il palio

You can do this, absolutely, but you'll be missing out on a lot of the passion of the Palio.

Ideally, you want to be there a few days beforehand for the trials and then the selection of the horses, which is a very big deal. There's a big get together in the square and much intrigue and accusations of cheating by the various contrade. I've never seen so many people in the Campo (many thousands) and yet it be so quiet before the drawing of the horses. You could have heard a pin drop.

Then there are more practices, contrade dinners and much singing etc in the days before the race. The race itself is over in less than 5 minutes, and then there is major celebrating by the winners that goes on all night.

So... you might be better off staying somewhere just outside Siena rather than in Florence, which is much farther away and allows less time for soaking up the atmosphere.

Mathew

Grazie mille for the best advice/info about the whole Palio experience. It really makes a difference to hear it from someone who has actually participated in it wholeheartedly! It looks like we'll have to cut short our stay in Venezia but from from what you've described, it will be well worth it. Thanks again.

I have absolutely no idea about costs, and if you are on a tight budget I am sure this is out of the question, but I know that there are some tours/programs that are designed specifically for the palio experience (which inlcude dinners the night before in the neighborhoods).

It may be worth googling.

Tours and programs...ah, that explains why none of the Siena hotels and pensiones from RS, Lonely Planet and Let's Go books have responded to my requests for a room during the Palio. I'm intrigued by possible Palio tours/programs tho' and will google it anyways. Grazie mille.