The Via Francigena Through Siena: Walking the Old Road

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A thousand years before the superstrada, the road from Canterbury to Rome came down through this province — and it still does. The Via Francigena's Sienese legs are among its finest: San Gimignano's towers behind you, Monteriggioni's ring ahead, an entrance into Siena through Porta Camollia that no car arrival can match, then the Val d'Arbia's empty gravel roads south towards the Val d'Orcia. You do not need to be walking to Rome to walk a day of it.

The Francigena is having its renaissance — waymarked, staged and documented on the region's own official route site — and Siena is its Tuscan hinge. This page is the province's stretch, for day-walkers as much as through-pilgrims.

The Sienese legs, in order

San Gimignano → Monteriggioni. The western hills stage: out of the tower town and through woods and farm roads until Monteriggioni's full crown of walls rises ahead — the single most theatrical arrival in Tuscany, built to intimidate exactly the direction you are walking from. The town at the end of it.

Monteriggioni → Siena (20.6 km, around four and a half hours). The stage to choose if you walk only one. Forests and castle ruins, the drained Pian del Lago, an optional detour to the hermitage of San Leonardo al Lago — and then the payoff: you enter Siena through Porta Camollia, the road's own gate, the way arrivals were designed to happen. The city unfolds downhill from there to the Campo. No station, no garage: just the door.

Siena → Ponte d'Arbia (around 25 km). South out of the city into the Val d'Arbia — gravel roads through wheat, walled hamlets, parish churches — the emptiest and most meditative of the local stages.

Ponte d'Arbia → San Quirico d'Orcia. The transition stage: Arbia gives way to Orcia, and the road delivers you into San Quirico — historically a Francigena hospitality town, as the surviving pilgrim architecture and the old posting houses (Bagno Vignoni's among them, just down the road) still show.

Walking a day of it, practically

The day-walker's version: take a morning coach or taxi out and walk back in — Monteriggioni→Siena is perfectly shaped for it (the 130/131 coaches serve Monteriggioni; times at at-bus.it). You get the great entrance without the luggage question.

Season and kit: spring and autumn are the walking seasons; high summer wants dawn starts and real water discipline — these are exposed farm roads, not shaded trails. Waymarking is good and the official site's leg pages carry maps and elevation; carry them offline.

The pilgrim layer: through-walkers carry a pilgrim credential collected with stamps along the way — hospitality listings and practicalities live on the route's official site, which is the authority we defer to for anything that changes seasonally.

Why this matters beyond the walk

The Francigena explains the province's furniture: why Monteriggioni exists at all, why Siena's northern gate carries the ceremony it does, why hospital complexes like Santa Maria della Scala grew vast (built to receive exactly this traffic), and why villages like San Quirico have pilgrim churches out of proportion to their size. Walk even a stage and the whole southern landscape reorganises itself around the road — which is the oldest way of seeing this country, and still one of the best.

Practical Information

Official source: the region's Via Francigena site (viafrancigena.visittuscany.com) carries every leg's map, distance and profile — treat it as the authority; we do. The essential stage: Monteriggioni→Siena, 20.6 km, entering by Porta Camollia. Sleep: Siena mid-route (where); San Quirico or the Val d'Orcia at the southern end. Feet vs heat: in July–August walk at dawn or choose another season; there is no shame in half a stage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Via Francigena go through Siena? Yes — Siena is a principal station of the route. Leg 33 arrives from Monteriggioni through Porta Camollia, and leg 34 continues south towards Ponte d'Arbia and the Val d'Orcia.

What is the best Via Francigena stage near Siena? Monteriggioni to Siena: 20.6 km through woods and farmland, ending with the walled-city entrance every other arrival only imitates.

Can you walk just one day of the Via Francigena? Absolutely — day-walking single legs is common. Coach out to Monteriggioni and walk back into Siena is the classic local version.

When is the best time to walk the Francigena in Tuscany? Spring and autumn. Summer stages are exposed and want dawn starts; winter is possible but short-dayed.

By the Siena & Toscana editors