Siena as a base for a week?
 

Our intinerary in the spring includes a week in Tuscany. We are currently planning to stay right in Siena; my thinking was that because our children are 19 and 21, a larger centre might be better for them (going out in the evenings without their parents, etc.) We will have a car and our accommodation has parking, although outside the city walls. Would you recommend staying in Siena for this long?

Siena is a University town so staying there for a week with your 19 and 21 year old children is a great idea. Much to see and do for you and them. Also, since you will have a car, Siena is a good base for exploring the Tuscan countryside and hilltowns.

Many thanks for your comments, Azure. I appreciate your help with our itinerary! Sounds perfect.

Hello jranger, since your children are 19 and 21 have you discussed your thoughts about Siena with them and also the places that you will stay in and enjoy in Italy?

At age 19 and 21 they are not children and may have a lot of ideas of what they would like to see in Italy. If it doesn't match with your plans they sure are old enough to go off on their own to explore somewhat as they are young adults.

It seems to me that Siena would be a bit isolated for two young people at age 19 and 21 for a week. I would think a week in Rome or Florence or Venice would be better, somewhere that they can really explore on their own, take day trips by the train in an easy manner to somewhere else that might interest them. Just a thought. Best wishes to you and your family for a beautiful vacation.

I was thinking the same as LoveItaly. Although Siena is a University town, it is a little isolated.

I would suggest, perhaps, Florence, or if you are not comfortable with such a large city, then Fiesole, which sits on a hillside overlooking Florence and is a short bus ride from the city.

This would give them the opportunity to explore the art and architecture of Florence.

We have friends who rented a house there with their family...you might look into that. Usually less expensive than a hotel, if you find the right apartment or small house.

I would suggest that they read the book "Brunelleschi's Dome"...before they go, which is a fascinating account of how he built the Duomo. They may even want to climb to the top after reading this. (I didn't...too old and have claustrophobia <grin>.)

Also, they might want to read "The Autobiography of Benvenito Cellini", not to mention "The Agony and the Ecstacy", about Michaelangelo.

OK OK...I hear them complaining already...(I raised some of those persons)...but it would really enhance their experience if they had some history.

However, a day trip to Siena from Florence is a must.

Have a wonderful trip.

Thanks for your comments. Our plans thus far, as decided by the whole family, are to begin in Venice (4 days); Florence (3 days); Siena (5 days); Rome (4 days); and Sorrento (3 days); departing from Naples. We'll be in London for three days prior to Italy as well. We wanted a base in Tuscany and just wondered what might be most appropriate for our family. Sounds like Siena might work since it is a university town and might have a bit more nightlife than other places? Don't worry, we'll hit the "biggies" as well! I welcome any suggestions you might have to improve upon this plan.

I went early this last summer. I'm 24 years old (age reference.) If you are spending a total of 1 week in Tuscany, you may want to mix up your nights. We spent 1 night in Sienna (4 of us, including my parents.) It was magical... amazing. Florence was neat, but didn't have the same magic for me. Maybe it was because it rained while I was there.

Our trip (4 people 1 car) moved around more than it seems like most peoples' do. We stayed in a lot of different hotels and bed and breakfasts over the course of one month. The places I enjoyed the most were the nearly mystical towns with few vehicles, namely Venice, Monterosso (in the Cinque Terre), Sienna, the Tuscan mountain towns, and the Amalfi Coast.

Now as far as making a trip efficient, consider what you specifically want to see. Florence has several days worth of exploring within town itself. The outer Tuscan towns have even more potential for exploration, especially by car. Decide how much time you want to spend doing what. What may be a good compromise, is after some time in Sienna, park your car in the Florence airport and take a train or bus into Florence, as parking in Florence (and then getting a taxi) is 10 different kinds of miserable. The train station in Florence is much closer to anything you'll want to see than any parking lots will be. Spending 2 nights in a bed and breakfast near downtown would give you a pretty good balance of time to explore town and then a few days in Sienna exploring the countryside. Some of our best Tuscan exploration was done in between. We came from the Cinque Terre, explored a bunch of Tuscany (including Pisa) on the way to Florence, spent 2 nights there, and explored more of Tuscany on our way to Sienna, 1 night there, and a little more of Tuscany on the way to Rome.

Hi J,

If you will be in Florence, why pack up and drive one hour to Siena?

You can see as much of Tuscany from Florence.

I also suggest staying in Fiesole.

((I))

I think Siena is a great idea. Perfect loction to explore and enough to do to keep people happy.

If you want to have a perfectly horrid day, pick up a rental car in downtown Florence (you might get lucky and find your way to the autostrada the first time), head south to Siena and then "enjoy" finding a parking place there.

I too agree that Siena is a wonderful location and will be sure to please the entire family.

>If you want to have a perfectly horrid day, pick up a rental car in downtown Florence ...head south to Siena and then "enjoy" finding a parking place there. <

Not what I would do.

Take the SITA bus.

Schedules at http://www.sita-on-line.it/

((I))

My 21 yr. old daughter just returned from 6 mo. in Italy with Siena as the base (was in Univ. there) and I can only add to the votes for Siena. When we visited her there, it was so wonderful to say goodnight at 12, 1 o'clock and she would go off to her place by herself and it was perfectly safe! It's really a great place as a base, although if you have a car, you might want to stay outside the city center as driving in the city center there isn't a picnic either.

Siena has a lot for young people the ages of your children. I think it is an excellent base for day trips, and a great place to let the younger ones go off on their own a bit. If they can't meet others their age around the Campo, and find where the clubs and so forth are, I will be surprised.

And, if at that age, my parents had parked me in Fiesole, I would not have been happy. What on earth could young adults do there at night?

What makes Fodor's fun is all the different theories and ideas. Personally I would spend more time in Rome and less in Siena and know that my daughter when she was a teenager would have agreed. In fact she would agree to this day. But again, that is what makes Fodor's interesting, all the various thoughts and ideas.

jranger, I wish you and your family a wonderful time in Italy.

Siena is a great place, for a day or two. Your kids are going to get a little bored there though. The nightlife is little, but truthfully, after full day of exploring the city and driving to other Tuscan towns (I would go to Montalcino, Perugia, San Gimingano (sp?)), they are not going to want to go out.

I am assuming you are American, so if you have daughters, I would tell them to be careful. Italian men can come on quite strong and they don't get the hint that you're not interested too quickly. I found the especially true in Siena where there is a University and Italian men the ages of your kids.

So you know, I'm 21, and just returned from a semester in Florence. The nightlife is amazing there, tons of great bars and college students studying abroad.

I spent 2 weeks in Siena this June and will return for 2 more in June '06. It's a great base. Unlike Rome or Florence you can get to feel at home there while there is lots to do and see.

Look at slowtrav.com for tons of restaurant reviews and other Siena info.

My daughter spent a month in Italy at 18, taking a history course with a week in Rome, almost two weeks in Siena (day trips to Florence), and a week in Venice.

She would gladly have spent another month in Rome, for the history, the nightlife, and the experience but I think Siena is where she really fell in love with Italy.

Your itinerary sounds great. I hope your children appreciate the experience as much as mine did.

"Siena is a University town so staying there for a week with your 19 and 21 year old children is a great idea."

It may have a university, but it is far from being a university town. The main part of Sienna is quite small, so a week there would be a bad idea. There's no question that Florence would be better, especially for kids.

Also be aware that Siena is very hilly and being outside the walls means a lot of uphill walking back and forth to town. For an extended stay, this should be a prime consideration. I would recommend staying at Palazzo Ravizaa, the one hotel inside the walls that has onsite free parking. It is also an excellent hotel.

We took our 21 year old with us last May and spent 4 nights in Siena. We stayed in a farmhouse outside the city about 4 km. Our son walked into the city and immediately found about 20 kids from his university in Ft. Worth, Texas on a summer educational trip. Needless to say, he had a blast and was very comfortable walking by himself at night and taking taxi's at 1 a.m. to our farmhouse. It seems everywhere we went he found kids his age and we rarely saw him evenings. He found kids from his unversity in Venice, Florence and Siena. Unbelievable! A busride to the nearby cities is easy and inexpensive if they wish to do some of this on thier own as well. If you've already agreed on this, stick by it, you can always make sidetrips. WE spent our time at Agriturismo Marciano. It was the best.

I take it all back. Erase, erase the idea of Fiesole.

From what I read, Siena sounds safe and fun. What more could you ask for your kids?

I love Siena. From there you can do suck amazing day trips to Florence, San Gimignano, Pienza, Montalcino, Bagno Vignoni (take the kids there to soak their feet in the natural hot springs- and go swimming in the springs at the hotel in town), and many more great towns.

siena is magical. My kids are 12 and 15 and still talk about it. I might add one extra day to Sorrento. Stay at the Bellvue Syrene and get a seaview balcony room. Do a day trip to Postiano, Capri, Pompeii ...just to name a few.

Have fun. Michelle

Hey, Tuscany is beautiful. However, I find it way too touristed. Umbria is way more , or less ruined. I know that there are beautiful towns, hill towns, San Giamano , Sienna and such...Assisi is beautiful. Umbria is way more of a real place. I think Tuscany has been beaten by the Brits and us Americans. People in Umbria are not yet sick of the tourist. Food in Umbria is much better. Food in Tuscany is okay, but the countryside is beautiful. I stayed at a farm once, Agriturisimo, in Toscana, near San giamano, , for a few days.
It was great and I remember they had a room/apartment there with a kitchen and at least one bedroom. It was old, stone, tile and simple. The host, a women, drove a tractor in the fields after checking us in. Love Italy!!! Best place that I have ever been.... other then the Bronx of course...LOL
For fun and 19-21 years old...ROME!!!
you can drink without any problem at 16..wine. Piazza Farnese is lively and young. However, the young and old are always together in Italy.

Bella Italia

Caio

Jranger,

My son and I went to Tuscany, Florence and Rome this past summer. My son is 15. We planned on staying in Siena for 2 nights. We left after 1 night - I even had to incur 2 nights at the hotel due to late cancellation. We found Siena to be dirty and not very interesting. The interesting part of Tuscany is not Siena, but the country side and the other hill towns (in my humble opinion although my 15 year-old son agrees with me). I just asked him and he said "no way" would he want to stay in Siena for a week. - one night only. If I were to do it again, we would have stayed in Florence longer. Florence is a relatively small town, easy to get around, seemingly safe, and very interesting. We saw many students in Florence during in the summer, taking art classes - the town seems youthful. I think your children would really enjoy it. By the way, a train ride for a couple of days to Rome is fantastic!!! The Coliseum and the Vatican are awesome. We used Rome Walks for our tours - absolutely wonderful. Best of luck on figuring out your trip.

I agree with Ira. Hiring a car to get around Florence and Siena might not be the best idea. The bus should work quite well. Since we wanted to be able to decide when and where to go around Siena last spring, my husband and I used a young man's driver services. His name is Marco. His e-mail is [email protected]. He was an excellent driver and his English was perfect (I think he's half Amercian). We would reccomend you try to contact him for your visits around Siena.

I also think five nights in Siena might be too much. How about a couple of nights there, and then three nights in the Pienza, Montalcino, St, Quirico area where you can go see some beautiful, small hill towns? Just floating an idea for you. Spring in Tuscany is great. Well, any time in Tuscany (and Umbria, should you decide to go) is great.
((H))