Another vote here for Rothenburg. It is perhaps even more "medieval" than Siena (though to be fair, I spent two days in Rothenburg, and only an afternoon in Si

Another vote here for Rothenburg. It is perhaps even more "medieval" than Siena (though to be fair, I spent two days in Rothenburg, and only an afternoon in Siena). The downside is that it is very tourist-y. It almost seemed like the only things there were hotels, museums, and gift shops. The upside is that it still feels authentic. I picked my hotel pretty much just based on price and availability, and it was charming - you can even see it in random pictures like this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Street_in_Rothenburg.JPG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Street_in_Rothenburg.JPG (I forget the name, but it's the one with the bell sign). My friends stayed at a different hotel, and had the same experience. Walking along the walls at night can be an amazing experience - it had rained earlier, it was foggy, street lights reflected off the cobblestones, and no tourists in sight... it felt like we were transported to a different century. As for taverns, I would recommend Zur Höll (meaning "Hell"), it's supposed to be over 1000 years old - and if you manage to get the table in the basement (which is actually a giant bellows), that claim seems quite believable. http://www.romanticroad.com/hoell/english/dine.htm http://www.romanticroad.com/hoell/english/dine.htm