We decided to dedicate an entire page to just the Palio di Siena horse race. The reason is we found very little information on the event and many times the information we found was either conflicting or in some cases not true. Granted, everyone experiences things differently, so we will try to share what we found after our visit.
The Palio is an historic horse race (over 400 years old) through the town square of the Piazza del Campo in Siena. The riders race bareback three times around the square. Each rider represents a “Contrada” (or neighborhood) of Siena and the passions and pride of each contrada are very high throughout the weeklong event. There are seventeen contradas in total and each has a colorful name (Goose, Giraffe, Tower, Wave, Dragon, etc.) and colorful flags and scarves to match.
The Palio begins several days before the race and includes contrada dinners (dining with the neighborhood outdoors while singing and drinking); practice rides; selection of the horses; blessing of the horses inside of the churches; marches through the streets signing and finally the race itself. Below is a the best site we found for the schedule of events.
For a lot of visitors, it is more casual and fun to visit during the lead up to the race than the day of the event. In addition, the event can be delayed due to rain so you many want to consider this if attending the race is the reason for your visit.
Finally, there are murmurs (and just outright statements) about bribery, alliances, fights, gamesmanship, payoffs and more leading up to and during the race. If you are going to visit, there is a documentary on Netflix (at least as of the time we are writing this) simply named “Palio” which does a great job of preparing you for what you are about to see. We highly recommend this (even if it is no longer on Netflix) for anyone visiting to understand what is occurring throughout the event.
Below we will go over some of the comments and statements we found while planning our visit and what we found to be true, somewhat true and false.
Comment – “The Palio is not for visitors. It is a local event and not intended for tourists.”
Our experience – The best analogy we can give is it is like someone from Europe going to the LSU/Alabama football game. Almost exactly. There is passion. There is drinking. There is singing. There is the Italian version of tailgating. But overall, we found the residents to be very nice. However, it is true this is not an event “designed” for tourists. It is a passionate 400-year-old rivalry between the contradas and, frankly, they do not care whether you are there or not – so they are not going to go out of their way to make sure you are comfortable.
Also, it is important to note that like an LSU/Alabama game, you should not get in the way of their event. When the contradas march through the streets signing, do not jump out in front of them to get a photo. Be respectful and stay to the side – enjoying the drums and signing until they pass. You will be especially pleased when the contradas run into each other in the streets and begin drumming and signing louder at each other. Just remember, you are a guest.
In addition, passions run high (did we mention that) so do not wear the colorful scarf you bought after the race. Simply put it away. You would not want to walk through an Alabama tailgate party carrying an LSU flag after a loss. Pack away your scarf rather than risk appearing to mock a contrada you may not know you are walking through.
Comment – “It is not for kids.”
Our experience – This is both true and false. If you are planning to sit in the square, we would agree. Spectators arrive hours early and stand in the hot sun and wait in long lines for water from the fountain. There are no restrooms or seats in the square and there are a lot of medical staff waiting to help with heat exhaustion. In short, it is going to be hot – very hot. So, we would not recommend the square for kids.
However, you can purchase (for quite a bit of money) seats in the stands; on the balconies; or even in the private windows of apartments around the square. These are very hard to find online and once you do, even more expensive (note- we used Palio Tours – link below – for our visit). But if you want to bring kids, this is your best option. Or a final option is to simply visit Siena on the days beforehand and then enjoy the race on TV in any of the restaurants further from the square.
Comment – “Parking is hard. Traffic will be horrible.”
Our experience – We simply planned to arrive before noon and there was almost no traffic at all. We did plan for a hotel to stay overnight so we had a reserved parking space, but even at first glance it appeared you would be able to find parking outside of the ZTL zone (see Driving) and make your way into the square. And if we had left Siena immediately after the race, there was not much traffic. We could have driven back to our previous hotel right after the race – but we did prefer having a parking spot and the option to enjoy wine while watching the event and after.
Comment – “The horses.”
Our experience – This is a very passionate subject for a lot of people. All we can say is this is an intense bareback race through a town square which does involve crashes injuring both riders and horses. If this is upsetting to you in any way, you should not attend. In short, there are a lot of norms, beliefs and traditions in every country (including our own) which are quite upsetting to those in other countries.
Comment – “It is not safe at night.”
Our experience – We did have children with us, so we did not stay out in the Piazza into the evening hours. But our experience is whenever there are winners and losers; celebrating and commiserating; and then you add drinking – anything is possible. Again, did we mention an LSU-Alabama football game?
Our Visit
We hope some of that was helpful. Now, here is how we planned our trip to the Palio di Siena which we felt worked very well for us. Given the date of the Palio fell in the middle of our stay in Tuscany, we did go ahead and double book our hotel rooms (keeping our reservation in Tuscany and booking just one night in Siena). Had it been earlier or later, we could have avoided this but sometimes you work with the timeframe you have.
We then arranged for a window to view the event almost a full year in advance. Please note, private windows can be very, very expensive and they sell out very quickly. There are also options for balconies or reserved bleacher seating as well. However, if you feel some experiences are once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, this may be worth the investment. After a lot of searching, we felt best about working with Stan from Palio Tours who helped us to secure our single window overlooking the sharpest (and most difficult and famous) curve in the race. These windows are actually in people’s homes on the square so we pulled up chairs from the living room and dining room to watch. The reservation also included snacks and drinks prior to the race on a small restaurant patio. And then once we were lead up to the apartment along with the other guests, we had a private restroom and runner/assistant who went out to purchase water, wine and snacks for us as we watched the parade, procession and race. If you want luxury and to be the proverbial “fly on the wall” to witness this race, this is the way to go.
For our stay that night, we selected the Hotel Minerva in Siena for its price (a reasonable rate given its favorable reviews); plus its gated and reserved parking (which we requested beforehand so we knew we would have a place to park); and its location just outside of the ZTL yet still close walking proximity to the piazza.
That morning we left our hotel in Tuscany early to park and check into our room in Siena. After, we made the short walk to the Piazza del Campo. It is quite impressive to walk over the sand covered square well before the crowds and purchase your contrada flags for the race. We also filled our water bottles from the beautiful Gaia Fountain as pigeons flew in and out constantly – making for some great photos. Finally, a quick walk over to Nannini to pick up pastries and ricciarelli cookies (almond cookies – a tip from one of our Instagram followers – thank you!!) for that evening and the next day.
After getting to explore the empty venue, we had reservations back at L’Oro Di Siena across from our hotel. This small family-owned restaurant only has a few tables and ample air conditioning, warm lighting, great wine and amazing food – all a nice break while you wait for the race to begin. We started with the Goat Cheese and Honey and then moved on to all of the freshly made pasta dishes. Our top recommendation is to let Matteo recommend a wine pairing to go with whatever your order.
After lunch, we rested back in our room for a bit to let the food settle before heading over to our pre-race reception – a small, reserved patio for appetizers and drinks. We were then all led to our individual buildings and up the flights of stairs into the private home. The runner/assistant assigned to us (and the other group at another window) was terrific about running out to pick up water, bottles of rose wine, glasses and even a pizza.
Around 5:00 pm, the square begins to fill; with most spectators selecting to stand in the partially shaded area of the piazza – slowly moving outward as the shade starts to move across the piazza. Then it is time for the parade of the contradas. Each contrada led by two flag bearers spinning and tossing their flags high into the air to each other. There are bull-led carriages; cross bow carrying infantry; and more. The assembly and entrance can take up to two hours.
Next is the drawing of the order of the horses as well as which rider/contrada will be on the “run-in” horse (all to much cheering and jeering). Then, the jockeys and horses begin to enter. The race is not started by a pistol or bell. It starts when the horse selected as the “run-in” horse breaks into the racing area (a running start). This position is at a large disadvantage on the outside, so discussions, arrangements and bribes are made between jockeys once the order is determined. After watching the “Palio” documentary, we wondered if this were really so obvious and it definitely is.
As for lining up, the horses have to enter the starting area where there are no gates. Simply two ropes (one in front and one behind creating a pen of sorts) where the horses line up side by side jostling and jockeying back and forth for position. At times, the wait is so long, the horses have to leave and re-enter again to try to get back in the correct order. This occurred three times on our visit plus one false start around the track – and more and more conversations and bribes between jockeys.
And then in an instant, it all takes off with three frenzied laps through the tight turns and around the square. There was so much energy that by the second lap both my husband and I forgot all about our cameras and simply stood watching the race finish.
When it was over the horses came to a stop right under our window and we watched as the winning contrada rushed onto the course and ripped the jockey off of his horse and surrounded him screaming and chanting. Just as interesting was watching the “run-in” jockey get pulled from his horse and raced out of the square surrounded by his patrons – presumably to protect him from other neighborhoods who felt he had tried to fix the race by waiting until another rider was in the best position to win.
It was long, sometimes drawn out, sometimes visually amazing, terrific to watch and then suddenly ended with a short burst of activity and excitement. We made our way back to our hotel and stopped at a nearby deli for a sandwich and gelato to rest up for the next day as we were headed to Florence as part of our previously planned time in Tuscany.
For notes on our entire trip to Italy, here is our two-week Itinerary. And, if you are just starting to plan your trip, we have created four “how to” guides – Planning, Preparing and Packing, Getting Around and Driving and finally Once You Arrive.
We also have detailed notes for each individual destination for Positano, the Amalfi Coast and Capri; Rome and Pompeii; Tuscany, Siena and Florence; the Palio di Siena; Venice and Lake Como. We would love to hear if you found any of these pages and notes helpful – or if you have any feedback you would recommend for other travelers.
