Saintes rewards a half-day to a full day of wandering. The Roman monuments — the amphitheatre, the arch, the thermal baths — are scattered around the town and easily reached on foot. The medieval churches, particularly the Abbaye aux Dames and the Cathedral, represent the great Saintonge school of Romanesque carving. The river Charente is pleasant to walk along, and the old town has enough life in it to feel like a real working city rather than an open-air museum.