I have read posts that say to take the bus to Siena because the walk to the historic center from the train station isn’t easy.
We think we will be arriving at Siena’s train station and wonder what the walk is like. Can we walk on sidewalks or out of the way of traffic?
How much stamina does it require and is it chaotic or new urban as opposed to the older historic areas?
Thanks.
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
7234 posts
It’s not a difficult walk
There are escalators taking you up the hill
Posted by
Hampshire, UK
407 posts
It's a fair way, quite steep, mostly sidewalks.
There is a cheat. Cross the main road, go into the shopping centre, take a series of Escalators up to the main city level. It comes out about 150m from Porta Camollia - continue on the via Camollia - the walk from there is much flatter.
As a side note, when I am in Siena, I normally eat at one of the restaurants on the Via Camollia. There are several and they far enough away from the main tourist areas to be reasonably priced.
Posted by
Green Bay
21226 posts
You can get a local bus to take you up to the old town.
Posted by
Florida, USA
250 posts
As stated in other comments it is not a difficult walk and definitely take the escalators. When you arrive at the top of the escalators just turn left and start walking towards the Porta Camollia. The walk to the center is about 20 minutes without stopping. Or, if you are arriving with luggage, just get a taxi. The taxi stand is across the street from the train station. The fee is usually less than 10 euros and takes you to your place of lodging.
Posted by
Saint Paul, Minnesota
1594 posts
On our latest trip to Siena, our apartment was on the via Camollia, right inside the city gate, so we walked along the via Camollia many times on our way to other parts of Siena. A really nice pedestrian-only street with interesting shops and "real" businesses like hardware stores and a butcher shop.
Escalators and then sidewalks all the way up, and things to look at and places to get a snack or coffee on the way. We had suitcases and I don't remember it being at all strenuous. Not chaotic. Not new urban, although not medieval. Tree-lined much of the way. The train station is small and the shopping center where the escalators are is right across the street and the area is not seedy or anything. You can "walk" it on Google Maps Street View: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Siena+-+Ferrovia,+Siena,+Province+of+Siena,+Italy/Porta+Camollia,+Viale+Vittorio+Emanuele+II,+Siena,+Province+of+Siena,+Italy/@43.3295406,11.3209169,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m18!4m17!1m5!1m1!1s0x132a2cc2fe133aa5:0xbcfa751150c8abe7!2m2!1d11.3231908!2d43.3314028!1m5!1m1!1s0x132a2cc21e5e0403:0x19e6fdd2f13ccb30!2m2!1d11.3253697!2d43.3276706!2m3!6e0!7e2!8j1710778652!3e2?entry=ttu
One thing to know about the escalators, and I can't remember if it was this set of escalators or the one going up from the big parking lot below the Duomo, is that it may look like it's not running --- we almost took the stairs, but then discovered that if we went up to the escalator it started running. Makes sense, we just didn't know that.
Posted by
Mayberry on the Willamette
357 posts
The bus (Flixbus) we took from Rome to Sienna let us off on a street at the bottom of a hill. It was about a 45 minute walk up to the Piazza. Some sidewalks & some low traffic roads and uphill. We left our roller bags in Rome since it was only going to be a few days. Would have been much more difficult with them. It was not chaotic. The road we were dropped on was kinda busy but sidewalks were there.
I "think" the route from the train station looks like an easier walk...probably still uphill though. There seems to be a gelato shop right on the route too! If all else fails you can throw money at the problem & take a taxi. It's not much 5-10 euro IIRC. We took one back to the bus stop