Our second daytrip from Perugia was to the medieval Tuscan town of Siena. Although it is not on the same train line as Perugia, we were able to book an 80-minute Flixbus for 7 a.m. with a return at 7:10 p.m. It was a long day, but provided plenty of time to see the main sights of Sienna. As usual in Europe, the Flixbus was on time for both trips and provided a very comfortable ride. We spent $55 for both of us roundtrip on the tickets.

Siena Arrival and Basilica

After arriving at the Sienna bus station, we made our way up into the medieval city. Luckily, Siena has a series of escalators to take people up. It took us a minute to find the entrance in the adjacent mall but soon we were on our way. I didn’t take any photos on our way up but here’s one from when we went back down at the end of the day.

Upon reaching the top, we walked a couple of blocks to enter the medieval city walls through the Porta Camollia. Our first stop was the Basilica Cateriniana San Domenico, an important historic church dating back to 1226 that contains the head of Saint Catherine, as well as some of her other relics. The church had been destroyed by fire and rebuilt several times through the years and is a really beautiful structure. We enjoyed seeing the beautiful art and relics, though unfortunately they did not allow photos inside.

After the basilica, we walked around Siena and checked out the famed Piazza del Campo, the huge main square that hosts an annual horse race. We also stopped for a little breakfast of pastries, tea, and cappuccino at a charming little standup cafe called Caffetteria Torrefazione Fiorella. Being just a street up from the piazza, it was crowded but very good and a great value compared to the cafes on the piazza itself. 

Duomo (Cathedral)

The Siena duomo is the major tourist attraction in town, known for its striking black and white interior. We bought our tickets online the day before for the earliest entry time, 10:00 a.m. We decided not to get the deluxe ticket that included the rooftop tour because we’d done that at the Milan Duomo several years ago. But we did choose a combo ticket that also included entry to another nearby museum for 12 euros plus a 3 euro online reservation fee each, 4 euros higher than the basic Duomo entry. It was unclear whether they’d be able to scan our tickets on our phones so prior to our cafe breakfast we stopped at a print shop (Centro Servizi Media Business Centre) to print the tickets. I was glad we did because it didn’t look like anyone was using cellphone entry when we were there.

We entered the duomo with the other 10 a.m. entries and it was certainly as impressive as I’d heard, especially the beautiful mosaic floor. Here is a small sample of the many photos we took inside. 

After the duomo, we went to the museum included with our ticket, the Palazzo della Papesse. Honestly it was very confusing what was included in what ticket and we had to get clarification at the ticket office after we left the Duomo as to what and where this other museum was. The temporary exhibit on display was a retrospective of the cartoonist Hugo Pratt, which we didn’t care much about, though apparently his protagonist, Corto Maltese is pretty famous in Europe. The main attraction of the museum was its rooftop view, which was okay.

Exploring Sienna

After finishing our duomo-related attractions, we spent some time walking around and taking in the city. We visited the Fontebranda, a beautiful old fountain below the basilica with a traditional medieval three-pool style: one for drinking water, one as a watering hole for animals, and one for washing clothes. 

We took an extended lunch break at Osteria Permalico where we enjoyed a local Tuscan meat and cheese plate followed by cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper spaghetti, kind of like fancy mac and cheese) and gnocchi with pistachio pesto. The gnocchi was especially interesting because it was made with flour and ricotta rather than potato like we’re used to. Everything was really delicious.

After lunch we walked through the Giardini la Lizza up to the Fortezza Medicea, a 1563 fort that is now a lovely park. We rested up there before our afternoon sightseeing, then got a quick macchiato for extra energy.

Complesso Museale Santa Maria della Scala

The final attraction we wanted to be sure and catch in Siena was the Complesso Museale Santa Maria della Scala. It is right across a piazza from the duomo, so we were able to catch the exterior of the building lighting up in the afternoon sun.

The Complesso Museale is a former hospital that is now a huge museum with 14th century frescoes and tons of art and artifacts from the area. Though it isn’t a tall structure, it has several underground floors, which were also part of the museum. It was almost unbelievable how extensive the underground part was. The museum was really worthwhile and we enjoyed every bit of it from the frescoes to the art to the tunnels where they displayed artifacts from ancient times. I don’t think writing about it will do it justice so here are some photos.

Departure

Before entering the museum we’d noticed a choral group warming up in the adjacent church, but we decided to prioritize exploring the museum over musical entertainment. We could continue to hear their warm up as we took in the main floor exhibits, which was nice.

After the museum, we were pleased to find the choral concert still in progress, so we sat for a bit of that. Then we headed back through town with a quick stop in the Campo Fiori to admire the renovated Fonte Gaia that we’d just learned about in the museum. Then we went back down the hill to the mall and bus station, picking up a gelato on the way. We made a quick stop in the nice mall grocery store to pick up a few supplies and then treated ourselves to a beer while we waited for our 7 p.m. bus. After our large lunch, we didn’t need another meal. 

Our trip to Siena was another wonderful long day and we were happy to get a good taste of Tuscany while we were there.