat on the Campo.
Don't drink Cappuccino after noon.
Bars will serve free nibbles between 5 and 8 pm.
Breakfast is a simple pain au chocolate or croissant with custard (cornetto con crema) with a short coffee.
Coffee is short and strong.
Ice creams are excellent, any time of day. They cost approx €2.50 for a standard cone with 2 flavours.
Italians don't booze. The only boozing they see is yank students on month cultural trip. In fact, its not that they are religious or anything like that, its just that they do not have any comprehension of drinking too much. In fact, more than three glasses of wine the Italians just do not do. It's not that they have self control - they just do not comprehend this. In fact, it is quite profound in the fact that there is rarely more than one toilet in any bar or restaurant - these guys just don't drink volumes!
When to go
Tricky. From my limited knowledge it rains from November until May. And not normal rain but crazy biblical rain. Siena and Tuscany are very very green, and it gets stinking hot. For that reason there has to be a LOT of rain at some point. August is stinking hot and full of tourists, it is August right now and hasn't rained for weeks, plus it has been over 35C for several weeks. Tourists here are mainly German, Dutch and Americans. Very few Brits come this way. July is starting to get really hot, so I would say that the best time is late June, especially if you can roll into the first of the Palios (2nd July).
How much does it cost
Hmm, varies. Wine is cheap, very cheap. At the extreme you can go to various filling stations and fill up a demi joh or equivalent for less than a euro a litre for some very nice wine. At the other end you can pay stupid numbers for a brunello, maybe €100 easily. However, most wine is extremely good value. For €10 you can get an amazing bottle of wine, for €3 a nice bottle of wine and for €0.99 a drinkable bottle. Prosecco is also popular and very cheap. A decent bottle is rarely more than €5. Other booze is also cheap.
Food is ok, eating out is cheaper than London, and better quality, as long as you like Italian! On the other hand, shopping in supermarkets, fruit and veg is very expensive and does not last long - 2 days and it's rotten - it tastes great and is local though.
Big public transport is cheap - local trains are nothing, a few Euros for 50 miles, bigger faster trains to Rome for example are more, but still only 30 bucks. Taxis are not cheap, but they are ok.
