Trento

Trento's living room: the San Vigilio cathedral, the Neptune fountain and the Cazuffi-Rella houses with fully frescoed facades. The square and the arcaded streets radiating from it are freely walkable with a leashed dog, nicest early in the morning before the cafe terraces fill.

The prince-bishops' residence, part medieval keep, part Renaissance loggia. The gardens, entered through the Porta dei Diamanti, welcome leashed dogs of all sizes for free; inside the museum only small dogs carried or in a carrier are admitted.

Four minutes of cable to climb 400 metres to Sardagna's balcony over the Adige valley. Small dogs carried in your arms ride free, larger ones pay 1.20 euros with muzzle and leash; the funivia even allows several animals on a dedicated cabin run.

Twenty hectares of woods and lawns on the south-eastern hill, the great green lung for Trento's dogs. A fenced dog area with a drinking fountain and shaded trails that are precious in summer; leash required outside the enclosure.

Renzo Piano's spectacular science museum does not admit dogs, but it has a solution ready: the municipal kennel at Via delle Bettine 35 offers free day boxes and a 10 euro pickup service at the museum, to be booked in advance.

Trento's own mountain, with the broad Viote plain at around 1,500 metres: picnic meadows, dog-friendly trails and guaranteed coolness when the valley swelters. Only the alpine botanical garden is off-limits to dogs; watch for grazing herds and keep the leash on.