Published in the April issue of The Sunday Times Travel Magazine

Ditch the car and throw away the map if you’ve made it as far as Siena – swerving its bigger sibling (and arch rival) Florence along the way – you won’t need either. Tuscany’s pocket-sized provincial city is made for getting lost in – and the streets are made for walking.

The UNESCO-listed beauty was the first in Europe to banish cars from its main arteries, which makes the air as crisp as a white Chianti and the streets empty of traffic bar the odd Vespa.

The medieval walls suck Siena in like a corset, with endless narrow lanes at every turn. Get your bearings in Il Campo, the pretty, scallop-shaped main piazza.

The Sunday Times Travel Magazine - August

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• Six of the best northern Italian towns

BACKGROUND

• Family fun in Rome

• Rimini returns from the brink

• Tuscany is no dream

• Welcome to Venice, the theme park

• Trying Italy's heel for size

Six of the best northern Italian towns

Tired of the hordes and high prices of Tuscany? Escape the crowds at these six historic towns

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Rising from the lowest point like a stone periscope, the bell tower unleashes magnificent views: before you, the zebra-striped campanile of the Duomo soaring up through ochre rooftops; behind, the gently rising Tuscan hills and vineyards; below, a swirling mass of cobbled alleys.

Siena is a city firmly rooted in its past – there are countless galleries and museums in which to learn about its glorious Gothic history – and tradition remains strong: among its wackier customs the biannual bareback horse race (Palio) around the Campo. Yet its present is just as wonderful: wander past faded stone facades strung with washing, hams dangling in dappled light and holes in the wall dispensing slivers of pecorino and olive ascolane (deep-fried, stuffed olives), or spend a day learning how to make pappa al pomodoro (the bread-and-tomato soup that is the city’s lifeblood) just like Mama.

It’s no wonder the people are blissfully content: you’ll often hear the phrase, ‘From what we have, we are not missing anything’. After a weekend here, it would be hard to disagree.

PAST

It’s a good idea to get to Gothic masterpiece Il Duomo (00 39 0577 283048, www.operaduomo.siena.it; £7.50) early, before the school parties descend. Inside the haunting structure, supported by giant liquorice-striped pillars, there’s enough history for a fascinating few hours. The cathedral’s intricate inlaid-marble floor – displaying images such as the ubiquitous she-wolf (symbol of Siena) – is captivating, but remember to look up, too, at the brightly painted glass windows and row upon row of watchful papal heads.

Built in the ninth century as one of the first European hospitals, Santa Maria della Scala (00 39 0577 224811, www.santamariadellascalla.com; £4.50) has since been restored as a museum complex. It seems a doctor’s day was as arduous then as it is now: among the bright secular frescoes adorning the walls is a comical one showing a GP nodding off as a patient describes his symptoms.

Catch some mid-morning sun in the Piazza del Campo. Around its shapely curves cafe terraces spill onto salmon-pink flagstones, and while it has its share of tourists (what city square doesn’t?), it is little changed from its medieval heyday, and very much the backbone of Siena’s cafe society. Bar Manganelli serves the best coffee in the square; if you’re in need of a lift, try a caffè corretto (espresso with a dash of grappa).

At the square’s lowest point – it shelves gently downwards – you’ll find the Palazzo Pubblico, a Gothic palace housing the offices of local government and the Civic Museum (www.comune.siena.it/museocivico; £5). Upstairs, frescoes by one of Siena’s most lauded 14th-century artists, Ambrogio Lorenzetti, serve as a vivid reminder to local politicians of their responsibilities, depicting the Allegory of Good and Bad Government.

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