Hi, Kim.  What a great trip!  I can add a couple of places to the list.  Lucca is a fantastic and charming little town.  Depending on where you are there this summer, they have a great music festival with several big names performing in June and July.  Here's the link http://www.summer-festival.com/.  Last time I was in Rome, a friend who lives there took me to a beach just outside of Rome.  The area is San Nicola and it is a pretty beach which is packed in the summer with locals (we were there off season).  There is also a fantastic hotel very near San Nicola called La Posta Vecchia, in Ladispoli, that is uber nice and could be a great play to stay or eat lunch or take in a spa treatment.  http://www.lapostavecchia.com/en/home.html  I'd skip San Gimignano - too touristy.  And lastly I must offer the titles of my favorite guide books.  There is a great series of books called City Secrets and there is one for Rome as well as Florence, Venice and the Towns of Italy (it's all in one book).  I am also a huge fan of books called The Collected Traveler by Barrie Kerper.  Her books are in the travel section but read more like a novel.  I'm using her book on Istanbul for a trip in a few weeks and have found fantastic information I'd not read anywhere else.  Final book I can recommend is a city guide by Louis Vuitton.  They published 2011 guides for Rome and, same as the other books, I've found great suggestions for Istanbul that run the gamut from over-the-top to very reasonable.  Safe travels!

Posted Feb 11, 2011

The hill town of Amelia, north of Rome, south of Tuscany is as beautiful as any of the famous hill towns but there are NO tourists. Skip Assisi, it is a tourist mecca.  Go have some Brunello in Montalcino the towers are cool.  If you have the time, drive it is a real adventure but easy to do with a map.

Posted Feb 10, 2011

in Tuscany: Monticchiello, and food at the restaurant at the town's gate there (not far from Siena); If you would want to venture away from the center in Rome, the best pizza is at Mr.Pizza on Colli Portuensi (yes, a stupid name) - bus 49 from Piazza Venezia, or tram 7, get off at the top of the Colli Portuensi street, and walk down on the left-hand side of the street/avenue until you get there; from there, walk up to Via Casaletto to see villas and working convents and monasteries. When you get hungry in Italy, stop people on a street and ask them "dove posso mangiar bene?"

Posted Feb 10, 2011

Not really an unknown, but I loved Sienna.

Posted Feb 10, 2011

I was there last Summer and Assisi is a great city to visit. Located about 1 1/2 hour by train from Rome, you may want to situate yourself in Rome (Hotel Oceania is about 10 minutes from Termini Station and is absolutely fantastic, recommended by Rick Steve) then take the early train. St. Francis lived around there. BTW, while in Rome, go eat at Da Giovanni, the most authentic Italian Cuisine at a great price. A hint, they do not speak English but it is worth the effort!

Posted Feb 11, 2011

There are so many.  One of my favorite, and perhaps easiest to get to is Orvieto.  If you'll have a car, that opens up lots of other options to stay at Agriturismi throughout Umbria and Tuscany.  Bagno Vignoni is another favorite of mine.

Posted Feb 11, 2011

ahh, italia....so many places...i agree with everyone's suggestions above. i would add Cinque Terra....an amazing little group of 5 small towns, each distinct from each other with some beautiful little nuances...truly one of my most favorite places on earth. except i went way back about 15 years ago when it was much more unknown and less touristy. 

also i would look into santa margherita...it's most known for the fabulous wine which is now very popular here in the states...i remember getting it for about 7000 lire 5-10$ while there, but wine aside, it is a quaint beautiful little place.

verona is also lovely..and close to venice...if you can get to their outdoor ampitheater its fabulous. see if AIDA is going to be performed....I saw it there!

 lucca, siena, san gimignano, lake como are all great as well. buon viaggio!! 

Posted Feb 11, 2011

YES to all of these answers.  We loved San Gimignago -- spend the night because there are tourist buses during the day.  Great food, wonderful wines, beautiful scenery.  We also loved Orvieto. Assisi is fun, but be sure to stay for the night. Much nicer after the tour buses are gone. 

Posted Feb 12, 2011

About 30 minutes outside of Rome is the town of Tivoli with great Roman history.  Tivoli gardens is amazing, although I think they are closed on Monday.  Hadrian's Villa is also very interesting which is near Tivoli.

Posted Feb 13, 2011

I agree with Rachel- San Gimignano is one of my favorites- if you are in the market for some shopping, this town will delight you.  Pienza is another favorite for beautiful views- pick up some pecorino to bring home while you are there!

Posted Feb 15, 2011

In addition to all the great places above, I would add Chiusi, Pienza, Orvieto and Trevi. You can hardly go wrong though, if you just point your car on the road and drive!

Posted Feb 17, 2011

Hello Kim!  I don't know if you're still taking suggestions for the trip BUT... if you have an iPhone or iPad I would recommend investing a few bucks in an App with self contained GPS.  I work as an editor for a travel guide publisher from Germany... and trust me that Germans know Italy like the know sausage and beer.   Just an idea!  The link below is for our Florence app and I will be happy to give you a promo code to page through it for free :)

http://iphone.mmtravel.de/en/index.html

-Cara

Posted May 23, 2011

One of our favorite places that we stayed was called "Italy Farm Stay" - I think it's about a two hour drive outside of Rome. There are lots of review on Trip Advisor if you'd like to read about it.
Also, while we were staying near Sienna, we just happened to go into town on the day of the Palio - their famous horse race that takes place right in the middle of the city. It's in July sometime and quite an experience if you can catch it. 

Posted Jan 20, 2012