Rick Steves’ Travel Blog

Being in Siena for the Palio horse race is really a series of mob scenes. These three photos capture the crush of the crowds. Imagine being in the middle of it all. Imagine catching it on your big TV camera. Imagine enjoying the race from the comfort of Franco’s apartment. I’ll never forget this perch. Grazie, Franco!

This is Day 97 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Vienna, the Alps, the Low Countries, England, Siena, and beyond. Find more right here on my travel blog.

At Siena’s Palio horse race, bleacher and balcony seats are expensive, but it’s free to join the masses in the square. And those who are really well-connected get to watch from the comfort of an apartment window. Roberto’s friend, Franco, shared his apartment overlooking the race course…and we’re enjoying the best seats in town. From this vantage point, we watch as the square fills, lots of pageantry unfolds as each neighborhood does its flag-waving thing, and race time approaches. The ritual and the strict traditions are inviolable. The excitement builds.

Siena throws a great party, and they’ve had plenty of practice. During our several days in town, things went smoothly, security was solid yet very low-key, people had a rowdy great time but nothing got broken, and wherever the horses went…so went the unheralded pooper scoopers.

This is Day 96 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Vienna, the Alps, the Low Countries, England, Siena, and beyond. Find more right here on my travel blog.

On Siena’s main square, Il Campo, my tour guide Roberto Bechi explains, “For the Sienese, you’re born…there’s the Palio…and then you can die.” We’re in the square for a “charge of the carabinieri” and a practice run where the jockeys get to know their horses (and vice versa). The square is pretty full — but it’ll be twice as packed for the big race tomorrow.

While the jockeys — usually from out of town — are hired hands, the horses are stars. Each neighborhood gets its horse through a lottery. They’re then adopted and showered with love — respected as if special neighborhood citizens. They’re groomed and washed in stables like 5-star hotels.

This is Day 95 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Vienna, the Alps, the Low Countries, England, Siena, and beyond. Find more right here on my travel blog.

Two nights before Siena’s Palio horse race, the Dragon district gathers for dinner. I’m wearing the Dragon colors, in the backyard of the Church of San Domenic, enjoying a multigenerational party. Each banquet is beautifully situated in the heart of the district. Even if I don’t fully understand what’s happening, the excitement is contagious, and the wine is delightful.

With the horses and jockeys chosen, competing neighborhoods gather for big communal dinners that last well into the night. The excitement builds, and it’s a multigenerational affair — some people revving up for their 100th Palio (two per year for 50 years)…and others for their first. There are rousing choruses, with everyone cheering their contrada, and little ones soaking up the traditions — a scene that’s changed little over the centuries.

Looking out my hotel window, I was impressed at how the Panther contrada throws a big dinner party. With legions of volunteers, they set up, served, partied until late, and then cleaned the entire thing up in a flash. The next morning, you wouldn’t know there was a big dinner filling the square just last night.

This is Day 94 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Vienna, the Alps, the Low Countries, England, Siena, and beyond. Find more right here on my travel blog.

(Central Italy was hit by a devastating earthquake last night. Aftershocks could be felt in Siena, almost 150 miles away from the earthquake’s epicenter. My crew, friends, and I are all OK. Our hearts go out to all who have been affected.)

The night before Siena’s Palio, at midnight, the streets were filled with eating, drinking, singing, and camaraderie, as neighborhoods gathered to pump each other up for the big horse race. The city is full of both locals (who live this ritual as if it’s in their DNA) and tourists (who are generally clueless and are just waiting for the race), living in parallel worlds. Your challenge is to bridge those worlds.

Siena is divided into 17 neighborhoods, or contrade. Historically, these were autonomous, competitive, and filled with rivalries. Each contrada — with its own parish church, fountain, and square — still plays an active role in the life of the city. And each is represented by a mascot (porcupine, unicorn, she-wolf, and so on) and a distinctive flag — colors worn and flown all year long, but omnipresent as the race nears.  And, tonight, each contrada has a party going on.

This is Day 93 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Vienna, the Alps, the Low Countries, England, Siena, and beyond. Find more right here on my travel blog.