Florence

No travel guide to Florence fails to wax lyrical over this holiday destination - a spectacular example of a well preserved medieval Italian town, where modern urban planning has succeeded in preserving the spirit and historical fabric of the downtown area. Cars and buses are largely banned from the centre - to the frustration of grumbling (and crumbling) tourists who disgorge from tour buses several hundred metres from where they want to be. Like Venice - this is the main challenge for the city - how to accommodate the huge numbers of people who visit the city from all over the world. But despite the crowds - and the heat in the summer, when the tall stone buildings and narrow streets trap the scorching heat and thicken the air - the medieval streets and alleys are well worth exploring. Most tourists stick to a well worn axis - Santa Croce to the Piazza Signoria to the Ponte Vecchio, with a detour to the Duomo and Michealangelo's David in the Accademia. You can see them coming - 50 or more led by a flag waving guide, hurriedly taking pictures before fleeing to the air conditioned comfort of the leather 'factories'.

So armed with a map, it is fairly easy to avoid them, except where you need to interesect at the main monuments. For eating, get away from this axis and find the places the Florentines eat. And at night, stay as centrally as you can, as most of the bus tours stay out of town, and the streets take on an altogether different air after dark. South of the Arno, too, around the Pitti Palace and the Piazza Santo Spirito, is much less touristed.