Piazza del Campo, Siena

One of Europe's most beautiful squares, a sloping shell-shaped piazza of red brick in the heart of medieval Siena, surrounded by palaces and overlooked by the slender Torre del Mangia. Climb its 400 steps for a view over the rooftops and the Tuscan hills. Twice a year, on 2 July and 16 August, the Palio, a wild bareback horse race between the city's districts, is run around the square.

Siena's striped marble cathedral, with its inlaid marble floor and Piccolomini Library, is a short walk away.