Siena - Palio
 

I will be traveling to Italy in June. I need some advice on The Palio and Siena. I plan on renting a car in Chiusi on July 2, driving to Greve to drop off luggage at hotel. My question is, should I drive to Siena or find alternate means of transportation to see the Palio. I know the town will be quite crowded and parking may be non existant. I do not know if there is a train or bus from Greve. I welcome all suggestions. Thanks

Oy, do you really want to be there during the Palio? We were in Siena during the Palio 5 years ago, and I'd <i>never</i> do it again. If you like wall-to-wall crowds, not being able to walk more than a yard every 5 minutes, by all means go for it, though! :)

Do you have tickets? I doubt very much you'll find parking unless you get there at the crack of dawn. And if you don't have tickets you'll just be lost in a sea of humanity and won't see anything anyway. You can check on train connections at www.trenitalia.com

We were in Siena in August 2005, the day after that Palio. It was perfect! Of course there was no race, but about 4:00 that afternoon, the contrada that won the day before (and hadn't won for 40 plus years prior) paraded through the part of town we just happened to be in. There were drums, and banners, and medieval costumes, and pacifiers (signifying new birth, I understand). It was magical! And so unexpected! I'll always remember it.

We have tickets to the Palio this July, and I can hardly wait. We happened to stumble upon the Palio 7 years ago, knowing nothing regarding the history and the pagentry of the Palio. We did not see the actual race at that time but witnessed the picking of the horses, quite the experience. There is a wonderful article about the Palio at www.slowtrav.co/italy/tuscany/siena_palio.htm, and another great article at www.hiddentrails.com/europe/italy/palio.htm. I hope this helps you out.

When I went we drove, got there c.11am and had no trouble parking. We had a short wander round, a quick early lunch then took up our positions standing by the inner barrier - it was c.1.15-1.30 &amp; we got places next to the barrier, but it filled up quite quickly near the barrier after that.

I was a lot younger then &amp; was OK standing there for 4-5 hours or whatever it was, but I wouldn't do it now.

Just as an aside to the OP, there's a travel company that sells a &quot;tour Europe by balloon&quot; trip that features a view of the Palio from the air.
Cost of the tour: $11K/person.