Brescia
A short stroll from the train station, the very modern Hotel Igea offers affordably priced rooms that boast all the essential creature comforts (decent mattresses, small desks, TVs with many channels, mini-fridges). Some rooms are carpeted, while others boast sparkling polished wood floors; the cheapest are on the small side.
It's about a 15-minute walk (1.1km) from here to the Duomo.
18.16 MILES
Poet, soldier, hypochondriac and proto-Fascist, Gabriele d'Annunzio (1863–1938) defies easy definition, and so does his estate. Bombastic, extravagant and…
0.88 MILES
You could spend a whole day in this monster of a museum housed in an ex-monastery and still have plenty left for another visit. Those with limited time…
29.26 MILES
Cremona’s history echoes to sound of violins and violin-making, meaning a visit to this relatively new, state-of-the-art museum is practically obligatory…
28.54 MILES
Just east of the old city walls is one of Italy's great art repositories. Founded in 1780, it contains an exceptional range of Italian masters. Raphael's…
16.06 MILES
Opened in the mid-2010s and housed in an old monastery a block back from Salò’s ferry dock, Musa’s exhibits are split between a permanent collection that…
19.28 MILES
Occupying 2 hectares at Sirmione's northern tip, this ruined 1st-century-AD Roman villa is a picturesque complex of teetering stone arches and tumbledown…
29.12 MILES
Bergamo's colossal, square-based Torre del Campanone soars 52m above the city. It still tolls a bell at 10pm, the legacy of an old curfew. Taking the lift…
29.12 MILES
On the northwest side of Piazza Vecchia, the fresco-dappled Palazzo del Podestà was traditionally home to Venice's representative in Bergamo. Today, the…
0.49 MILES
Perhaps beautiful is not the word but this nonetheless fascinating piazza is a leftover of Il Duce's dreams of grandeur. Designed by Marcello Piacentini…
0.56 MILES
The most compelling of all Brescia's religious monuments is the 11th-century Duomo Vecchio, a rare example of a circular-plan Romanesque basilica, built…
0.58 MILES
The Duomo Nuovo was begun in 1604 but wasn't finished until 1825. Repeated alterations over the centuries make it a bit of a mishmash; the lower part of…
0.6 MILES
The Torre dell'Orologio, with its exquisite astrological timepiece, is modelled on the one in Venice's Piazza San Marco.
0.6 MILES
The medieval town hall looms large over the plaza down below thanks to its soaring brick tower, which was built in the 12th century. Other parts of the…
6. Palazzo Martinengo Cesaresco
0.74 MILES
This 17th-century palace houses two separate museums, and it makes a worthwhile detour while exploring Brescia's historic sites. The Brixia Light Box …
0.78 MILES
Brescia’s impressive archaeological complex cleverly reconstructs the city’s Roman past from fragments first discovered in the 1820s. It consists of three…
0.8 MILES
Back in the first century AD, the Piazza del Foro was the centre of civic and religious life in Brescia (Brixia). You can see a few fragments – including…