I am had planned on staying in Siena while in Tuscany this August during my honeymoon. But because we will be there during il palio, hotel rooms are hard to come by. I chose Siena as a base because we will not have a car but would like to see some other towns in the region and i thought it would be a convenient starting point. Also, i thought since it was a larger town than some of the rural areas in Tuscany, when we got back from a day trip elsewhere, we would still be able to go out at night. If i cannot find a decent hotel at a reasonable price in Siena, does anyone have any suggestions on where to stay that would be be a good option for us? Thanks in advance for your help.

Without a car that will be tough. Can you change your dates in Tuscany?

If you are willing to stay in Siena, but the rates are too high, what about Florence? It is larger, admittedly, but not that far away, with lots of hotels at all price ranges. I would give that some thought.

Staying in Arezzo or Cortona would also allow for some forays into the Tuscan countryside using public transportation. There a few places just on the upper outskirts of Arezzo where you can both walk to town yet be in nature with views. From Arezzo, it is easy to visit Florence.

If you stay in Cortona, you will face a bit of chore getting to the train station -- but that was true in Siena as well.

If you don't care so much about views, then staying in Lucca makes a lot of people very happy and it has very good train connections to Florence, Pisa and other even smaller towns of charm. Some people enjoy staying in Pisa itself for its good train connections, plus bus connections to San Gimignano or a train ride up the coast to see le Cinque Terre.

If you would like a very small town, you might enjoy Montecatini Alta, or tiny Pistoia, both on the train line between Florence and Lucca. Even those these are small towns, there are plenty of restaurants and cafes.

In case it wasn't clear, from Arezzo you can visit Florence plus Cortona and Orvieto, and you can buses to small towns in the Tuscan countryside. It is easier to find a place right in the old town, which is very beautiful, but it can also be interesting to look at the edge of town, up in the hills, but you will face a much longer walk to the train station.

I also wanted to add that while Lucca doesn't have hilltop views, it is itself a very lovely town to walk around, and from town you can see nice views of the nearby marble mountains. You can also take buses up into the nearby hills and low mountains, which is a different landscape from the vinyards of Tuscany, but there are also charming small towns there.