Upon reading such glowing reviews of the Albergo Bernini and other family run accommodations in Siena, I'm thinking of using Siena as our "jet-lag pillow". However, we will be arriving by rental car and making day trips and I am off-put by the cost of parking. We will be traveling in February, so off-season. Is it a guarantee that I will have to pay 20-30 E to park my car for 24 hours outside the ZTL, or is there free parking somewhere? This site: turismoverde.com was suggested as helpful, but... I don't know where any of the listed free locations are actually located...
Posted by
Madison, WI, USA
14 posts
If you do stay outside of the city walls, often you can park for free with your hotel stay. The bus into town runs pretty regularly and in June 2013 only cost 1.3 euro.
Posted by
OP
Wooster, OH
12 posts
Posted by
OP
Wooster, OH
12 posts
I wrote to a local hotelier, and apparently the pay lots stop charging overnight: "we are in the side of the soccer stadium where inside there is an open payment parking at 1,70 per h - you don't pay during the night- but in Viale Vittorio Veneto and all around the Medicea's fortress you will find free parkings. Is a very quite and small town Siena! Let me know if you need other help,
ilaria" I hope this helps someone else with the same question I had. Still feeling intimidated by not knowing where I'm going. Will my GPS try to take me through a ZTL if it's the most direct route to my chosen parking?
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8371 posts
If you're arriving from Florence, your best bet would be to take a 1 hr. bus to Siena center city. We found the city "down the hill" to be very congested with traffic and apartment complexes. Finding parking was very difficult even early in the morning.
We liked staying out in the countryside better, with less traffic and hassle. And agriturismos are much cheaper than hotels in the city.
Posted by
Ann Arbor, Mi
3696 posts
On two different trips I tried to stop in Siena with my car and it was a mess of confusion for me, as well as congested with buses as well. It was pre-GPS, but I had no problem finding places to park in numerous other cities, but after driving around and back and forth and trying to figure it out, I gave up and went to San G. I was alone the first time so thought I just wasn't paying close enough attention. Second time I was with two other people and we still were not successful, so we just moved on. Not that I want to discourage anyone... maybe with exact directions it would be easier. Next time I will take a bus or train to visit Siena.
Posted by
atlanta, ga, United States
13 posts
The parking sround Siena is very well organized. You can not drive into the areas within the centro storico, the area inside the medieval walls. But there are lots and/or garages at all of the entrances or portas surrounding the city. From these parking areas it is an easy walk into the center.