We will be flying into Rome on Oct. 26th and leaving on Nov. 23rd. We are unsure of where we hsould travel to this time of year. Our previous trip was for 2 weeks at Easter time. We travelled to Rome, Sorrento, Siena, Venice and the Cinque Terre on that trip. Our interests include food, cooking, wine and hiking.
Florence or go south down the boot. Since you have plenty of time, consider Sicily.
Ditto on the Sicily suggestion. Should still be decent weather and with that amount of time you should be able to cover the whole island. Possibly do some trips to the other islands as well.
Sicily is a great suggestion, but with a month I'd also consider spending some time in Tuscany/Umbria area. Weather won't be as nice, but part of your interest is food. I was in Florence last November and enjoyed many seasonal dishes. The soup made with winter cabbage was one of my favorites. If you want to return to Sorrento, I was there at end of October a few years ago and the weather was still warm.