Staying in Sienna

Libby, I'd recommend staying up in the city, rather than by the train station. I don't often have a car and getting to the station in Siena is not difficult. I normally use a Taxi, but I believe there's a Bus also. Happy travels!

The charm of Siena is all around the historic center, not the train station. Most tourists to Siena don't have cars and yet still manage to stay in the center. Per Wikitravel: The train station in Siena is located approximately 2 km from Siena's historical centre, a five minute bus ride - buses leave regularly from Piazza del Sale. Buses numbers 3, 8, 10, 17, 77 leave from the station to Piazza del Sale and bus #17 departs from Piazza del Sale for the train station. If you don't mind walking uphill, you can also walk to the centre in about 20-30 minutes: Exit the train station, turn left, walk past the bus park and then uphill, bearing right at the traffic circle, staying on the road called Viale Giuseppe Manzini. When this road sharply bends to the right, follow the curve around where the road becomes Via Garibaldi, which will take you into the city. http://wikitravel.org/en/Siena

Libby, I haven't seen them yet, but I understand there's now a series of Escalators that travel from the city centre down to the train station (through a shopping centre). Have a look at This Video for a look at it. The video is about 9-minutes long and not the best quality, but it provides some idea on the travel route. Travel time on the Escalators is reportedly about 5-minutes from what I can determine. Cheers!

We were in Siena in May and stayed in the old city for 5 nights. No need to stay near the train station. We took a bus - across from train station in the lower level of the shopping mall and it dropped us off a 5 min walk from our hotel. You can use google maps to find directions using public transportation and it will tell you which bus to get on an the times. It was all very convienent. It was our first time in Italy.

Ken, thanks for the great info on the escalators. I'm curious to know where they exit into Siena...any idea?

Any suggestions for places to stay? Love to hear some recommendations.

Sorry, Libby, I was so excited about the escalators! Over the years depending on who was with me I have stayed at Palazzo Masi-2010 (fantastic location, wonderful Alizzardo & Daniela!); Albergo Bernini-2002 (great location, fantastic view terrace), Il Chiostro del Carmine-2007 (farther out than we like but fantastic, fun stay, very nice staff). This year we're looking forward to staying at Alma Domus. A high priority for our hotels is being in the middle of everything.
In the past (again depending on who was with me) we took a taxi from the train station into town. I have taken the bus from Florence to Siena but prefer the train due to feeling car sick!

Libby, Don't over look "Alma Domus" for lodging, Perfect location...walking distance to everything. What a pleasent surprise! WONDERFUL breakfast room! Had concerns since it was only 75euro....would stay again in a heart beat. Only twin beds? No longer true! We didn't have a car traveled all of Italy by bus and train.

Thanks for your info. I will look into your suggestions. We are really excited about our trip.

I just watched the escalator video. It records the entire trip which, if you stand still the whole time, takes about 9 minutes and passes through a shopping mall. Putting the video and Google Street View together, it looks to me that the escalator is readily visible from the air and Street View. If I have it right, the top is on viale V. Emanuele next to Parrochia S. Petronilla, near a bus stop, more than a mile from Piazza del Campo.

I think you're right Otariidae. (It looks like at the time the google street view van took the pictures, the escalators were still under construction?) Good detective work! So that would be a little over a mile as the crow flies, but much more than a mile if you're walking those crazy, winding streets.