Sienna or Lucca for a Day Trip?

And happy holidays right back at you!
Not sure why you would want to spend a day in a Sienna. But a day in Siena would be wonderful. Yep, Sienna is a car, Siena is the city. Now that you mention staying overnight, I'd still pick Siena. It's an easy bus ride from Florence (station is just across the street from the Santa Maria Novella train station. There's much to see if you like museums and churches and views, and shops. It does change very much at night when most of the day-tourists are gone. There are wonderful places to eat and the Campo is a great place for a late night drink (or for people watching before dinner).
All that said, I also love Lucca. Both places deserve more than 24 hours but if you have to go to only one - I vote for Siena.
We're all dreaming about getting back to Italy!

Same,Siena.

I love Lucca, it just has such a great feel to it - so "livable" The original late medieval walls are wide and turned into a park surrounding the city. The main Piazza follows the shape of the old Roman Antitheatre. Lucca possible lacks the "headline sights" of other Italian cities, it is largely pedestrianised and has great shops and restaurants - it is probably my second favourite city in Italy. If you are limited for time, Lucca can be combined with Pisa for a daytrip (the two are only 20-30 minutes apart by train)

Unfortunately, Lucca loses out to my favourite city on the planet - Siena. If I won the lottery, I would piossibly move there. The Duomo is stunning, the Piccolomini library within is marvellous - but to me, the greatest joy is just sitting in the main piazza (where they hold the Palio) watching the people.

In short, I'd recommend Siena - but you are unlikely to be disappointed whichever you choose.

Tough call, but if you only have time for one or the other then I agree that Siena has to be the choice ... especially if you're able to stay over for at least one night. As was mentioned, the place changes dramatically once the last of the day trippers depart around 5 PM. After that it's a pleasure to wander the ancient neighborhoods at your leisure, generally soaking things in while sorting thru the scores of great options for dinner.
Plan to rise early and further explore the beautiful city as it awakes ... before the crowds start to arrive around 9 AM.

My two cents: Like everyone else has said, you can't go wrong with either one. They're both about an hour and 20 minutes by train from Florence. Walking, or biking, along the short (3 mile) ramparts of the wall surround Lucca is really beautiful and provides great views of the City and the countryside and the mountains in the distance. It's great for people watching. The City itself is very pedestrian friendly and has so much charm. It's smaller than Sienna, too and feels "more comfortable." Even if you're not a Puccini fan, seeing his house or attending short (1hour) concerts by local performers in the Church is a very worthwhile experience. Sienna is also very beautiful and also easily walkable. A bit more to see, too. I suspect its more crowded, as well. If forced to choose, whether for a day trip or a full night, I'd probably take Sienna as its Cathedral is really magnificent.

Best of luck. . . ..

Definitely Lucca.
Way less tourists, some charming churches, lovely cafes and restaurants…..and the wall encircling the entire medieval centre.

Siena doer a day trip. Save Lucca for a longer stay.

I vote exactly the opposite of Suki. Lucca for a day trip. Siena deserves at least an overnight stay, particularly because it is at its best in the evening and early morning. Lucca also has fewer "sights." It's a delightful walking around city, and renting a bike to ride the walls is a must. At the end of the day, when you're on the train back to Florence, you will have a smile on your face. If you try to do Siena in a day trip, you'll have to rush around and deal with crowds just to hit the highlights, and you'll ride back to Florence in a daze (or doze).

Spend the night in Sienna if this is your first time in Italy. Lots to see in this historic city. Next trip take time in Lucca and side visit to Pisa. After 5 trips to Italy I still have many places to visit. Lucca and Pisa can be part of a trip through Tuscany and Umbria next time.

A lot of good recommendations up thread to contemplate. Our favorite tour of Italy was in 2006. It was a culinary tour called “The Taste of Tuscany.” We toured both Tuscany & Umbria. We started in Florence. We did day tours to both Lucca & Siena. We enjoyed Siena the most. It’s rich in monuments, palaces and churches. Enjoyed the Piazza del Campo and imagined the Palio (horse race between the city’s contrade). We were based at Castello Di Modenella (Siena) for 3 nights. It was a lovely cluster of Tuscan Farm houses, forming a small village and a beautiful 12th century castle. We each had our own apartment with kitchen. castellodimodanella.it
Enjoy your planning.

Been to both I prefer Siena. Also easy to get to by bus from Florence bus sta5ion.

I love both cities, but I would pick Sienna. Also, it is closer to Florence.

If I hadn't been to either one yet, I would go to Siena (one 'n') first because I like history and Siena being much larger has much grander things to see which appeal to me. The Duomo, Baptistery of San Giovanni, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Piazza del Campo (main square), Palazzo Pubblico (town hall), with its massively tall tower, Torre del Mangia. Santa Maria della Scala (museum/hospital/pilgrims hostel), Cateriniana Basilica of San Domenico, the city walls still standing and gates that really I never hear of anyone talking about. Siena is 2nd only to Florence is being one of the two major city-states that shaped Tuscany and what Tuscany is today so it's a powerhouse in the history of the region and in the big top 5 to see.

Lucca -the town of 100 churches, on the other hand, which I've also been to many times is wonderful but being smaller and less historically it would be on my see after Siena list as it's on the lower tier historically compared to Siena which looms large on the scene of history of Italy. Lucca's walls are the opposite of Siena in that they are the star attraction of this city. It's called the Passeggiata delle Mura Urbane, and has been turned into a green belt around the city to walk or rent a bike and loop around the 2 1/2 miles for a wonderful travel experience. All of Lucca's sights are smaller and much less grand than Siena and for many, that's the appeal. The Duomo of San Martino is less grand but still historic and you can go to the top of its bell tower which you can't do in Siena. The Torre delle Ore - Tower of the Hours you can climb also and from there you can see the other famous tower the Guinigi tower and it's oak trees growing on top. You can go to the Piazza dell’Anfiteatro and notice it's oval shape since there used to be a Roman amphitheater there. One you remove both citie's duomos from the list, there are more interesting churches to see in Lucca than in Siena if that's your thing. We never go to Lucca without a stop at the Cioccolateria Caniparoli, our favorite sweet shop in Lucca.

So I can only tell you what I would do based on what I like, what you like you have not said, other than a slight reference to aversion to crowds which can be present at both cities and will be proportional because of their size. Both of them are high on the day-tripper itinerary so both will transform after 5pm when most of the tourists disappear. It's Tuscany so there is no wrong choice, only a choice based on what's important to you which really is a bit of a mystery.

We have been to both cities and enjoyed them both. For one day I guess I’d choose Siena as it has much to offer. The medieval cityscape was captivating. In Lucca we wandered, rode bikes on the wall, had a lovely lunch (the waiter gave us free grappa...a memory cemented in my otherwise porous head) and added Pisa at the last minute while waiting for the train back to Florence. We had been to Pisa many years earlier so a quick revisit was fun and easy after decades absent. From Florence we took the bus to Siena and took the trains for our Lucca/Pisa day trip. Safe travels.

Both great places to visit but Siena is my favorite city in Italy -- on our very first trip to Europe together about 40 years ago my husband and I rented a little place about 10 miles outside Siena in a small village. And on our first Sat night with no food available in the village, we drove to Siena for dinner -- and were just thrilled with the city. In the evening there is the evening stroll on the streets around the Campo and the Campo is IMHO the most lovely square in Italy. We had dinner as walk ins at La Logge and so were seated at a communal table and enjoyed the evening with people speaking different languages from different places -- it was fun. Most of us had two languages so there was a sort of stitchwork of translating for each other. It was fun and the food was good.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/climbing-the-torre-mangia-at-67/
The Cathedral is jaw dropping -- I had seen many northern gothic cathedrals but had never seen anything like the ornate splendor of the Siena Cathedral. We were there on a day when the floor was entirely uncovered and we could see the many scenes from the bible in stone -- just wonderful -- but even when the floor is covered, two or three of the pictures are left open to view. And the rest of the building is incredible.

I climbed the Torre Mangia probably for the last time a few years ago:

If you can manage this, do it -- it is really quite a stunning thing to do and the view is incredible. You can buy a ticket that allows the tower climb and tour of the town hall and definitely do that. In the town hall there is a gorgeous painting of the madona i.e. Martini's Maesta. There is also the justly famous murals of good and bad government by Lorrenzeti. There is a snapshot of one section of the mural in these snapshots of the Tuscan countryside: https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/patterns/. Just those two things, the Maesta and the mural are worth the price of admission.

On one trip I got up early and strolled some of the contradi near the Campo and took pictures of their contrada symbols. In addition to symbols like the elephant or snail each contrada has a fountain in its district. And on many of our visits there have been various ceremonies related to the church or to the medieval pageantry of the Palio. I would never attend the Palio -- we hate crowds -- but we were pleased to be in the Campo when they chose the contradi that would race that summer -- they draw cards (A limited number can race and there are 20 Contradi -- so only a subset are chosen for each race). They stuck the banners of the contradi out the front of the town hall to let people know which districts would be racing in the next race.

Siena is gorgeous. We like to stay centrally and the Palazzo Ravizza and the Athena both have parking and are a walk to the Campo. The Athena is more modern and cheaper; if you use them be sure to arrange parking as they have limited availability and also request a high room with view out over the countryside -- it is like something from a renaissance painting. If you are in Florence, Siena is a bus ride away -- about an hour and several times a day. We always just checked the return times at the bus stop in the historic center of Siena where we were dropped off and then returned to catch the second to last bus, so if we missed, we still had one. but Siena is well worth spending a night -- it is lovely in the evening -- we have twice had a drink on the Campo under a full moon -- very romantic and memorable.

Definitely Siena. One of my favorite cities anywhere. Day trip good. Overnight even better.
Lucca was nice, not really comparable to Siena though.

Just reading through the posts - and Mike wrote "Siena being much larger" - you might be surprised to find Lucca is quite a bit bigger.
Population close to 90,000 as opposed to around 55,000 for Siena (it surprised me as well when I was told - Pisa is bigger than both).

How do the sizes and populations compare if you only count the area inside the old city walls?

Tough one, I love both. You are just going to have to go back to Italy another time to go to which ever town you don't get to this time!

Hi Tim,

Most of what us tourists are counting as where we want to prowl in Italian towns like Lucca and Siena is the historic centers, what we call the 'old town' sections. The majority of populations typically live outside these areas so a city's population may or may not be a good indicator of the size of the old town. I think of Lucca's old town being smaller than Siena's, especially as Lucca's is so compact situated in basically an oval while Siena's is spread out over the two hills with fingers like an octopus making the area of old town larger.

Both are worthwhile. Siena has more "highlights", but one day does not do it justice! Lucca is a smaller town - there's less to visit so you can relax and enjoy the visit rather than try to cram everything in during a 1 day visit to Siena.

Also, Pisa is on the train line from Florence to Lucca - perhaps 20 minutes further than Lucca. You may consider a day trip to Pisa and visit the highlights there.

David

just to add my two cents, with one day it is a difficult choice, one that you can't go wrong with. I think on the last weekend of the month (I could be wrong on the weekend) there is an antique market throughout Lucca and it's fun to stroll and see what's for sale. Lucca is much more laid back than Siena but both are fabulous. If you have a car and more than a night, I highly recommend Agriturismo Marciano in Siena. I spent 5 heavenly nights there a few years back and then sent my brother and his wife and friends there the next year.