These are the BEST things to do in Siena, Italy | My Travel Monkey my-travelmonkey.com

Visiting stunning Siena? Here are the best things to do in Siena (with or without kids) if you only have a day or two to explore.

Siena in Tuscany has always been an Italian city I’ve wanted to visit ever since watching the exciting opening scenes of the Palio di Siena from the 007 movie A Quantum of Solace. If you haven’t heard of the famous Palio horse race, it’s one of Italy’s best-known sporting events and takes place twice a year.

Ten horses and bareback riders dressed in the appropriate colours represent 10 of the 17 contrade (city wards). Each contrada has its own unique colours and represents an area of the city – with their flags and emblems adorning the streets during the four-day event. During the race, the horses thunder round the edges of the beautiful Piazza del Campo, and hundreds of people pile into the square or onto balconies of the surrounding buildings to watch. It looks phenomenal.