I just wanted to say thank you, and even though we got home a month and a half ago, I haven't had time to post anything on here yet. The places were so Beautiful, and Here are some things I noticed:
F YOU ARE RENTING A VILLA or FARMHOUSE:
We rented a villa in Tuscany, which was amazing because we met some very nice people that we plan to stay in contact with. However, we planned too much. We planned to go to like... every hill town in 7 days, which didn't work. Because of the heat and everything else, we needed several day of resting, and enjoying the villa (and the pool :) between long sightseeing days. we only made it to Siena, Florence, San Gimignano, Montepulciano, and Lucca and Pisa, in addition to some tiny hill towns near our villa. None of which are well known. We ended up spending many days that we had planned for sightseeing just hanging out by the pool at the villa, which was lovely. PLEASE anticipate a day of rest between each of your sightseeing days. Trust me, planning every day is TOO much. AN important thing that you will come to realize in Italy is the importance of living in the moment. If you plan every second, you wont have times for spontaneous things to happen, and the most magical things on our trip were the ones we didn't plan.
Also, RESEARCH RESTAURANTS BEFORE YOU GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I did this and then I left the list at home. Some people may tell you to just go where the locals go, or ask a local where to go, but this didn't always work. Multiple times, we ended up walking around in circles very hungry trying to find non-touristy places to eat. It would have REALLY helped to know right away where to go. (Especially in places like Rome and Florence) Because Italy is not a place you should go hungry in.
LIVE IN THE MOMENT AND DON'T OVER-PLAN!!!! YOU WILL BE THANKFUL!