My mother and I are planning a trip to Italy mid to late April (arriving on morning of 16th and leaving afternoon of 27th). We are flying in from and out of Rome. This will be my fourth trip and her second; we both went to Italy for the first time around 15 years ago, so it’s been a while for my mother, while I have made it back two other times since while studying in college--meaning I was there for a good amount of time and got to make a lot of leisurely day trips around the Ligurian region and the western Tuscan region (around Lucca). I’m trying to make an itinerary to make sure we have a good balance of quality vs quantity, though my mother and I both favor quality in where all we go and how long we stay.
I am worried that I may be over-ambitious in my planning, especially since a lot of what we're doing is stuff I've done recently but that my mother has not, and wanted to get some input from some experienced Italy travelers on my first rough (emphasis on rough) draft of an itinerary.
Day 1: arrive in Rome, take train to Florence. Probably explore the area and not do anything we need to make reservations for.
Days 2--4: stay in Florence, do scheduled tour stuff. I may knock a day off here depending on how planning goes, and since we have both been to Florence before.
Days 5--7: Tuscany, outside Florence. I’m thinking either Siena or Anghiari, or both?
Day 8--12(AM): Rome/around Rome?.
Day 12(PM): leave
I’m also wondering about driving. Based on what I’ve seen, I only feel secure enough to drive around the Tuscany region; I have no plans on driving into the cities of Rome and Florence. Is it worth getting a rental car if we’re just spending three, maybe four days outside Florence?
The only thing we have set in stone is when we will be in Italy; we have not made any reservations otherwise. I would very much appreciate any advice or recommendations you all may have!