Arezzo

Arezzo needs 1 day: the Gothic cathedral atop the old town and the Piazza Grande, with its sloped square ringed by medieval and Renaissance buildings, on the same walk. April-October is best, except the first weekend of every month, when the square fills with Italy's largest antiques fair. It's cheaper than Florence, just 1 hour away by train. It's the birthplace of painter Piero della Francesca, whose «Legend of the True Cross» frescoes in the Basilica of San Francesco are considered one of the pinnacles of early Renaissance art.