Tuscany · Siena
San Quirico d'Orcia
A walled stop on the Via Francigena in the UNESCO Val d'Orcia, where a twelfth-century Collegiata, a Renaissance garden and the Bagno Vignoni thermal pool sit within fifteen kilometers of each other.
By Peter Benei
Written about. No. 46.
The letter
San Quirico d'Orcia got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 7 min from Siena
- Population
- 2,560
- J10°
- F12°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J28°
- J32°
- A31°
- S25°
- O20°
- N14°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
San Quirico d'Orcia sits on a low rise in the Val d'Orcia, the rolling clay-and-tufa landscape inscribed by UNESCO in 2004 as a cultural landscape shaped by fourteenth and fifteenth-century Sienese governance. The town was a stage on Sigeric the Serious's tenth-century Via Francigena from Canterbury to Rome and has remained a working stop on the route ever since. The Collegiata dei Santi Quirico e Giulitta was built at the end of the twelfth century over an eighth-century baptistery; the lateral portal added in 1288 is attributed to Giovanni Pisano, then working on the Siena cathedral.
The Horti Leonini, the geometric boxwood garden laid out by Diomede Leoni around 1580 inside the town walls, hosts the Forme nel Verde sculpture exhibition every summer since 1971. Bagno Vignoni, the frazione five kilometers down the road, has a thermal pool at the center of its piazza, used since Etruscan times. Few comuni this small carry UNESCO, thermal and Francigena signals at once.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 2 h 47 min by car.
Bologna (BLQ) is about 2 h 50 min away.
By car from the center of Siena 1 h 7 min, Perugia 1 h 34 min or Florence 1 h 50 min.
Coming by train into Perugia? San Quirico d'Orcia is about 1 h 30 min away by road.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Collegiata dei Santi Quirico e Giulitta
Romanesque parish church built late twelfth century over an eighth-century baptistery, with the 1288 lateral portal attributed to Giovanni Pisano.
Horti Leonini
Italianate boxwood garden laid out by Diomede Leoni around 1580 inside the town walls, hosting the Forme nel Verde sculpture exhibition since 1971.
Bagno Vignoni
Frazione five kilometers south, with a sixteenth-century thermal pool at the center of its piazza, fed by springs used since Etruscan times.
Palazzo Chigi
Late seventeenth-century palace on the main street, built for the Chigi-Zondadari family of Siena, now used for cultural exhibitions and concerts.
Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta
Smaller Romanesque church near Porta Cappuccini, with thirteenth-century fresco fragments and a single nave.
From the guides
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Da CiaccoRistorante
Da Ciacco has a spot in the Michelin Guide to its name.
Trattoria Toscana al Vecchio FornoRistorante
Trattoria Toscana al Vecchio Forno holds a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
San Quirico d'Orcia is at the end of the road.
- A village of 2,560. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Montalcino, is 21 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Siena, a city of 52,990, is 1 h 7 min by car. Further than our 30 to 60 minutes, a long way for the hospital visit or the monthly shopping.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 2,560, down 5.6% since 2015
- Nearest city Siena, 1 h 7 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Castel del Piano, 17 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,100 to €1,600 per m² to buy, €3.30 to €4.70 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 98% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Perugia airport (PEG), 1 h 43 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Florence, 1 h 50 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
13% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Kosovo and Bangladesh, against 9% across Italy. 33 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, Austria and the United States. There are 244 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 29% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Siena province ranks 21st of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Castel del Piano, 17 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Siena, 36 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Siena, 39 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.06% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Tuscany spends about €2,410 a month, €540 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €770 a year for water, on the Tuscany average. In Siena, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.28, a meal in a pizzeria €17.81 and a man's haircut €25.49.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone D, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 1 to April 15, up to 12 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, under 1% in a high or medium one. 2% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Thermal baths in town: Piscina Termale Val di Sole, Bagno Vignoni Terme Libere, Bagno Vignoni.
Known for
VAL D'ORCIA
UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape inscribed in 2004, the rolling country shaped by Sienese governance in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
VIA FRANCIGENA
Working stop on the pilgrim route from Canterbury to Rome since Sigeric described it in the tenth century, with the medieval hospital still standing.
BAGNO VIGNONI
Thermal frazione where the village piazza is a sixteenth-century pool fed by hot springs at 49 degrees, used since the Etruscans.
Common questions
- What is San Quirico d'Orcia known for?
- San Quirico d'Orcia is a walled stop on the Via Francigena at 409 meters in the UNESCO Val d'Orcia, where a twelfth-century Collegiata, a Renaissance garden and the Bagno Vignoni thermal pool sit within fifteen kilometers of each other.
- Where is San Quirico d'Orcia?
- San Quirico d'Orcia is a comune in the province of Siena, in Tuscany.
- What is the nearest airport to San Quirico d'Orcia?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Perugia (PEG), about 1 h 43 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Siena to San Quirico d'Orcia?
- About 1 h 7 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit San Quirico d'Orcia?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Which other towns are like San Quirico d'Orcia?
- Cetona, Pienza and Trequanda.
- How many people live in San Quirico d'Orcia?
- 2,560 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is San Quirico d'Orcia a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, San Quirico d'Orcia is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Montalcino, is 21 min away. The nearest city, Siena, is 1 h 7 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Castel del Piano, 17 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 98% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 409 m
- Population: 2,560
- Surface area: 42.12 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists San Quirico d'Orcia appears in
- The 6 best towns on a walking route that eat well in the province of SienaSiena provinceon a walking routeeats well6 towns · smallest 1,421 residents
- The best hot spring towns in the province of SienaSiena provincehot springs6 towns · smallest 1,421 residents
- The best hot-spring towns within 75 minutes of SienaNear Sienahot springswithin 75 min6 towns · smallest 2,560 residents · closest 24 min away
- The best small towns on a walking route in the province of SienaSiena provinceon a walking routesmall6 towns · smallest 1,044 residents
- The best small towns with a serious restaurant in the province of SienaSiena provinceserious restaurantsmall6 towns · smallest 1,137 residents
- The best towns with a World Heritage site in the province of SienaSiena provinceWorld Heritage6 towns · smallest 1,044 residents
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 41.
Castiglione d'Orcia
Province: Siena
A stone borgo at 540 meters in the UNESCO Val d'Orcia, with two fortresses guarding the road from Amiata to the Via Francigena.
6 km away
- Written about. No. 44.
Pienza
Province: Siena
The first Renaissance ideal city, built from 1459 on the Val d'Orcia ridge.
15 min by car
- Written about. No. 42.
Montalcino
Province: Siena
A walled hill town at 564 meters above the Val d'Orcia, the last fortress to hold out for the Sienese Republic and the birthplace of Brunello.
21 min by car
The letter
San Quirico d'Orcia got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.