Siena, verdict by verdict

Siena is the medieval counterpoint to Florence's Renaissance showpiece: a brick-built hill town wrapped around the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo, still run by the seventeen contrade that race the Palio twice a summer. The Duomo is arguably Italy's most ornate cathedral interior, and the whole centre is a pedestrian maze of flags, fountains and contrada museums, smaller and slower than Florence and all the better for it.

The straightforward catch is logistics and terrain. Siena has no airport and its station sits downhill from the centre, so most arrivals are by bus or car; day-tripper crowds pack the Campo between late morning and late afternoon; and the town is steep enough to punish bad footwear. Outside the Duomo-Campo circuit the paid sights thin out quickly, since the pleasure here is wandering rather than ticket-collecting, and Palio days on 2 July and 16 August sell out everything months ahead, with August hot and half the shops closed besides.

One full day covers the Campo, the Duomo and a wander, while two or three nights makes Siena a Tuscan-hill-town base for Chianti, San Gimignano and the Val d'Orcia, which want a car or an organised tour. May, June, September and October are ideal. It suits travelers after contrada culture and the Palio's pageantry, the most ornate cathedral interior in Tuscany, and a quieter, more medieval alternative to Florence.