Volterra

Volterra needs 1 day: the Roman Theatre, one of the best-preserved in Italy, and the Guarnacci Etruscan Museum, with the world's largest collection of Etruscan funerary urns, on the same walk through a village atop an alabaster hill. April-October is best. It's cheaper than San Gimignano or Siena, with less tourism despite comparable heritage. It's one of the 12 original Etruscan city-states, with over 3,000 years of continuous history, and its alabaster industry -carved there since Etruscan times- remains its signature craft.