City of Siena

Siena, world renown for its wines and its Palio, is located in Tuscany on via Cassia (the via Francigena, used by medieval pilgrims travelling from France to Rome) between Pisa, Florence and Arezzo in the very heart of the Chianti area, the famous red wine.

Siena is known worldwide for its semi-annual horse race, the Palio, held on July 2 and August 16. Each of the city's "contrade", or neighborhoods, compete in a bare-backed race in honor or the Madonna. Il Campo, the main square, serves as the racetrack, with sand and walls placed around its perimeter. As you'll discover soon, Siena is small but hilly. Places that just look few hundred meters away may let you feel like hiking (of course in a suggestive scenario where Middle Age meets countryside and 20th Century).

More details on Siena and weather conditions can be found at the following Web site: http://www.comune.siena.it/

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How to reach Siena

To reach Siena you have to take the flight to Rome or (better) to Florence.

Best trip solutions

• By bus from Florence

  When you arrive at the Florence airport you have to take the shuttle "Volainbus" that leaves in the street just at the exit of the airport (in front of the arrival lounge) [ Click to view map]. More details at the ATAF website. Departures are every 30 minutes (e.g., 11:00, 11:30, 12:00, 12:30....) from 6:00 to 23:30. Tickets are available on board € 4,00. With the shuttle you have to arrive to the central railway station of Florence: "Firenze S. Maria Novella". In front of this station there is the bus terminus of the "SITA" Company that links Florence and Siena. Such bus terminus is shared by two companies that jointly guarantee the service: "TRAIN" and "SITA". There are frequent buses from morning to evening (every about 40 minutes). In order to select the best buses, please consider (preferably) those with the label "SIENA RAPIDA" that takes maximum 1 hour and 30 minutes to reach Siena (please avoid the buses labeled as "SIENA DIRETTA"). For more details on bus schedule, please visit the TRAIN Web site. Time schedule is also provided in the linked page. When you arrive in Siena you have to reach the last stop, that is the bus terminus in "Piazza Gramsci" (i.e., Gramsci square). Such stop is very close to the center (5 minutes walking to "Il Campo" square). Taxi details can be found on the Web or by phone, number 0577 49222.

• By car from Florence

  Rent a car at the Florence airport. From the Florence Airport you directly take highway A11 (direction to Pisa). In a short time you find the indication for highway A1 and the Siena indication. You leave A1 almost soon at Firenze Certosa. From here you take the highway that links Florence to Siena (1 hour travel at 90 km/h). When you arrive at Siena you can exit at "Siena Nord" or "Siena Ovest". The trip totally lasts 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Other trip options

• By bus from Rome

  Siena is also linked with Rome through the "SENA" bus line [http://www.sena.it/]. These buses leave from the square in front of the Roma Tiburtina railway station in Rome. The trip to Siena from such station lasts about 3 hours.

• By train from Florence

  Please note that the train is not the most efficient solution to reach Siena (even if possible from Florence). The train trip requires 1 hours and 30 minutes and the Siena railway station is not so close to the center, so that you should take the taxi to reach the Conference location (in the Siena center). Taxi details can be found at http://www.comune.siena.it/taxi/; phone number 0577 49222.

 

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Last updated: 03 May 05