Siena Walking Tour with Contrada Museum and Ice Cream Tasting
Siena, Italy
Rating: 
Trip Type: Walking Tours
Duration: 90 minutes
Siena is the Tuscan town of the ‘palio,’ a famous horse race that takes place in the city square twice a year. It’s also home to 17 ‘contrade,’ distinct neighborhoods whose proud residents boast that their contrada is the best and compete against one another in the palio. This 90-minute tour combines an enlightening walk around the famous square, a visit to the Contrada Museum, an insider’s look at a contrada and a gelato-making excursion all in one. See a side of Siena many outsiders don’t see.
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Siena is the Tuscan town of the ‘palio,’ a famous horse race that takes place in the city square twice a year. It’s also home to 17 ‘contrade,’ distinct neighborhoods whose proud residents boast that their contrada is the best and compete against one another in the palio. This 90-minute tour combines an enlightening walk around the famous square, a visit to the Contrada Museum, an insider’s look at a contrada and a gelato-making excursion all in one. See a side of Siena many outsiders don’t see.Beautiful, bewitching Siena, a town with a longstanding rivalry against Florence, is a sight to behold. The red brick that most of the buildings are made from is a Crayola crayon color. Siena is made up of 17 neighborhoods, and this tour uses an introduction to one contrada to give you a sense of the whole city.
This 90-minute tour starts in the main square, the Piazza del Campo. Your guide will regale you with stories about the palio and paint a picture of the exciting chaos that goes on before, during and after the race. The tall bell tower, or campanile? That spawned a local word that all Italians use: campanalismo, a devotion to one’s community.
From the Piazza del Campo, head to the Contrada Museum, which puts the neighborhoods into historical context and explains the differences between them. Stroll through one of the contradas and learn how it’s distinct from its neighbors. Get a sense of how proud its denizens are of their neighborhood. The feeling for one’s contrada is so strong, in fact, that in some cases it’s a scandal if a person marries outside his or her contrada.
After a stroll around the neighborhood, head to a gelato shop, where you’ll learn from an expert gelato maker how the famous Italian ice cream is made. The tour ends with a gelato tasting. Buon appetito!
This 90-minute tour starts in the main square, the Piazza del Campo. Your guide will regale you with stories about the palio and paint a picture of the exciting chaos that goes on before, during and after the race. The tall bell tower, or campanile? That spawned a local word that all Italians use: campanalismo, a devotion to one’s community.
From the Piazza del Campo, head to the Contrada Museum, which puts the neighborhoods into historical context and explains the differences between them. Stroll through one of the contradas and learn how it’s distinct from its neighbors. Get a sense of how proud its denizens are of their neighborhood. The feeling for one’s contrada is so strong, in fact, that in some cases it’s a scandal if a person marries outside his or her contrada.
After a stroll around the neighborhood, head to a gelato shop, where you’ll learn from an expert gelato maker how the famous Italian ice cream is made. The tour ends with a gelato tasting. Buon appetito!
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