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Voykit pocket guide · Italy
San Gimignano
Stay one night inside the walls: day-trippers leave by 18:00 and the towers, frescoes and empty piazzas are the reward. Two nights only if you add Volterra or a winery.
San Gimignano is a walled hill town of about 7,800 people with 14 surviving medieval tower houses and a UNESCO-listed centre you can walk across in 20 minutes. It works as a day trip from Florence or Siena, but the town changes after the buses leave: book one night inside Porta San Giovanni and you get the Collegiata frescoes, the Torre Grossa climb and the evening quiet without the midday crush.
- Country
- Italy
- Best months
- Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
- Avoid
- Jul–Aug (heat and peak crowds), late Dec–Feb (many places close)
- Stay
- 1 night
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- EUR
- Money
- Currency is the euro (EUR, €). Cards and contactless are widely accepted in cities; small cafés, markets and rural places may prefer cash.
- Daily spend
- Budget €55–85 excl. bed · Mid €85–140 excl. bed · High €140+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- TIM, Vodafone, WindTre and Iliad sell prepaid SIMs in shops and at airports; a passport and an Italian tax code (codice fiscale, issued in-store) are needed.
- Emergency
- All emergencies 112 · Police 113 · Fire 115 · Ambulance 118
- Plugs
- Types C, F, L · 230 V · 50 Hz · Italian type L plugs have three pins in a row; most sockets also take two-pin Europlugs (C), and bivalent sockets take Schuko (F).
- Tipping
- Bar: Leave €0.10–0.20 of change on the counter if you like.; Restaurant: Coperto or service may already be on the bill; leave €1–2 a person or round up for good service.; Taxi: Round up to the next euro.; Hotel porter or housekeeping: €1–2 per bag or per night.; Tour guide: €5–10 per person for a half day.
- Water
- Tap water is safe unless signed otherwise; Rome's nasoni fountains run all day. Restaurants serve bottled water (naturale or frizzante) unless you ask for tap (acqua del rubinetto).
- Toilets
- Few public toilets; use bars (buy a coffee), museums and stations, where some charge €1.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Coffee at the bar | €1.20–2 |
| Plate of pasta in an alley trattoria | €9–14 |
| Glass of Vernaccia di San Gimignano | €4–7 |
| Picnic from the Co-op supermarket | €8–15 |
| Collegiata entry / combo with Religious Art Museum | €3.50 / €5.50 |
| Parking outside the walls | about €2/hour |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- FLR · Florence Peretola
- Closest useful airport; bus or train to Florence, then bus to San Gimignano, about 2.5–3 h door to door (check)
- PSA · Pisa Galileo Galilei
- Train to Poggibonsi via Empoli, then bus; about 3 h (check)
Typical fares
- Bus Florence → San Gimignano
- about €6, 1 h 15 min–2 h with a change at Poggibonsi
- Bus Siena → San Gimignano (130)
- about €5.20, 1 h
- Electric shuttle inside town
- €1 a ride
Show 7 more sections and the pocket cardHideGet around, See and do, Sleep, Phrase card, Etiquette, safety and scams, One and two days, Sources, Pocket card
Get around
On foot only inside the walls: gate to gate is about 20 minutes. An electric shuttle runs Porta San Giovanni–Piazza della Cisterna–Porta San Matteo, €1 a ride. Cars park outside the walls; the centre is closed to traffic.
See and do
Known for
- 14 medieval tower houses
- Collegiata frescoes
- Torre Grossa climb
- Vernaccia di San Gimignano wine
- Tuscan countryside views
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Monteriggioni | Bus or car via Colle di Val d'Elsa, about 40 min | About 1 h |
| Colle di Val d'Elsa | Bus toward Poggibonsi/Siena, about 25 min | About 40 min |
| Radicondoli | Car only, about 45 min on hill roads | About 1 h |
| Volterra | Bus via Colle di Val d'Elsa, about 1.5–2 h | About 2 h |
| Siena | Bus 130 from Porta San Giovanni, about 1 h | About 1 h 15 min |
Sleep
- Inside the walls (Piazza della Cisterna / Via San Matteo)
- Best for one night: walk to everything, quiet after 18:00. Rooms are small and cars stay outside.Best for one night: walk to everything, quiet after 6:00 PM. Rooms are small and cars stay outside.
- Just outside Porta San Giovanni
- Cheaper, parking next to the gate, 5–10 min walk to the centre.
- Countryside farm stays (5–15 km)
- Pools and views, but you need a car and drive to dinner.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Good morning | Buongiornobwon-JOR-no |
| Please / Thank you | Per favore / Grazieper fa-VO-reh / GRAH-tsyeh |
| How much is it? | Quanto costa?KWAN-to KOS-ta |
| The bill, please | Il conto, per favoreeel KON-to per fa-VO-reh |
| Can I pay by card? | Posso pagare con la carta?POS-so pa-GA-reh kon la KAR-ta |
| Where is the toilet? | Dov'è il bagno?do-VEH eel BAN-yo |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Say buongiorno (until mid-afternoon) or buonasera on entering shops and bars; avoid: Walking in and pointing without a greeting
- Cheek kisses: Two kisses, right cheek first, among friends; follow their lead; avoid: Kissing strangers or in business settings
- Dress: Smart-casual in cities; covered shoulders and knees in churches; avoid: Beachwear, bare chests and flip-flops away from the beach
- Queues: At delis and pharmacies take a number (numerino); avoid: Assuming the crowd at a bar counter is chaos — pay at the till first where asked
- Restaurants: Wait to be seated and ask for the bill; avoid: Splitting a bill item by item with a large group
- Conversation: Food, football and family are safe openers; avoid: Mafia jokes and north–south stereotypes
- Dinner at a home: Bring pastries, wine or flowers (not chrysanthemums, which are for funerals); avoid: Refusing seconds too firmly
Scams and watch-outs
- Parking inside the walls is not allowed; Parcheggio Montemaggio fills fast in summer and costs about €2/hour.
- The Collegiata and Museo Civico keep separate hours and close for Mass; check the official sites before you plan a morning.
- Restaurants on the main piazzas cost more than the alleys one street back.
- Sunday and holiday buses from Florence and Siena are fewer and fuller; book the return leg in your head before you go.
Very safe for a town this busy: the real risks are summer heat, uneven medieval steps and pickpockets in the Piazza della Cisterna crush at midday. Keep bags zipped and drink water.
One and two days
No timed day plan for San Gimignano yet. Suggested stay: 1 night. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- 14 medieval tower houses
- Collegiata frescoes
- Torre Grossa climb
- Vernaccia di San Gimignano wine
- Tuscan countryside views
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- Wikivoyage: San Gimignano, revision 5177519 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5177519
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
San Gimignano
A questo indirizzo, per favore
To this address, please
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
No embassies in town; the US consulate-general is in Florence, most other countries keep embassies in Rome.
Tipping is not expected: a coperto (cover charge) is on the bill, and rounding up or leaving €1–2 a person is enough.
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/san-gimignano). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.