Gastronomy
Sienese restaurants are rather expensive, especially if you want to eat on Campo , but it must be said, that the meal in the square is worth those extra few thousand lire. Cheaper premises are better to look for a little outside the center, for example, west towards Santa Maria del Carmine or north towards Porta Camollia. The following recommendations are arranged in order of rising prices:
Mensa Universitaria, via Sant'Agata l (12.00-14.00 i 18.45-21.00; VIII closed.). A meal in the university canteen costs 8000 L, spaghetti dishes much less. It's a little hidden, on the extension via G. Dupre, below San Agostino.
II Barbero. Piazza del Campo 80-81 (12.00-14.30 i 19.00-22.00). Admittedly, we warned about the prices on Campo, but this is a glorious exception self-service restaurant with low prices for this standard.
Nuova Donzelle. via delle Donzelle 1 (nd. closed.). Not a very exciting place, but a meal in the restaurant of backpackers' favorite hotel costs 14000 L. Just north of Campo.
Carlo e Franca, via di Pantaneto 1216. Unpretentious café-type establishment with generous portions of pizza and spaghetti at very reasonable prices.
San Marco, via San Marco 48 (closed. Nd.); Vecchia Osteria, via San Marco 8; La Mantellina, Piano dei Montellini 2 pn. (closed.). Three places with local cuisine in a part of the city behind Santa Maria del Carmine. Full meals from 11 000 L.
Pizzeria Braceria, Piazza del Mercato. Impressive pizzas and stunning views of the city and the surrounding countryside to the south and to the back of Palazzo Pubblico.
Trattoria da Dino, via Casato di Sopra 71 (near Pinacoteca; closed. Pt.). Full meals from 17000 L, including several exotic and traditional specialties.
AUa Speranza, Piazza II Campo 33-34 (closed. Wed.). The best place for a meal under the sky at Campo, with good, not very cheap food. A memorable experience.
Osteria le Logge, via del Porrione 33 (near Logge del Papa, east of Campo; closed. Nd.). Very popular trattoria with tasty food, in an old and beautiful farmacia. Perfect spaghetti and some unusual secondi. About 24000 L for a full meal.
Cane e Gatto, via Pagliaresi 6 (*220751; closed. Wed). It can be an expensive restaurant, if you decide on a full feast — seven divine dishes for about 35 000 L plus wine, but the quality is high, and the set and prices can be discussed with the waiter. It is a nice place, although unfortunately it does not have a printed menu.
Pizza by weight can be bought at via delle Terme 10 and in well-stocked delicatessen, Pizzicheria Morbidi, at Banchi di Sotto 27. Provisions can also be purchased in the market hall south of Campo in Piazza del Marcato, and on Wednesday mornings there is a big market at La Lizza, below the fortress.
Ice cream in Siena is bought at one end of the passeggiata – or in Nannini, at the end of Banchi di Sopra from Piazza Matteotti, or in Gelateria Artigiani, just outside Campo on the corner of via di Citta and via dei Pellegrini. The Sienese specialty is panforte, thick and delicious nut cake, dried fruit and honey, reminiscent of kutia; fresh can be bought in etto, and less tasty, Packed, in any of the pasticcerie at Banchi di Sopra.
For a drink, it's best to go to one of the nice bars located in most of the contrade – on via del Porrione, southeast of Campo, there are several, as in via Camollia, north of Piazza Matteotti. You can watch the matches of the Italian football league on Sunday evening in the Video Bar at via del Pantaneto 85, where you can sit down with beer and pizza in front of the big screen.
And finally, for those interested in tasting Italian wines, in the fortress is Enoteca. In the cellar exhibited all the same types of wine produced in the country, and in the bar they can be ordered for lamps (wines to 25 000 L per bottle) or bottles.
Communication
The easiest way to leave Siena is by bus. From San Domenico Station, the Lazzi and Tra-In lines connect to destinations throughout the province — every half hour to Poggibonsi (to San Gimignano you need to buy a ticket with a change) and six times a day to Montalcino and Montepulciano. Lazzi also has lines to Florence (drive diretto, which takes 1 time; buses marked "Via Strove" go almost 3 time.) and regular services to Massa Marittima, Volterra and Rome (tickets must be purchased in advance).
Trains are less comfortable, because they move more slowly, and you have to go to the station by bus (see "arrival"). However, Siena has a connection to the Florence-Pisa via Empoli line., of Grosseto (and from there to Rome) in the southwest; there is also a beautiful side line to the southeast via Asciano and San Giovanni d'Asso – from the small ignitions you can go to Monte 0liveto Maggiore.
If you want to have your own transport to explore the province around Siena and it is one of the most beautiful in the country – you can rent a car and scooter at Autonoleggi Intercar Eurodrive on via San Marco 96 (41148).