From the Pinacoteca to Palazzo Piccolomini, riddle by riddle
The Siena scavenger hunt is a self-guided city game you play on your phone: you walk through the medieval centre, solve a riddle at each landmark by looking closely at what is in front of you, and unlock the stories and legends behind it. The 10 stops lie so close together that the 2 km between them take only around 24 minutes on foot, which leaves most of the roughly 2 hours for riddles, stories and gazing up at striped marble, and you choose the moment to begin.
Highlights include the striped marble Duomo, the Loggia del Papa, the Torre del Mangia and the Palazzo Pubblico on Piazza del Campo, and the Facciatone of the unfinished New Cathedral. Siena's centre is compact, hilly and largely car-free, so the short distances leave plenty of time to look around.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 24 min · 2 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
What you do on a game through medieval Siena
Black and white marble, a brick shell
Every stop poses a riddle that the stones answer: the bands of white and dark marble on the Duomo, the empty arches of the Facciatone, the nine sections of the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo. Careful eyes and some logic are all it takes, and no knowledge of art history.
A cobbler, a plague and an earnings eater
Each solved riddle unlocks a story: the cobbler Sorore who, legend says, founded the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala, the Black Death that left the New Cathedral half built, and the bell-ringer nicknamed Mangiaguadagni who gave the Torre del Mangia its name. If you would rather listen, the narration reads each tale aloud while you stand before the stones.
2 km up and down the hills
Barely 24 minutes of the game is walking, along car-free lanes from Via San Pietro to the cathedral, down to the Baptistery under its east end and on to the Campo. Google Maps shows the way between stops, which helps in a centre built on three ridges and full of slopes.
A pause on the Campo whenever you like
Nobody is timing you, so sit down on the sloping brick of Piazza del Campo for a coffee or a gelato and resume later or another day. Along the route the app also mentions shops and places for Sienese food.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of players. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Play when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Is this Sienese scavenger hunt right for you?
Day trippers from Florence or the Tuscan hills
With about 2 hours and only 2 km, the game fits easily into a day trip and still leaves time for lunch. You see the Duomo, the Campo and the Torre del Mangia without planning a route yourself.
Families touring Tuscany with children
Children like the shell-shaped square where the Palio horse race is run, the giant unfinished façade of the Facciatone and the story of the bell-ringer who ate his earnings. An adult plays in every team, and the walking stays short.
Groups who split into several teams
Up to 5 players share a team, each on their own phone, so a larger group can split up and play the same route a few minutes apart. Piazza del Campo, a short walk from the finish, is an obvious place to regroup.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Teams of up to 5 work best; bigger groups split into several teams, one ticket per player.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
The route: from Via San Pietro over the cathedral hill to Banchi di Sotto
10 stops · about 24 min walking · start: Pinacoteca Nazionale · finish: Palazzo Piccolomini
The hunt starts at the Pinacoteca Nazionale on Via San Pietro and leads to Santa Maria della Scala, opposite the steps of the Duomo. After the cathedral you see the Facciatone of the unfinished New Cathedral and walk down to the Baptistery of San Giovanni below it. From there you reach Piazza del Campo with the Palazzo Pubblico and the Torre del Mangia, then pass the Loggia del Papa and finish at Palazzo Piccolomini on Banchi di Sotto. Siena's stops sit close enough to start from whichever one is nearest, and the app lets you reshuffle the order around it; every answer is found on a façade, a fountain or the brick of the Campo, so not one stop needs an entry ticket.
Open the route map ↗
1Pinacoteca NazionaleStart
The Pinacoteca Nazionale occupies Gothic palaces on Via San Pietro and holds one of the largest collections of Sienese painting. Look out for the many panels with gold backgrounds from the 13th to the 15th centuries, painted by the masters of the Sienese school.
2Santa Maria della Scala
Facing the steps of the cathedral, Santa Maria della Scala was one of the first hospitals in Europe and cared for pilgrims, the sick and abandoned children for centuries. According to legend it was founded by a cobbler named Sorore, and today the complex is a museum with frescoes showing daily life in the hospital.
Read the full story →
3Siena Cathedral (Duomo)
Siena Cathedral, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin, is striped inside and out with bands of white and dark marble, the colours of the city's black-and-white coat of arms. Its façade is crowded with statues and carvings, and the floor inside is covered with scenes in inlaid marble.
4Facciatone
The Facciatone is the unfinished façade of the New Cathedral, a huge enlargement that would have turned the existing cathedral into its transept. Work stopped after the Black Death struck Siena in the mid-14th century, and the empty arches still stand beside the Duomo, with a viewing terrace on top.
Read the full story →
5Baptistery of San Giovanni
The Baptistery of San Giovanni lies beneath the eastern end of the cathedral, which was extended out over the slope of the hill. Its Gothic marble façade was never finished, and inside is a baptismal font decorated with bronze reliefs by leading sculptors of the early Renaissance.
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6Piazza del Campo
Piazza del Campo is Siena's main square, a sloping, shell-shaped space paved in red brick and divided into nine sections, said to recall the Council of Nine that governed the city in the late Middle Ages. The Fonte Gaia fountain stands at its upper edge, and twice every summer the square hosts the Palio horse race.
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7Palazzo Pubblico
The Gothic Palazzo Pubblico has been Siena's town hall since the Middle Ages and closes the lower side of the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo, where the Palio horse race is run. Inside, the civic museum holds famous medieval frescoes on the effects of good and bad government.
8Torre del Mangia
The Torre del Mangia is the slender brick bell tower of the Palazzo Pubblico, rising over Piazza del Campo since the 14th century. It is said to be named after its first bell-ringer, nicknamed Mangiaguadagni, the earnings eater, and the stone chapel at its foot was built as a vow after the plague.
9Loggia del Papa
The Loggia del Papa, the Pope's Loggia, was commissioned in the 15th century by Pope Pius II as a gift to his Piccolomini relatives. Look for the Latin inscription running along the top of its three arches, which dedicates it to his family.
10Palazzo PiccolominiFinish
This Renaissance palace on Banchi di Sotto was built in the 15th century for the Piccolomini, the family of Pope Pius II. Its stone façade with large arched windows stands out among Siena's Gothic brick buildings, and today the palace houses the State Archive of Siena.
Read the full story →
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Axel Feltz (verified owner) –
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Kurzweilig, spannend und lustig, insbesondere wenn man in einer Gruppe ist und jeder gegen den anderen wetteifert.
Jose M– Spain –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Caroline– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Les énigmes
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Spain –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Switzerland –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Caroline– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Activité ludique pour découvrir la ville. Énigmes àccessibles pour des enfants de 8 ans.
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
United States –
Collected on GetYourGuide
M Carmen L?pez– Spain –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Genial, una forma diferente de conocer la ciudad, te obliga a pensar, pararte a mirar muy bien para resolver las pistas por lo que reparas en detalles que de otra manera no ver?as. Aparte de eso la aplicaci?n te proporciona la informaci?n b?sica sobre los principales monumentos. Es una alternativa muy recomendable, en mi opini?n, a los tours que a veces est?n un poco masificados y mucho m?s divertida. Siena es una ciudad maravillosa.
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Bella e divertentema considerare un articolo un errore nella soluzione non mi ? piaciuto
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
We did like the online tour guide BUT the german translation wasn’t adequate at all. The text repeated itself and there were a lot of mispronunciations within.
Switzerland –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Witziger Rundgang. Man erf?hrt einiges. Macht Spass. R?tsel d?rften schwerer sein. Texte teilweise schlecht ?bersetzt. Eine Frage war wegen Bauarbeiten nicht l?sbar.