In Florence, book ahead for tickets to the Uffizi and the Accademia and be sure to visit Santa Maria Novella for its ground-breaking works of art. Climb the medieval Torre di Mangia in Siena, a deafening experience if the bells are pealing, and don’t miss the Duomo, with its sculpted pulpit. Arezzo features Piero della Francesca’s great narrative fresco cycle, while the Palazzo Ducale in Urbino impresses visitors with its grand interiors, including an inlaid-wood room decorated with trompe l’oeil shelves and musical instruments.

Spend two days in Florence, visiting the Duomo and its Baptistry, with Lorenzo Ghiberti’s beautiful bronze doors, the Uffizi and Accademia, repositories of the best Italian Renaissance painting and sculpture. Other must-see sights include the Boboli Gardens and San Marco, a monastery frescoed by Fra' Angelico, where children can easily imagine the life of a 15th-century monk. From there make a day trip by train to Pisa, to see the Leaning Tower, which stands on the open lawns of the Campo Santo. Take a train back to Florence and then head south to Cortona, whose lively street life and rich art treasures merit a couple of days’ stay, then head south again to spend a night in Orvieto, whose decorated cathedral façade is one of the region’s unmissable sights. Go inside for Luca Signorelli’s Last Judgment (1499–1503); it inspired Michelangelo’s decoration of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

In the rugged hills and valleys of Tuscany’s wooded north, explore the caves of the Grotta del Vento near Barga, picnic in the Orrido di Botri gorge near Bagni di Lucca, and head out to San Pellegrino in Alpe in the Parco Naturale delle Alpi Apuane for a museum celebrating peasant life. Spoleto is a good base for trips to the Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini, with its woodland hikes, cycle tracks and remote villages. And Lago Trasimeno, a large inland lake, is a great spot for wind-surfing, sailing and swimming.

Easter Sunday sees Florence celebrating with the Scoppio del Carro, a firework display lit by a mechanical dove in front of the Duomo. Perhaps the greatest festival in the whole of Italy is Siena’s Palio, a bareback gallop round the shell-shaped Campo. Held on 2 July and 16 August, it is preceded by much flag-throwing and medieval pageantry, and followed by wild celebrations from the winning team. The end of August sees the Bravìo delle Botti, a boisterous barrel-rolling competition, in Montepulciano, while in September visitors can enjoy the Palio della Balestra, a hotly contested crossbow tournament, in Sansepolcro; the costumed participants can be seen parading through the streets. Throughout the region, early October is generally the time for the vendemmia, or grape harvest: agriturismi (farm stays) are great places for families to stay and perhaps help with the grape-picking.