Florence Duomo or Siena Duomo?

The interior of the Siena duomo is stunningly beautiful while the interior of the Florence duomo is very plain, so that's one big difference between the two. I don't recall there being a tower to climb in Siena, but rather a fantastic view point that was to be part of the uncompleted duomo, accessed via the museum. I think the two sights are different enough to warrant a visit if you have time. I'm not sure whether advance tickets would be needed late afternoon.

There is a tour that goes up to the “attic” level of the Siena cathedral which gives you a view inside, some of the construction, and a smaller view outside. It’s nice, but better when the floors are uncovered to better see the designs. There is also the part of what would have been the new entry facade (if they had finished it) that you wait in line for in the duomo museum. The exterior view is better here with the city and cathedral, and the countryside beyond, but to pick one, I’d stick with Florence. The construction is more interesting and the city views are better. If you’re feeling energetic and really want to climb something in Siena, check out the bell tower. It has a great view down on the Campo.

But true that nothing beats Milan for the effort that went in to carving that no one on the ground could ever see. Next trip maybe?

I loved the Siena Duomo and found Florence's to be very underwhelming. I did not climb in Florence, so maybe that would have made a difference for me, but I did do the tour KC mentions in Siena and found it extremely interesting and loved the views. If you have the time, try and see Siena's. It's beautiful. If you commit, I'd buy tickets. If you're still unsure, I'd wait until you're there to know for sure you want to do it.

Thank you everyone for your insightful advice. Unfortunately, Milan is not on our itinerary this time... hopefully there will be a next time.

Do we need tickets to climb the bell tower? We will be coming from 3 jam packed days in Rome and (hopefully) 2 days of great hiking in Cinque Terre, so the 4 days in Tuscany area will be a time for us to relax and recharge before heading to 2 jam packed days in Florence.

We were planning to spend a day visiting Volterra and San Gimignano, but perhaps Siena deserves a full day instead?

We were planning to spend a day visiting Volterra and San Gimignano, but perhaps Siena deserves a full day instead?

I really loved Siena, even more than Florence. I unfortunately did not see Volterra and San Gimignano as the small group tour I had planned to take got canceled, so I can't give a preference of one over the other. But I do think Siena could easily fill a full day on its own (it did for me). If you're visiting other small Tuscan towns on Aug 3 and 4, then skipping Volterra and San Gimignano in exchange for Siena might be worth it to get a chance to experience Siena.

We very much enjoyed the duomo climb in Siena. Far fewer people, reservation for a time with small group makes it very enjoyable and it really is a beautiful cathedral. We purchased our tickets for the cathedral around 12:30 or 1:00 and the next available reservation slot for the duomo climb was for 5 pm so don't assume there will be slots open if you wait until later. We were just there three weeks ago.

We spent the entire day in Siena just enjoying the town and the five areas of the cathedral pass.

I already bought the Florence Duomo combo pass for Aug 7 so would this
be too similar or will it be completely different?

I'm assuming it's this ticket you purchased?
https://grandemuseodelduomo.waf.it/en/cumulative-ticket-great-museum-of-the-cathedral-of-florence?idtour=8484

If so, I'd try to get the good out of it by visiting the museum, the baptistry (which is stunning) and climbing the tower there: no reservations required. We personally found the interior of the duomo itself to be underwhelming and the exterior to be far more impressive - especially when lit at night - so I don't know as you need to spend the stand-in-line time that one requires as you have VERY limited time in the city. You are aware that there is no priority entry to the church with your ticket, correct? And it doesn't sound like you made the mandatory reservations to climb the dome, right? If you did, then I'd skip the tower.

Probably just us but climbing a hot, very confined space in the height of summer has little appeal; the wide-open views from Piazzale Michelangelo or San Miniato would be my Florence choice in August, If you choose to do either tower under discussion, I'd try to do it early before the warmest hours of the day.

Siena is definitely worth a half day at the very least. Although I have only been to Italy once Siena is by far my favorite city. It has a small town feel and since you have to have a permit to drive in the city center there's hardly any traffic, nothing like the crazy driving in Rome. I didn't have a chance to climb the bell tower but I did see the duomo (fabulous!). The Piccolomini library was my favorite part ! I did do the climb over by the duomo, very very different from the one in Florence. It's much easier, but the beautiful views are definitely worth it. I also recommend taking some time to grab some gelato and just sitting down in the Piazza del Campo and just taking in the sights. My family and I did this and it was so relaxing. We also downloaded the Rick Steve's walking tour for Siena, which was quite informative, and FREE!

Kathy, we do have a time to climb the dome, at 9:30 am and Accademia tickets for 1:00 pm entry, so we will have 3 hours to visit the cathedral, museum, baptistry, and do the dome climb. We are in Florence for 2 1/2 days, so we will definitely do the tower climb the next day so not to tire ourselves out on our first morning in Florence! We love climbing towers... stood in line for 1 1/2 hours in a hot, sunny July afternoon to climb Notre Dame about 12 years ago. So glad we did!

Thanks for everyone's input! We will be visiting several small Tuscan towns during our scenic drive on Chiantigiana Road, so it looks like a day trip to Siena and tour of the Siena Duomo is a must!