The ancient and beautiful hill-top city of Siena is surrounded by rolling Tuscan countryside, vineyards and olive groves. The area was first settled by the Etruscan people (circa 900 to 400BC), and the city itself has grown from the foundations of a Roman town.
Siena is famed for its University, which was founded in 1203 and remains and important centre of learning, and for the Palio - the annual highly- competitive horse race between representatives of the seventeen city wards, which held in the main piazza. Siena’s historic city centre (which is blissfully free of traffic) has in its entirety been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.