Palio di Siena
Palio di Siena
4.5
About
Twice a year, in July and August, the wide Piazza del Campo in the centre of Siena is transformed into a horse racetrack. 17 different 'contrade' neighbourhoods are represented by decorated silk flags and compete to win the coveted 'Drappellone' prize. There are also historical costumed parades that take place before the race.
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- Steve M4 contributionsAugust 2023 Palio and Contrada DinnerI purchased 2 balcony tickets for the August 2023 Palio and could not be more happy. The tickets were just as described. I also bought tickets to a contrada dinner and, to my surprise, Jacopo was seated at our table. I got Jacopo’s name from friends in Siena that knew him personally so I never doubted my transaction would have problems. Had I not had this connection I can understand how some people would be leery of making such a large purchase from a website that they had no prior knowledge of. Now that the Palio is over I can honestly say Jacopo seemed like a warm, friendly person that genuinely cares about his customers and the Palio. You are in good hands with Jacopo. I highly recommend him.Visited August 2023Travelled with familyWritten 17 August 2023
- LSQRD1Kent, Ohio807 contributionsA whole lot of peopleIn the interest of full disclosure, our experience was only possible because we know several people in one of the contradas. Thus, we had the whole experience from the trial to the dinner to the blessing of the horse to the race. It was a lot to take in and seeing it through the eyes of our local colleagues gave just a small picture into the cultural experience. Standing in the slopped campo for several hours was a challenge (trapped among sooo many people with no bathroom) and it is really, really crowded. Fortunately, the experience of others paid off as we were in the shade. One tip--bottles with lids are not allowed so bring water but not a lid. Overall, the experience was a lot..I am glad I did it but not sure I would do it again. The contrada dinner was definitely the highlight for me.Visited June 2023Written 20 August 2023
- Cosmopolitan7942981 contributionTuscan Team arranged a perfect Palio experience for usAlessandro and the folks at Tuscan Team arranged a perfect Palio experience for us. I must admit that I was a little scared about arranging and paying for the whole thing on a website from California, 6,000 miles and 9 time zones away. In the end I was happy that I took the plunge. In addition to obtaining amazing seats to view the Palio he arranged a city tour, a Contrada dinner, and reservations for dinner after the Palio. Just a word of note, if you are claustrophobic, like me, the balcony has a great view but is a bit cramped.Visited August 2023Travelled with friendsWritten 16 October 2023
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Cosmopolitan794298
1 contribution
Aug 2023 • Friends
Alessandro and the folks at Tuscan Team arranged a perfect Palio experience for us. I must admit that I was a little scared about arranging and paying for the whole thing on a website from California, 6,000 miles and 9 time zones away. In the end I was happy that I took the plunge. In addition to obtaining amazing seats to view the Palio he arranged a city tour, a Contrada dinner, and reservations for dinner after the Palio. Just a word of note, if you are claustrophobic, like me, the balcony has a great view but is a bit cramped.
Written 17 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
LSQRD1
Kent, OH807 contributions
Jun 2023
In the interest of full disclosure, our experience was only possible because we know several people in one of the contradas. Thus, we had the whole experience from the trial to the dinner to the blessing of the horse to the race. It was a lot to take in and seeing it through the eyes of our local colleagues gave just a small picture into the cultural experience. Standing in the slopped campo for several hours was a challenge (trapped among sooo many people with no bathroom) and it is really, really crowded. Fortunately, the experience of others paid off as we were in the shade. One tip--bottles with lids are not allowed so bring water but not a lid. Overall, the experience was a lot..I am glad I did it but not sure I would do it again. The contrada dinner was definitely the highlight for me.
Written 20 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Steve M
4 contributions
Aug 2023 • Family
I purchased 2 balcony tickets for the August 2023 Palio and could not be more happy. The tickets were just as described. I also bought tickets to a contrada dinner and, to my surprise, Jacopo was seated at our table. I got Jacopo’s name from friends in Siena that knew him personally so I never doubted my transaction would have problems. Had I not had this connection I can understand how some people would be leery of making such a large purchase from a website that they had no prior knowledge of. Now that the Palio is over I can honestly say Jacopo seemed like a warm, friendly person that genuinely cares about his customers and the Palio. You are in good hands with Jacopo. I highly recommend him.
Written 17 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dave R
Williamsport, PA11 contributions
Aug 2023 • Friends
I’ve been to remarkable Siena and Italy 3 times. Fascinating history, geography, food, drink, people ( for the most part)
As a group of 8, we wanted to attend the 400 + year tradition of the Palio horse race with the awesome accompanying pageantry. We did so tonight. Fantastic pageantry but an experience that left a lot to be desired. It’s a 3- lap race on a track with numerous right angle turns. Can you imagine 10 horses running full speed and coming to 2 right angle corners and have to negotiate those turns? It’s a recipe for disaster. These are finely - tuned animals. It’s akin to running Buffalo off an unsuspecting cliff to their serious injury. The horses experience the track in preliminary trials but with 50,000 people and jockeys urging them on, there is no way a horse or 2 or 3 will not be seriously injured in those 90* plus turns at 40 mph!!! And that is what occurred tonight. It is one thing that jockeys consciously ride bareback, where many horses finish jockeyless. They make that decision while subjecting their horses to an unknown fate. The horses crash into a lightly padded wall at 40 mph and hope for the best outcome. Remember- 3 laps through 2 right angle turns each lap. 10 horses tonight and broken legs on 2 or 3 horses. Hoofs just dangling and those horses are so “ juiced up” and running on pure adrenaline that they exert themselves to finish the race with broken legs!! Of course they were sacrificed after the race. AWEFUL and I’m not an animal rights guru, but have at least a modicum of thought toward a fellow mammal.
It’s like playing American football without a helmet and expecting no serious injuries after 4 quarters. Impossible. At least we don’t shoot to death the “ACL’s and the separated shoulders and concussed athletes.
This 400- years of The Palio will no doubt go
on for hundreds more. It’s in the DNA of the contrada citizens.
Google The Palio and observe the “ start” of the race. What a joke that is. As a doctor I will
tell you that the horses are totally, physiologically exhausted by the time the gun sends them to their fate. None has the physical ability to adroitly negotiate the 90* turns, especially at 40mph. Can you say inertia, momentum, centrifugal force?!
I may return to Siena but I urge you to think twice about attending The Palio.
As a group of 8, we wanted to attend the 400 + year tradition of the Palio horse race with the awesome accompanying pageantry. We did so tonight. Fantastic pageantry but an experience that left a lot to be desired. It’s a 3- lap race on a track with numerous right angle turns. Can you imagine 10 horses running full speed and coming to 2 right angle corners and have to negotiate those turns? It’s a recipe for disaster. These are finely - tuned animals. It’s akin to running Buffalo off an unsuspecting cliff to their serious injury. The horses experience the track in preliminary trials but with 50,000 people and jockeys urging them on, there is no way a horse or 2 or 3 will not be seriously injured in those 90* plus turns at 40 mph!!! And that is what occurred tonight. It is one thing that jockeys consciously ride bareback, where many horses finish jockeyless. They make that decision while subjecting their horses to an unknown fate. The horses crash into a lightly padded wall at 40 mph and hope for the best outcome. Remember- 3 laps through 2 right angle turns each lap. 10 horses tonight and broken legs on 2 or 3 horses. Hoofs just dangling and those horses are so “ juiced up” and running on pure adrenaline that they exert themselves to finish the race with broken legs!! Of course they were sacrificed after the race. AWEFUL and I’m not an animal rights guru, but have at least a modicum of thought toward a fellow mammal.
It’s like playing American football without a helmet and expecting no serious injuries after 4 quarters. Impossible. At least we don’t shoot to death the “ACL’s and the separated shoulders and concussed athletes.
This 400- years of The Palio will no doubt go
on for hundreds more. It’s in the DNA of the contrada citizens.
Google The Palio and observe the “ start” of the race. What a joke that is. As a doctor I will
tell you that the horses are totally, physiologically exhausted by the time the gun sends them to their fate. None has the physical ability to adroitly negotiate the 90* turns, especially at 40mph. Can you say inertia, momentum, centrifugal force?!
I may return to Siena but I urge you to think twice about attending The Palio.
Written 16 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Diederik
1 contribution
Jul 2023
First of all, let me say it's definitely worth it to visit the Palio. Siena is worth visiting any time of the year, but the Palio is something else. Even though it is during tourist season it still is (and feels) a very local event. The people and athmosphere are amazing!
But this review is to help people considering booking with Jacopo Della Torre (as I was, last winter). I did read some other negative reviews, but his response was very well written, so I decided to trust him. I think if everything goes perfect, you'll be fine, but be sure that you have no rights if something goes wrong. Especially for the trial runs, his terms state: "in the rare event of cancellation of the one you have bought tickets for, tickets remain valid for the next one, possibly at 9am the following morning". Please note that this simply not true (as you can read below).
Prior to the Palio there is great and friendly email contact. You have to pay to a bank in Lithuania based in Hungary, which I though was a bit strange, but in the end the tickets were waiting for us at the hotel, just as promised. You are given a local phone number of his assistant, who you can contact during the Palio.
In reality the assistant doesn't always respond and you are not kept up to date. This is relevant, because sometimes (as in our case) the trail runs (and/or Palio itself) will be postponed because of the weather. We didn't hear anything so went at 9.00 in the morning to the square, to see that the trail run was cancelled. After that we met him briefly and he asked us to send him an email about a possible trial run later that night.
He will probably reply to this post explaining himself, but I disagree. You can judge for yourself based on his own words:
Jacopo: "Sorry, no chance for tonight. If the race is on, it's sold out. Tomorrow morning could be an option. Thanks for now and we talk later in case".
We heard nothing. After filing a complaint with him, he said he couldn't remember meeting us in person (this was 3 days after we met him). He will probably write a well written answer to this post justifying his actions, so I will leave to everyone to judge it based on his own words:
"Had you been more proactive, you would have been rescheduled as anyone else who indeed bothered contacting us also later on the day. After all, with all respect, I don't think that your day was as busy as mine, and nobody ever prevented you from contacting me or my team again during the day"
But this review is to help people considering booking with Jacopo Della Torre (as I was, last winter). I did read some other negative reviews, but his response was very well written, so I decided to trust him. I think if everything goes perfect, you'll be fine, but be sure that you have no rights if something goes wrong. Especially for the trial runs, his terms state: "in the rare event of cancellation of the one you have bought tickets for, tickets remain valid for the next one, possibly at 9am the following morning". Please note that this simply not true (as you can read below).
Prior to the Palio there is great and friendly email contact. You have to pay to a bank in Lithuania based in Hungary, which I though was a bit strange, but in the end the tickets were waiting for us at the hotel, just as promised. You are given a local phone number of his assistant, who you can contact during the Palio.
In reality the assistant doesn't always respond and you are not kept up to date. This is relevant, because sometimes (as in our case) the trail runs (and/or Palio itself) will be postponed because of the weather. We didn't hear anything so went at 9.00 in the morning to the square, to see that the trail run was cancelled. After that we met him briefly and he asked us to send him an email about a possible trial run later that night.
He will probably reply to this post explaining himself, but I disagree. You can judge for yourself based on his own words:
Jacopo: "Sorry, no chance for tonight. If the race is on, it's sold out. Tomorrow morning could be an option. Thanks for now and we talk later in case".
We heard nothing. After filing a complaint with him, he said he couldn't remember meeting us in person (this was 3 days after we met him). He will probably write a well written answer to this post justifying his actions, so I will leave to everyone to judge it based on his own words:
"Had you been more proactive, you would have been rescheduled as anyone else who indeed bothered contacting us also later on the day. After all, with all respect, I don't think that your day was as busy as mine, and nobody ever prevented you from contacting me or my team again during the day"
Written 12 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Trixi29
Marple, UK22 contributions
Aug 2023 • Family
Amazing! Absolutely a spectacle. What a wonderful lifetime experience. Siena is stunning and full of interesting history.
Written 5 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Teresa C
Metro Manila, Philippines1,520 contributions
Oct 2022
Pick up a drink at sunset and watch the sky change colour. Magic. One pays a little more these, but crowd observation is a nice activity.
Written 15 November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Timtravelsabout
London, UK50 contributions
Jul 2022 • Friends
We went to Italy with a group of friends to celebrate special birthday. On thursday before the palio we attended the race trials which are a series of trial starts to prepare for the horses for the large crowds on the day of the race.
The palio on saturday was spectacular with 10 horses racing for coveted banner or palio. Siena has 17 contratas which are the neighbourhood districts. We were part of the Lupa contrata (she wolf). The medieval style pagent begins the afternoon followed by the entrance of horses and jockeys who ride bareback. The race starts at 5.30 and consists of three laps around the famous Campo. The 2022 race was the first race after being cancelled because of the pandemic and our horse finished fourth. We had great seats on a balcony overlooking the campo that we bought a year in advance. The winner was drago of the dragon contrata. We had a great time but this race isnt for those who dont like crowds.
The palio on saturday was spectacular with 10 horses racing for coveted banner or palio. Siena has 17 contratas which are the neighbourhood districts. We were part of the Lupa contrata (she wolf). The medieval style pagent begins the afternoon followed by the entrance of horses and jockeys who ride bareback. The race starts at 5.30 and consists of three laps around the famous Campo. The 2022 race was the first race after being cancelled because of the pandemic and our horse finished fourth. We had great seats on a balcony overlooking the campo that we bought a year in advance. The winner was drago of the dragon contrata. We had a great time but this race isnt for those who dont like crowds.
Written 3 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bryan O
Cork18 contributions
Apr 2021 • Friends
July 2018. A bit late for a review but just to add to the positivity...it really lived up to my expectations. We stayed inside the walls - a bit expensive but well worth it for the experience. The practice run the day before was super. The atmosphere around the town was incredible. We stayed in the snail contrada. Brilliant. The build up was very cool. It is really genuine amongst the people of siena, not a tourist attraction. We were offered tickets for the dinner the night before by the hotel, we skipped it, thought we'd be out of place. Massive regret. But still exploring the city the night before was great nonetheless.
Written 12 April 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
AlbertSalichs
Manresa, Spain11,469 contributions
Aug 2019 • Family
Palio di Siena is a medieval horse racing, which is done in Piazza del Campo ( the main square) of Siena, a charming medieval town in Tuscany Region, in the center of Italy. It is celebrated twice a year, and we went to the city on 16th of August (the other one is in February, I think). We came here with my 3 years old daughter in August-2019, so we are not during the horse racing, we only were at morning, but we could see all decoration, horses, people, wonderful event. My daughter enjoyed a lot seeing horses, playing in Piazza del Campo and seeing a lot of people costumed as Middle Ages. After we saw the horse racing in TV: fantastic event! Very recommendable! A top in Europe!
(See also Centro Storico di Siena, Piazza del Duomo and Torre del Mangia)
(See also Centro Storico di Siena, Piazza del Duomo and Torre del Mangia)
Written 17 May 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
cqfp
Domodossola, Italy62 contributions
Buongiorno dove è possibile comprare i biglietti per il palio?
Tracy L
San Francisco, CA8 contributions
HI - How can one book tickets to one of the dinners in a Contrade the night before
the race?
Tom K
Vancouver, Canada2 contributions
Would you happen to have the contact details for the rooftop seating?
Thanks for your help
gannonbb
Richmond, VA21 contributions
How do we rent a window to view the race?
BayArea768
Danville, CA57 contributions
The seats should be about 500 to 600 euro for a good balcony with access to a bathroom and water, snacks etc. You should contact a local licensed tour guide. Make sure they are licensed. The good ones have relationships with the property owners. All the balconies are packed tight- that’s just how it is. It’s a premium event and every seat is valuable. These balcony seats are not for heavy people. Contact the tourist office and ask for a guide that has many years of experience and lives in or near Siena. Best to find one who can also get you into a contrada dinner - which is also an amazing experience. You have to wire your money in advance so the licensed part is important. If it rains the Palio is delayed to the next day so keep your plans flexible. You can’t get your money back. It’s the experience of a lifetime. I highly recommend it!
finbarsmom
Santa BArbara134 contributions
Hi, we have two kids 9 and 11 and an elderly grandfather...without buying expensive tickets, is it possible to enjoy the atmosphere of Il Palio in some way without staking out spots for an entire day in the hot sun? ARe there other areas and things/events to enjoy that day related to the event? Or is it the parade and race and you have to stake out your places for hours to get a look? What about restaurants? Must book to eat after races I suppose? Any recommendations/ideas are much appreciated. We are going in August.
Sophie B.
Lancaster, UK89 contributions
Well, the Palio is free as long as you go in the centre of the square but as for places you will be lucky to see anything if you don't arrive at least a few hours early. The atmosphere is very hot and bustling so be careful and make sure you bring plenty of water. The crowd can be locked in the centre of the square for over 4 hours. As for restaurants, most of the locals have huge traditional meals after the race so they won't be in them but it would be prudent to reserve.
But don't let the conditions disuse you and really get into the spirit of the Palio by leaning as much as possible about this race before you go.
However if you think it'll be too much for the little ones I suggest going to one of to three 'prova' s which are basically the same thing but with less people.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Palio di Siena
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