Ravenna

The Basilica of San Vitale and the small neighbouring Mausoleum of Galla Placidia hold the city's most sumptuous Byzantine mosaics, including a famous starry vault. Dogs are not allowed inside the monuments, but the garden and the paths that link them are walked on the leash.

Sant'Apollinare Nuovo lines its nave with two processions of saints and martyrs in golden mosaic, a masterpiece of Byzantine art. The interior is off-limits to dogs, but the street and the squares of the old centre leading to it are done on the leash.

Dante's Tomb, a small neoclassical shrine where the poet who died in exile in Ravenna in 1321 rests, stands in the open air in the quiet "zone of silence" near the church of San Francesco. You pause here on the leash, in a calm, shaded corner at the heart of the old town.

The great historic pine forests of San Vitale and Classe, celebrated by Dante and Byron, ring the city with flat trails among umbrella pines, wetlands and canals. You walk here on the leash; watch for mosquitoes near the marshes and for summer heat under the pines.

On the shore a few kilometres from the centre, Marina di Ravenna and Punta Marina line up long Adriatic sandy beaches. The coast has several equipped dog beaches ("bau beach") open in summer, while the classic bathing beaches restrict dog access in high season.

Piazza del Popolo, the Venetian heart of the city with its columns and palaces, and the nearby Mercato Coperto give Ravenna its pulse. The squares and pedestrian streets are walked on the leash; the interior of the covered market stays reserved for customers without animals.