See the top sights in Siena without the hassle of a guidebook or map with this small-group walking tour through the medieval old town. Join your guide for a stroll along picturesque historic lanes to take in landmarks like the Piazza del Campo, Basilica of San Domenico, and Sanctuary of St. Catherine of Siena. Opt to add on a visit to the city’s magnificent Cathedral, rich in artworks by Renaissance masters.

Visit Siena with a guide to delve into the city’s history and architecture
Learn about the famed Palio horse race and the traditions surrounding it
Take in the most important attractions in the city in under two hours
Cathedral add-on to marvel at works by Michelangelo, Donatello, and Bernini

What's Included

Licensed local guide
Visit the historic centre of Siena

Cathedral's ticket. Can be purchased onsite
Contrada Museum. Donation starting from 5 euros per person, to be paid cash onsite

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

Basilica Cateriniana San Domenico
Piazza S. Domenico, 1, 53100 Siena SI, Italy
Meet the guide in front of the Basilica San Domenico, under the big tree

End point

Duomo di Siena
Piazza del Duomo, 8, 53100 Siena SI, Italy
The tour will finish in front of the Cathedral or inside if you choose the tour with the Cathedral option.

What To Expect

Basilica Cateriniana Di S. Domenico

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Chiesa del Santuario di Santa Caterina

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Palazzo Tolomei

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Piazza del Campo

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Battistero di San Giovanni

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Cripta del Duomo di Siena (Pass By)

Duomo di Siena

40 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Wear comfortable shoes and be ready for any weather conditions
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed

Near public transportation
Transportation is wheelchair accessible
It is not possible to visit the Cathedral on Sunday morning (it opens at 1pm)
Most travelers can participate
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveler Photos

Traveler Tips

Very good all-round summary of Siena main areas with visit to cathedral -a must.

Reviews

4.5

133 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 133 reviews

Federica was perfect and...

Brooke_M, Apr 2023

Federica was perfect and knew the city so well. Her love for it showed and made us fall even more in love with it.

Ludovica is an exceptional guide, super knowledgeable. Worth every penny. Highly recommended.

Albert_K, Apr 2023

our trip to Sienna was very enjoyable with the help of Ludovica’s guidance. Wished we spent more time in sienna

Neighborhoods come to life

Sara_S, Oct 2022

Our walk through Siena brought the town and its customs to life. Our guide was engaging and personable as well as informative.

Terrific orientation Siena

Kirk_J, Oct 2022

We loved learning about the contradas...it explained so much about what we we seeing in the city. The depth of our guide's knowledge of the city, history and culture was amazing.

A good guide to Siena!

Hira_S, Sep 2022

Alora! We thorougly enjoyed this tour, a useful introduction to Siena! Our guide was very knowledgeable!

Great Tour + Perfect amount of Time

Jana_S, Sep 2022

Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable and took the time to answer many questions. It was the perfect amount of time and complimented our trip.

Unfortunately cannot recommend it

Olga_D, Jul 2022

We did the tour a few days ago and unfortunately cannot recommend it. The guide is knowledgeable, but not engaging at all. Essentially, she reads a textbook aloud, without any connection to the group. We had other guides in other cities and you could feel that they loved doing what they do. This guide in Siena clearly does not. Paying 25€ per person up front was a bad decision. Pick a Free Walking Tour if you can, as those guides are generally more motivated, given that you pay them at the end. The tour was informative, but we cannot recommend it.

Even though the tour was not the one I originally booked, the one I performed was great,

Agustina_G, Jun 2022

The original tour I had booked was cancelled but the operator gave me the option to do another one in the afternoon. The guide, Elena, was great, she gave us a lot of information about the city. She was always open to answer questions.

Siena is a lovely city....

lassegul, Jun 2022

Siena is a lovely city. This tour had a very informative guidance. I recommend it to others who wants to learn more about the city's culture and history.

Bad Guide

Michle_H, Jun 2022

The guide made this tour so anoying that we didn’t really enjoy Sienna. She spoke without energy and the tour had almost no content, as of we were young children. Avoid this tour!

Worth the time!

Thomas_L, Jun 2022

The guide in Siena was ok. The one we had in Bologna was great. She could have talked more and not included so many personal information. We overall learned a few things and it was a good experience. Have had better tour guides.

Siena's past and current life.

Marty_S, Jun 2022

The guide was excellent She really knew her history of Siena. She related how the city brings mideaval concepts to how it's neighborhoods operate to this day. Her English was excellent. The only minor flaw was with the radio transmission. It was better to turn off the radio and just listen to her speaking voice.

Lovely Siena

Sheila_K, Jun 2022

Hearing about the local aspect of life in Siena as well as the history. Our guide was very helpful and informative.

Best Siena Walking Tour

francho, May 2022

This tour was fabulous. The tour guide knows all kinds of important information about Siena including history and fun facts. She also takes you on routes through the city that steer clear from the crowds. Include the Cathedral tour with the walking tour. She recommended a great place for lunch off the beaten path. Highly recommend!

Not as expected.

martin_m, May 2022

Ann showed up late due to not being able to find parking spot, which is understandable but caused people in the group to have to leave early in order to stay on their plans. Too much time (20 min)on Palio explanation before the tour began. Did not get full time advertised.

Siena is a love a first sight

Ana_D, May 2022

Shaklo is a knowledgeable guide and was able to present the uniqueness of Sienese life and strong sense of community in an entertaining and enjoyable way. I definitely fell in love with Siena because of her!

Guided tour the best way to go.

Matthew_K, Apr 2022

Our gide Ludvica was absolutly awesome. She was so knowledgeable, funny and passonate about her job. My wife and I had the best time and learned so much.

Do the tour, but not through Viator

Doug, Mar 2022

Our tour guide was energetic, interesting, and full of good information. We enjoyed the tour so much! I would highly recommend a tour of Siena because there is so much going on here that is beyond the imagination. I have traveled the world but never would have appreciated the local culture without our wonderful guide. The one irritating problem was that Aviator outsources its tours to other local companies. They are simply a middle man. On the night before we were to meet our tour guide, we received a WhatsApp message at 10:40 PM changing the location of where we were supposed to meet for the tour in the morning. We never got the message, of course. We showed up at the appointed area we had been directed to meet, but no one was there. The tour guide called us long distance to find out where we were after the tour was supposed to start. Luckily, my wife and I were the only two people on the tour and she walked halfway across town to meet us rather than call the whole tour off. The tour started 30 minutes late, but to our guide’s credit, It was not her fault that the location was changed from the print out we had received after booking the tour. I do not know what local companies offer walking towards of Siena, but I would not book through Aviator again. I will do a more homework and book through a local agency.

Discover Siena

tomascerda95, Mar 2022

Super enthusiastic guide who, as a local, knew all the little and valuable details about Siena, with all its traditions. I really enjoyed the tour, the 2 hours flew by. I recommend it very much.

Great tour for kids!

Kimberly_T, Feb 2022

Shaklo was terrific! She brought a lot of energy and made the tour engaging for my 5 kids. We’ll be talking about Siena for a long time to come :)

Response from Host, Mar 2022

Thank you very much :) We really appreciate that you had a great experience with our guide Shaklo! We hope to see you in Siena very soon :)

Fantastic walking tour!

Giulia_Z, Feb 2022

Ludovica was an incredible guide! She explained everything in such an enthusiastic and precise way, we were blown away by her knowledge and kindness! We will recommend this walking tour to everyone

Response from Host, Mar 2022

Thank you very much! We are very happy to know that you had a great experience with our guide Ludovica! We hope to see you in Siena very soon :)

Great Overview of Siena

Karen_G, Nov 2021

This was a very comprehensive tour in a relatively short period of time. It was great to have details about Siena that are not in guide books. The guide was very knowledgeable about a variety of subjects and was able to answer questions about different issues. My only criticism was that there was confusion about the meeting place but that was sorted out without losing any of the tour time.

Response from Host, Mar 2022

Thank you very much! We are very happy to know that you had a great experience with our guide! We hope to see you in Siena very soon :)

Highlights of the Walking Tour of Siena

Lorenzo_L, Nov 2021

Excellent historical perspective including time line of key events and their link to the existing structures in the town. Clear description of artistic aspects of the contents of the Duomo.

Response from Host, Mar 2022

Thank you very much! We are very happy to know that you had a great experience with our guide! We hope to see you in Siena very soon :)

Informative Tour Guide

Alisha_C, Oct 2021

Our tour guide was very friendly and extremely knowledgeable. Learning about the history of the local horse race, the ‘Palio’ was fascinating. I had no idea of the historical importance of the event and was intrigued to locate all the symbols linked to each of the 17 ‘contradas’ that were visible around the city. Having our guide accompany our group into the cathedral was also great, as we learnt so much more about the building and art work than we would have if we just visited on our own. Thank you for a very informative tour, it was the highlight of our visit to Siena!

Response from Host, Mar 2022

Thank you very much! We are very happy to know that you had a great experience with our guide! We hope to see you in Siena very soon :)

Not really all that

Daniel_K, Sep 2021

Just ok. Carlotta was nice, but was very longwinded. We literally (no, really, I timed it) spent 32 minutes at the beginning standing in Piazza Campo talking about the famous horse race. Of course this is a big part of Siena's story, but it's not something to hold a group's attention for so long. This was more of a tour you could take in a classroom as we only went to one church as part of the tour and another which was extra (and we knew it was extra, which was fine). I just don't think I saw or learned much.

Fantastic tour of Siena

Erica_C, Sep 2021

Excellent and informative tour by Anna, we thoroughly enjoyed our time learning the history, politics, religion and culture of Siena. Anna totally went above and beyond to ensure we saw the best of Siena. I can’t recommend her enough, probably my favorite tour guide in years!!

Layers of past and current culture. giulia is a fabulous guide!

ROBERT_F, Sep 2021

giulia was an amazing guide. she did a fabulous job of explaining the layers of siena art, culture, and history in an engaging, approachable manor. we especially enjoyed her explanation of the Palio and it’s influence on everyday life in siena. it is SO much more than a horse race!

Higly recommened

Eva_M, Aug 2021

The tour was a great experience to visit Siena and understand all its tradition, history and culture. Ambra made it interesting and funny, plus she gave us many tips too. Thanks 😊

Wow Tour! One of the best

VANESSA_H, Jul 2021

We want to say a HUGE thank you to Francesca who is a local Sienan and had amazing insights into the city. Extremely knowledgeable and friendly and answered so many questions. The contrada history was particularly important as we ended up going back to the “Owl” museum the following day and made our entire trip. Thank you 10/10

Highly recommended tour

DrAdamR_G, May 2021

Very good all-round summary of Siena main areas with visit to cathedral -a must. Ludovica was a charming and excellent guide. We took the detailed cathedral option Highly Recommended!

Response from Host, Jun 2021

Thank you very much for your beautiful review. We are very happy to know that you had a great experience with our guide Ludovica! We hope to see you one day again, for a next experience together!