Siena, Tuscany, Italy Complete Tour

travel videos & photos at: townsofeurope.com/ with text, maps & links.
:01 Introduction
3:01 Main Lane
5:32 Campo
12:30 lanes on west side
17:02 Piazza Mercato
18:12 lanes on east side
20:47 to v. Gilio, Rossi, and Basilica of San Francesco
22:48 The Duomo Cathedral
27:47 How to reach Siena
View the transcript, photos and map at our new website:
townsofeurope.com/Italy/tuscan...
Siena, in the heart of Tuscany, is one of Italy's most popular destinations, a great medieval landmark to explore.
It's both a historic site and a vibrant modern city with excellent shopping, many fine restaurants, and beautiful pedestrian lanes throughout town.
We'll show you the busy main streets, always active with lots of people, and take you to those out-of-the-way little lanes, into the quiet residential neighborhoods.
The main piazza, called il Campo, and the Cathedral, called the Duomo, are two of the most important attractions that we will explore in detail.
Siena is so well-preserved that UNESCO has designated the entire old town as a World Heritage Site, not just one building or neighborhood, but all of the old town.
UNESCO describes Siena as "an outstanding medieval city that has preserved its character and quality to a remarkable degree. It's a rare example of a medieval historic town of this size. The original urban form of the city, with its 15th century street plan, has been retained along with the Gothic design of its public buildings, palaces and tower houses, which remain unchanged."
Siena is a very livable city. It's built to a human scale, covering about a square kilometer, which makes it small enough that you can easily walk from one end of town to the other in a single day and see almost all of the sites in between. There's an endless variety of interesting things to see along your way.
Siena is a small city, but crisscrossed by dozens of little lanes that provide many miles of picturesque strolling opportunities for the ambitious trekker.
Siena is divided in three districts corresponding to the three ridges it sits on, North, West and East, with the Campo in the middle, the main piazza.
3:01 Main Lane
At the north end of the main shopping lane, via Banchi di Sopra, there is a pretty little square, Piazza Salimbeni, with Europe's oldest bank founded in 1472. This main shopping street is worth walking from one end to the other, perhaps stopping for a bite at one of the attractive little restaurants along the way. And narrow side alleys will attract you with their charms.
Escape the crowds by ducking into the side alleys, as we will be showing you here.
5:32
In the middle of it all is the Campo, the great piazza of Siena. Nearly 500 feet wide and surrounded by shops, restaurants, and the towering Palazzo Publico, this is the very heart of town. It's a great place to have an outdoor meal at one of the many sidewalk restaurants that are around it. You will find the experience of eating an evening meal at twilight, sunset on the Campo, is going to be one of the highlights of your trip,
12:30
Now let's take a walk in all those little back streets of town that are so wonderful, starting on the lower west side.
You'll find that when you get off the beaten track, these little lanes are a lot more interesting. Get away from other tourists and you'll start to feel like a local.
We're going to take you walking off the grid, further away from the tourist areas, further away from views and landmarks and famous churches, and just into this lovely, peaceful, residential neighborhood. There are a few shops, there are certainly always restaurants and cafés, mostly catering to the locals who live nearby.
17:02
We continue through the little side lanes and down to the Piazza Mercato. This place was the ancient market square which still today has an outdoor produce market several times a week. This Mercato is a lovely nook of the city, just two blocks south of the Campo, the main busy square, and yet 95% of the visitors never get here.
20:47
We continue walking on other nearby lanes, especially Gilio and Rossi, and various alleys that will lead us there and take us around.
For those travelers who love to get away from the shops and stroll through quiet residential alleys, Siena offers many more possibilities.
These little byways are your gateway to enter the authentic side of Siena.
22:48 The Duomo Cathedral
The great cathedral of Siena is the Duomo, just a few minutes’ walk from the Campo. It is one of the world's most beautiful and intriguing churches. It's a must-see on your visit, loaded with astonishing architecture, sculpture and paintings. More than just a religious structure of the Duomo is the economic symbol of wealth, international trade and cultural influences.
27:47 How to reach Siena
Getting from Florence to Siena is very convenient by taking the SITA bus. Their bus station is right in the heart of Florence, across the street from the main Florence train station.

[@beatricecormier3138]

Thanks for putting these together. I am caregiver for my 92 year old dad who as dementia and watching these is relaxing for him.

[@muhammadrashid6135]

Beautiful and excellent narrative.Greeting from Pakistan.

[@ViaggiareinItalia2022]

Bellissima Siena.... visitata tanti anni fa in gita scolastica

[@mclanaford2957]

Love Tuscany

[@user-yf5xw8jv8k]

This reminds me, three years ago, I climbed up to the top of the tower. From there, the view is magnificent.

[@iiigraghu]

What a beautiful video and excellent narrative. Great to watch this. Hearty Greetings from India 🇮🇳

[@thodo5691]

Always love your lively, beautiful and well presented videos. Thanks Dennis.

[@soundscape26]

Thank you for another year of great videos. Happy New Year Dennis!!

[@trevorguyRO]

This is awesome, thank you!

[@itsmetaran]

Great video Dennis... Siena is amazing. Thanks much.

[@alicedeva]

Beautiful video 😍 I also did my walking tour here!

[@ep3931]

Ahhh, Siena ❤❤❤

[@andreamarelli6128]

che bella che è Siena

[@jeanpierrejarier3058]

Happy new year Dennis your videos are very interesting

[@greenshp]

This was a really wonderful overview of Siena; I really appreciated your comments on the sidestreets, shops, restaurants, residential areas, etc. These details give the viewer a nice experience. I was disappointed not to see anything about Catherine of Siena (her house is amazing) but I understand your times constraints; I imagine one could talk about Siena for hours and hours. I also wanted to compliment your choice of music - the centuries-old sacred melodies and medieval folk songs are such a nice and appropriately atmospheric addition.

[@denniscallan]

Thank you so much for your kind comments. I will be back in Siena in a few months and shall look for Catherine's house, thanks.

[@AkankshaParashar]

Very well made video. Really enjoyed watching it and got the right information I needed as I plan my trip.

[@denniscallan]

Glad it was helpful!

[@shubhashismishra2694]

Very nice

[@tapangshughosh5722]

U made a masterpiece buddy

[@josephcirillo5292]

TY for this informative video....my wife and I are looking to our 2nd visit to Italy in 2024....Siena is definitely on our bucket list....you always do a great job covering the local areas which we love the most....TY once again Dennis!!!

[@denniscallan]

Thanks! You can see my website for more information, maps, photos, videos and links for Duomo tickets townsofeurope.com/Italy/tuscany/Siena.html

[@globalcitizen2529]

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

[@whitelion1111]

I've been there once in 2010, I stayed with a first cousin, while attending her college there had a place which was once a nuns convent in the city, the doors were very short, I bumped my head once or twice

[@mikeshawn5864]

21:54 22:19 The upper left corner window. What a surprise. I was in Siena for about two hours, like Dennis said about most tourists.

[@denniscallan]

ha, ha

[@uzishah88]

❤️❤️❤️👍🇵🇰