Where to Go?

You could spend time around the Northern lakes. I like Maggiore and Garda the best. I also love Lucca. I took a wonderful cooking class there two years ago. I agree about Siena. I love it. I always spend time in Siena everytime I go. Bologna is also a good city with lots to see and wonderful food.

Rent a villa for a week as a homebase and explore the hilltowns around tuscany.

What time of year will you be here? In summer, sepnd a week in the Dolomites if you like mountains, cooler weather (think 70s) and hiking. I woudl avoid the Amalfi Coast in summer, though. We like Umbria and Abruzzo - less traveled, smaller towns, less English spoken, fewer crowds. Assisi (lovely but crowded), Spello, Perugia, Spoleto all in Umbria and worthwhile. Make one a base for a few days.

Thank you. Elizabeth
Boston

We also love small towns, like Scopello in Sicily and Sarlat in France. Which town would be best to use as a base.
We usually rent an apartment. Elizabeth

When are you going. If shoulder season, I'd go north, probably a combination of Tuscany, Umbria and Liguria. If winter, I'd focus on south of Rome. If high summer, go north to Scandinavia, Germany, Poland, Estonia... It's both crowded and miserable in Italy during the hot part of summer.

I would probably spit the time between Tuscan hilltowns and the Italian Riviera. I just spent a few days in Santa Margarita and would love to return and spend more time. You could also think about Lake Como area. What fun... a month in Italy. Or you could just watch Enchanted April and rent that villa:)

Puglia (pick a couple of cities to use as bases, the region is large). Or further north, Emilia-Romagna. I especially love Umbria - Assisi, Spello, Gubbio, Todi are all beautiful places.

I would concentrate on northern Italy (depending on the time of year) and spend time between Lake Como (and/or one of the other lakes), the Ligurian Coast (Cinque Terre, Portovenere, Portofino, Camogli, etc.) & the Dolomites. In my opinion you need a car to really see the Dolomites. You could also visit the Amalfi Coast (and Pompei, Herculaneum, etc.) but only if you'll be visiting other places that are en route to or close to the Amalfi Coast. Not sure if you visited any other towns in Tuscany when you were in Florence or Siena but if not, you could easily spend a week in Tuscany visiting various hill towns as day trips from perhaps an agriturismo (I can suggest a great one in Siena). We loved all of these places and I'd love to return to all of them. We just visited the Dolomites for the first time in August of this year and only for a few days but it's high on my list of places to return to; the scenery is absolutely breathtaking and I didn't expect it to be as pretty as it was. Have a wonderful trip...a month in Italy sounds glorious!