The Mille Miglia in Siena 2027

Published: sienatoscana.it | Category: Events & Seasonal Calendar | Estimated read: 11 minutes

---

On the morning of June 2027, the city of Siena will do what it has done for decades when the Mille Miglia arrives: it will simply stop. The narrow streets around Piazza del Campo will fill with the smell of warm engines and aged leather. Then the cars will come.

More than 400 pre-war and post-war classics — Alfa Romeos, Ferraris, Bugattis, Maseratis, Bentleys, Lancias, and dozens of other marques representing dozens of nations — will arrive in the shell-shaped piazza that the rest of the year belongs to the Palio and to the Sienese. For a few extraordinary hours, one of Europe’s most perfectly preserved medieval squares will become the most beautiful pit lane in motorsport.

This is what happens every year when the 1000 Miglia passes through Siena. This guide covers what the race is, what the Siena stop involves, and — for those planning 2027 — exactly how to be there.

---

What the Mille Miglia Actually Is

The name is Italian for a thousand miles, and the event deserves its reputation as the most beautiful race in the world — a description Enzo Ferrari gave it, and one that has not worn out in the decades since.

The original Mille Miglia was a full-speed open-road endurance race run annually between Brescia and Rome and back, covering approximately 1,600 kilometres of public Italian roads. It ran from 1927 until 1957, when a fatal accident at Guidizzolo — in which the Ferrari 335 S of Alfonso de Portago left the road and killed the driver, his co-driver, and nine spectators — ended the era of open-road racing in Italy permanently. The original race produced some of the greatest driving performances in motorsport history: Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson covered the 1955 course in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR in 10 hours, 7 minutes and 48 seconds, at an average speed of 157.6 km/h over public roads. It remains one of the most remarkable feats in automotive history.

The modern revival began in 1977 — not as a race, but as a regolarità: a regularity rally in which competitors must maintain precise average speeds between checkpoints rather than drive flat out. Entry is restricted to cars that participated in, or were homologated for, the original race between 1927 and 1957. This means the cars that arrive in Siena each June are not replicas or tribute vehicles. They are the originals — or period-correct models of the same specifications — maintained, driven, and cherished by their owners across the Italian peninsula.

---

The 2027 Centenary Edition

The 2027 running will be the 100th anniversary of the race’s first running in 1927 — the centenary edition. That historical weight will be felt across every stage of the event.

The modern revival typically accepts between 400 and 430 cars each year, representing dozens of nations. The field includes not only serious regularity competitors but figures from across the automotive and wider cultural world. Entry is strictly limited to pre-1957 automobiles that were entered in or homologated for the original race.

The 1000 Miglia typically runs over five days in early to mid-June, starting and finishing in Brescia. The route — which changes slightly each year — traditionally crosses multiple regions with around 140 timed trials. Siena’s day falls on the third stage, when the convoy turns inland from the Tyrrhenian coast for lunch at Piazza del Campo before continuing south toward Rome.

The Five Stages (Typical Route)

The first car sets off from Brescia, moving through Valle Trompia, Lake Garda, and Veneto. The second stage covers the Motor Valley: Padova, Ferrara, Modena, Reggio Emilia and the Apennine passes.

Day three — Siena’s day — sees the convoy move toward the Tyrrhenian coast through Versilia and Pietrasanta before turning inland for lunch at Siena’s Piazza del Campo. After the Campo stop, the cars continue south through the Crete Senesi, past Radicofani and on to the Lazio lakes — Bolsena and Vico — before arriving at the traditional turning point of Rome.

The return journey passes through Umbria — often Assisi — with a lunch stop in a hill town before heading toward the Adriatic coast. The final day returns the convoy to Brescia via the Emilian plain.

---

The Siena Stop: What Happens in the Campo

The Siena moment is one of the most anticipated stops on the entire route — for the crews, for the spectators, and, judging by the volume of local coverage it generates every year, for the city itself.

The cars arrive having crossed the Apennines and descended through the Tuscan hills into the province of Siena. Many come via Buonconvento, entering the city from the south along the Via Cassia — the same road that medieval pilgrims walked on the Via Francigena. The approach through Siena’s narrow medieval streets, with the palazzi pressing close on either side, is unlike anything the cars encounter elsewhere on the route.

In the Campo itself, each crew completes a controllo timbro — a time stamp checkpoint that is one of the race’s regularity checkpoints. After the control stamp stop in Piazza del Campo, participants transfer to Piazza del Mercato, below the Tartarugone — the great medieval retaining wall at the rear of the Palazzo Pubblico — for lunch before departing towards Radicofani and Lazio.

For spectators, the window when the cars are present in the Campo is the most accessible moment of the entire event. There is no grandstand ticket required, no queue to join. You simply stand in the piazza — the same piazza where the Palio is run twice a year — and watch machines from the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s move through a space that has seen seven centuries of remarkable things. The contrast between the medieval brickwork, the medieval rhythms of the nine-section piazza, and these mechanical objects from the middle of the last century is one of the more quietly extraordinary things that happens in Siena in any given year.

The hours of the stop vary slightly by edition, but cars typically begin arriving from midday and continue for several hours as the field spreads out along the route. The faster and more punctual crews arrive first; the longer the afternoon extends, the more varied the spectacle.

---

The Cars: What to Look For

Entry to the Mille Miglia is restricted to pre-1957 cars that were either entered in or homologated for the original race. The most coveted entries remain the sports racing cars of the 1950s — the Ferrari 250 MM, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, the OSCA MT4 — though the pre-war machinery often proves equally compelling.

For those new to the event, a few pointers on what to watch for in the Campo:

The pre-war machines — built between 1927 and 1939 — are the rarest and in many ways the most affecting. A 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 or a 1930s Bugatti Type 35 derivative in the Campo is not a museum exhibit behind glass. It is a working automobile, with a driver and co-driver who have navigated it over the Apennines that morning and will navigate it through the Lazio countryside that afternoon.

The Alfa Romeos from the 1930s and ‘40s are habitually well-represented. Alfa Romeo dominated the original race, winning eleven times between 1928 and 1947, and the marque’s relationship with the Mille Miglia is woven into Italian automotive identity. When an early Alfa passes through the Campo, it carries something of that history with it.

The Ferraris of the early 1950s — the 166 MM, the 195 S, the 212 Export, the 340 America — are among the most visually arresting cars in the field. Ferrari won the race six consecutive times between 1948 and 1953, and several period cars from those campaigns are still running and occasionally entered in the modern revival.

The British contingent — Aston Martins, Jaguars, and occasional Frazer Nashes — provides a counterpoint to the Italian marques that dominated the original race. These cars competed in period and have done so in the modern event since the revival began.

For those who know nothing about historic motorsport, the experience is still considerable. The sound of a field of pre-war and early post-war engines starting, idling, and moving through a medieval square is one of the more genuinely transporting sensory experiences available in a European city. You do not need to know what a Tipo 158 Alfetta is to understand that something remarkable is happening in front of you.

---

The Route Around Siena: Crete Senesi and Val d’Orcia

One of the underappreciated aspects of the Mille Miglia’s Siena stop is the landscape the cars traverse before and after the Campo. The route south from Siena through the Crete Senesi — the bare, undulating clay hills described in our Val d’Orcia itinerary — is among the most visually extraordinary driving roads in Tuscany.

After leaving Piazza del Mercato, the convoy heads for Radicofani: a fortress town on an isolated volcanic plug visible for miles across the Val d’Orcia, at an altitude of approximately 900 metres. The road from Siena to Radicofani, across the Crete and through the edge of the Val d’Orcia, is one of those routes where the Italian landscape does something specific to a pre-war automobile — makes it look precisely right in its surroundings, as though it was designed for this particular road and this particular light.

If you are visiting Siena for the Mille Miglia and want to see the cars outside the city, the SS2 between Buonconvento and San Quirico d’Orcia offers excellent roadside viewing with the Tuscan hills as backdrop. Arrive early and find a position on one of the gentle bends where the cars are slowing; the opportunity to see a 1930s Alfa Romeo at low speed against the clay hills and cypress rows is one that rewards patience.

---

Planning Your Visit: How to See the Mille Miglia in Siena

For the 2027 centenary edition

The 2027 Mille Miglia will be the 100th anniversary of the race’s first running in 1927. The centenary edition will almost certainly draw a larger field, greater international attention, and a more complex entry process than any recent edition. Planning for 2027 should begin now.

Accommodation: Hotels in Siena for Mille Miglia week are not as difficult to secure as Palio week, but the better addresses fill well in advance, particularly in the month of June. The Grand Hotel Continental on Via Banchi di Sopra — 250 metres from the Campo, our recommended base for major Siena events — is the most practical choice for those who want to walk directly to the Campo stop. See our luxury hotel guide for the full selection.

Positioning in the Campo: There are no tickets or reserved areas for the public in Piazza del Campo during the Mille Miglia stop. Arrive before midday and find a position on the inner curve of the piazza, closest to the Palazzo Pubblico — this gives the best view of the cars as they circle the timbro checkpoint and position to depart. The lower section of the Campo fills quickly; the upper walkways around the edge give a broader view of the whole field.

The Crete Senesi drive: If you have a car, the most rewarding way to experience the Mille Miglia around Siena is to watch the Campo stop, then drive south on the SS2 and find a position in the landscape before Radicofani. The cars will follow the same road within a few hours. This combination — piazza and landscape — gives the event its full character.

Search hotels in Siena → (affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no cost to you)

Browse Siena city tours and experiences → (affiliate link)

---

The 2027 Centenary: What to Expect

The 1927 race, from which all subsequent editions take their identity, was won by Ferdinando Minoia and Giuseppe Morandi in an OM 665 S at an average speed of 77.2km/h over the full distance. It was conceived by four men — two young Brescian counts, Aymo Maggi and Franco Mazzotti, their sporting manager Renzo Castagneto, and the motoring journalist Giovanni Canestrini — who wanted a race that would advertise Italian roads, Italian cars, and Italian landscape to the world simultaneously. They succeeded beyond any reasonable expectation.

The centenary edition will once again bring some of Italy’s most evocative landscapes into contact with the machines that shaped the modern understanding of what a motor car could be and do. The Siena stop — by now one of the most established moments of the modern event’s calendar — will be, in all likelihood, the most attended since the revival began.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the Mille Miglia pass through Siena? The Siena stop falls on the third day of the five-day event, typically a Thursday in early to mid-June. The exact date shifts each year; the 1000miglia.it official website publishes the confirmed schedule each autumn for the following June. The arrival in Piazza del Campo is typically from midday onwards.

How many cars take part in the Mille Miglia? The modern event typically accepts between 400 and 430 cars each year. Entry is strictly limited to pre-1957 automobiles that were entered in or homologated for the original race. The selection committee — who assess both the car’s eligibility and the crew’s driving record — makes the final decisions.

Is it free to watch the Mille Miglia in Siena? Yes. The Piazza del Campo is a public space and there is no charge to watch the cars arrive and complete the checkpoint stop. There are no reserved spectator areas; position is on a first-come basis.

What makes the Siena stop significant within the race? Siena is one of the few stops on the route where the cars enter a restricted historic city centre — the ZTL that normally prohibits traffic is suspended for the event. The combination of pre-1957 vehicles and the 13th-century Piazza del Campo is visually unlike anything else on the route. Crews and organisers consistently cite the Campo stop as among the most atmospheric moments of the five days.

Where do the cars go after leaving Siena? After the Campo stop and lunch at Piazza del Mercato, the convoy heads south towards Radicofani, then continues through the Lazio countryside via Lakes Bolsena and Vico to Rome — the traditional turning point of the race. The Val d’Orcia UNESCO landscape between Siena and Radicofani is one of the most scenic sections of the entire route.

Will the Mille Miglia stop in Siena in 2027? Routes are confirmed each autumn by the 1000 Miglia organisation and change slightly year to year. Siena and Piazza del Campo have been consistent stops in recent editions; given the centenary significance of 2027 and the city’s prominence on the route, a Siena stop should be expected. Check 1000miglia.it from autumn 2026 for confirmed 2027 route details.

How do I enter the Mille Miglia as a competitor? Entry requires a pre-1957 eligible vehicle and an application submitted to the 1000 Miglia Selection Committee. For the 2027 edition, registration will likely open in autumn 2026. Full information at 1000miglia.it.

---

Sources: 1000 Miglia official website (1000miglia.it) — edition pages and leg descriptions, Gazzetta di Siena — Mille Miglia in Piazza del Campo (gazzettadisiena.it), The Gentleman Racer — 1000 Miglia lineup (thegentlemanracer.com), Pushstart — 1000 Miglia route and stages (pushstart.it), Il Sole 24 Ore — Mille Miglia route and curiosities (ilsole24ore.com), Guide to Italy — 1000 Miglia route (guidetoitaly.com), Italy.news — 1000 Miglia route confirmed (italien.news), Dolcevia.com — Mille Miglia.

---

← Back to Events | Piazza del Campo: The Complete Guide → | Best Luxury Hotels in Siena → | Val d’Orcia Itinerary →