Italy · City break

Siena City Guide

A shell-shaped square, a cathedral striped in black and white marble. Siena is the most medieval city in Tuscany, where ten of the seventeen contrade race each other twice a year at the Palio. One ready-made day route from San Domenico leads across the Piazza del Campo, up the tower and on to the Medici fortress.

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Our walking tours of Siena

Ready-made routes from the station guide you through Siena, to the right spots from the very first step, with no planning needed.

Il Campo, the cathedral & the Fortezza

From the brick basilica of San Domenico downhill to the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo and up the Torre del Mangia. On to the black-and-white striped cathedral with its inlaid marble floor and into the thousand-year-old pilgrims' hospital of Santa Maria della Scala. Finally out to the Medici fortress, where the ramparts give you a look back over the whole old town.

Stops: Basilica di San Domenico · Piazza del Campo · Torre del Mangia · Siena Cathedral (Duomo) · Facciatone · Santa Maria della Scala · Fortezza Medicea

Going out & nightlife

Piazza del Campo & Via di Città · Osteria Le Logge · Teatro dei Rozzi

Practical information for Siena

Public transport

Operator. Siena doesn't have a transport association or a zone map, it has Autolinee Toscane. Under the brand at, the company runs the entire bus network of Tuscany, which includes both Siena's 18 city lines and the intercity routes into the province and to Florence. For fare purposes Siena belongs to the Urbano capoluogo group, along with Arezzo, Carrara, Florence, Grosseto, Livorno, Lucca, Massa, Pisa, Pistoia and Prato. On the network map the city lines carry numbers prefixed with S, plus the two night lines 50N and 60N and the on-demand lines BUXI A and BUXI B serving the outlying districts. BUXI just needs a normal city ticket with no surcharge, bookings are taken on weekdays until 6 pm the day before by calling 366 3440841, with a 20-minute tolerance window. Information is available on 800 14 24 24, daily from 6 am to 24.00.

Network. Buses, and nothing more is needed. The old town is pedestrianised.

Modes of transport. City bus · Minibus within the city walls (Pollicino) · Night bus · On-demand bus BUXI

Operating hours. Based on the summer timetable valid from 27 July 2026, city services start around 5.10 am and daytime service ends around 9.20 pm. The cross-town line S10, running from Fornacelle via Piazza Gramsci, the station and Policlinico to San Miniato, starts at 5.12 am and makes its last trip at 9.19 pm. The old-town line S54, from Coroncina via Porta Tufi to Piazza Indipendenza and Piazza Matteotti, runs every 15 minutes, on weekdays roughly from 6.32 am to 9.12 pm, on Sundays not until 7.02 am. Lines S3 and S17 run every 30 minutes, S3 from 7.25 am to 8.13 pm. On Sundays and public holidays service starts later and ends a bit earlier. For a two- to three-day stay in Siena, that means late in the evening only the two night lines are left running.

Night service. Siena has two designated night lines, both at the normal city fare and both running every day of the week, Sundays included. The 60N is listed in the timetable as Notturna P.za Gramsci – Siena z.Nord and runs from the central bus square Piazza Gramsci via Vecchia Stazione and the station to the northern districts of Petriccio, Vico Alto and Fornacelle. Departures from Piazza Gramsci are at 9.45 pm, 10.20 pm, 10.45 pm, 11.15 pm, 11.45 pm, 12.23 am and 1.15 am. The 50N links Taverne d'Arbia and Isola d'Arbia in the southeast, via Porta Pispini, Porta Romana and the Logge del Papa, with Piazza Repubblica, departing at 8.50 pm, 9.35 pm, 10.20 pm, 11 pm, 12.01 am, 12.20 am and 12.55 am, with the return direction from Isola d'Arbia running between 9.10 pm and 12.30 am. After the last night trip around 1.35 am, only a taxi is left.

Buying tickets. The cheapest way is to buy before boarding. Autolinee Toscane sells tickets through its own counters, including at Piazza Gramsci and the station, through machines at larger stops, and through authorized outlets, in Italy usually tobacco shops and bars displaying the at sticker. Digitally you can buy through the at bus app, through shop.at-bus.it, and through the third-party apps TABNET, URBI, TELEPASS and DropTicket. Tickets are also available from the driver, but at a surcharge price of 3.00 euros, and the operator explicitly notes that the driver is not obliged to give change. On-board sales are also suspended during a ticket inspection. By SMS the fare is 2.40 euros plus 0.29 euros in sending costs with TIM, Vodafone, WINDTRE, Very Mobile and Fastweb.

App and payment. For short visits, tip tap is the easiest option. The readers are mounted by the doors, you hold your card, phone or wearable up to them, a beep and a green screen confirm the tap, red means an error. Credit, debit and prepaid cards from Mastercard, Visa and American Express are accepted. There's an important difference in how it works though. On city lines you only tap when boarding, while on mixed lines, intercity routes and express buses you tap both when boarding and when getting off. Anyone who prefers to buy in advance can use the at bus app, which also shows timetables and real-time departures. Real-time data is also available through the Telegram channel AT_Orari in fermata. Cash is accepted only from the driver, at the higher on-board price and with no change given.

Which ticket. The range on offer is small, and that's the most important thing to know. Siena has no day ticket and no tourist pass. Since 1 August 2026 a single ride costs 2.00 euros and is valid for 70 minutes from validation, during which you can transfer as many times as you like. Buying from the driver costs 3.00 euros for the same ride, by SMS it's 2.40 euros plus 0.29 euros in sending costs. A book of ten costs 18.20 euros and brings the per-ride price down to 1.82 euros, a saving of 1.80 euros over ten rides. The monthly pass at 42.20 euros costs the same as 21 single fares. For a two- to three-day stay, where you'd cover the centre on foot anyway, that gives a clear breakeven point. Below ten bus rides, the single ticket is mathematically never more expensive than the book of ten.

Fare zones. No zones. A city ticket is valid across the whole city network. Anyone arriving on an intercity ticket in band 1 or 2 starting or ending in Siena can also use it on the city lines. Intercity fares start at 2.00 euros, priced by distance band.

Tip. Take the escalator at the station; the climb is steep.

Getting there

Main station

Location. The station sits below the town; escalators lead up to the centre.

Long-distance trains. Siena is a terminus of the Tuscan regional network, not a long-distance hub. On a weekday in August 2026 the schedule showed 54 departures, all in the Regionale category. Destinations are Firenze Santa Maria Novella, Empoli, Chiusi-Chianciano Terme, Grosseto and Buonconvento. The busiest route is to Florence, with roughly one train an hour, the journey usually taking 1 hour 34 minutes, for example departing Siena at 11.18 am and arriving Firenze Santa Maria Novella at 12.52 pm. Anyone needing a Frecciarossa or Intercity service changes in Florence. The station has six platform tracks, track 1 is step-free, tracks 2 to 5 are reached by elevator, and there are also tactile paving strips for the visually impaired, a ticket office, a waiting area, a bar, a newsstand, a tobacco shop, a pharmacy and a Polfer police post. The Sala Blu assistance service is booked through Florence, at least 12 hours before departure.

Opening hours. On weekdays the first train departs at 5 am for Empoli, the first for Florence at 5.43 am. The last departure, towards Florence, leaves at 9.40 pm. The elevators to the six platform tracks operate from 6 am to 10 pm.

Airports

FLR

Into the city. There is no direct connection. Tram T2 takes 20 minutes into Florence, then express bus 131R from the Autostazione takes around 75 minutes to Siena Via Tozzi. Via the regional train from Firenze Santa Maria Novella, the second leg takes around 95 minutes.

Frequency. The T2 runs daily from 5 am to 12.30 am, on Fridays and Saturdays until 2 am, every 4 to 11 minutes during the day. Bus 131R runs roughly hourly Monday to Friday, with the first departure from Siena at 6.15 am and the last at 8.45 pm.

Local quirks

The Palio. On 2 July and 16 August, horses race around the Piazza del Campo. The city is fully booked and in a state of exception at those times.
Inside the city walls, only the small Pollicino buses run. Autolinee Toscane marks the old-town lines on the official network map as a separate section called Pollicino. These are minibuses small enough to fit through alleys no standard bus can enter. The most frequent of them is the S54, running from Coroncina via Laterino and Porta Tufi to Piazza Indipendenza and Piazza Matteotti. It runs every 15 minutes, on weekdays roughly from 6.32 am to 9.12 pm, and stops along the way at Parcheggio Santa Caterina. If you're staying in the centre and have luggage, this gets you closer to your destination than any other line. The normal city ticket at 2.00 euros applies.
To Florence, the bus beats the train. The express bus 131R takes around 75 minutes from Siena Via Tozzi to the Autostazione next to Firenze Santa Maria Novella station, departing around 6.15 am and arriving around 7.30 am. The regional train runs via Empoli and takes around 95 minutes. The bus also starts up in the town itself, while the train starts down at the station. Monday to Friday the 131R runs roughly hourly, with the first departure at 6.15 am and the last at 8.45 pm. Note that the bus isn't covered by the city fare though, it's charged at the intercity rate by distance band.

Good to know

Currency: EUR €
Emergency number: 112
Plug type: C · F · L
Time zone: Europe/Rome
Driving: right

Speed limits. built-up areas 50 km/h, outside towns 90 km/h, 110 km/h on expressways, motorway 130 km/h

In rain, the motorway limit is 110 km/h instead of 130, and 90 instead of 110 on expressways. Drivers who have held their license for less than three years may drive at most 100 km/h on the motorway and 90 km/h on expressways. Within built-up areas, 50 km/h is the rule, though signposted city roads allow up to 70 km/h.

Tipping. Not expected. Bills often carry a coperto or servizio. If you were happy, round up.

Tolls. Most motorways are tolled. Take a ticket on entry, pay on exit. No vignette.

Access restrictions. Many historic centres are closed to non-residents. Cameras read the plate and the fine arrives home months later. Hours and boundaries differ from city to city.