Siena

Siena needs a full day: the Piazza del Campo -a fan-shaped square, twice-yearly stage for the Palio horse race- and the Torre del Mangia on one, Siena Cathedral, with its black-and-white marble-striped façade, on the same walk. April-June and September-October avoid both winter cold and the summer heat and Palio crowds of July/August. It's cheaper than Florence, just an hour away by car. Its medieval rivalry with Florence lives on in the Palio di Siena, a horse race between the city's 17 «contrade» (districts) run in the same main square since the 17th century.