Place to hang out for a week

What about going to Sicily. It has great scenery and sure it has all that your looking for and could be quite interesting, different and relaxing.

I nominate Verona. It ticks all your boxes and is a great base for day trips by train - even Venice!

Thanks. I was considering Verona, but need to do more reading. We may do Sicily. Still kicking that one around too. Favorite side trips in those locations? I have spent some time in Catania, but none in Verona.

I'm in a similar boat, planning an extended trip to Italy after having done the major places (Rome, Florence, Venice, Cinque Terre). Bologna seems to check all those boxes except maybe the museums, but there are good looking museums in the surrounding region. Or Perugia or another city in Umbria? Could see Orvieto, Assisi, etc. Naples seems to check all of those boxes but seems polarizing.

Where are you flying out from Europe?

Rome, round-trip. But, trains are so easy in Italy that it isn't much of a factor for us.

Ortigia Is, Siracusa, Sicily. We spent a relaxing week there last year as part of a larger trip in Sicily.

Ortigia is a wonderful idea. Lucca is a no stress place too. Assisi? It's a beautiful town on a mountain side.

If you're flying out of Rome, it's a no-brainer.

I know it's on the above list. But, find yourself an apartment in Trastevere, Campo de' Fiori, Navona, Monti, wherever feels comfortable, and just plain chill. May won't be quite overrun with tourists yet, but I've said numerous times on this forum that Rome seems to absorb tourists better than any Italian city, maybe the best in Europe.

Get a good map--they sell laminated ones at Termini station--and just wander. I guarantee you'll find gems almost wherever you go. Daytrip to Orvieto if the mood strikes. But in three trips to Italy, Rome is the place I want to keep returning.

As I was reading the responses, and you'd nixed Venice, I was thinking of Rome (and Jay). And here he is. Definitely Rome.

If you want day trips, consider Bologna. Pleasant city, well preserved centro storico, rail hub. You'll easily find 6 towns to daytrip to.

I agree about Rome. We spent almost 5 years there and never saw or experienced everything. To just “dwell” somewhere is an entirely different experience from chasing around seeing the famous sites. You could take in some of the lesser known museums, take a day trip outside the city to Castle Gandolfo or Frascati, and more.

I'd get a car and stay somewhere in Tuscany, an agritourismo outside of Montepulciano. You can do the Val d'Orcia, Siena, Assisi, Chiusi, Greve in Chianti.

Turin and the Piedmont. Interesting and beautiful and less touristed. If you put less emphasis on museums, I would say Puglia or Umbria.

Padua or Bologna

Umbria, stay in Perugia

While Florence is also on the list of places you've already been, I wonder just how much of it you've seen? Seems that quite a lot of folks "do" the Uffizi and Accademia but not much more...and there's so much more there to see! It's also a great base for some day trips (Siena, Lucca, Pisa, Fiesole) so that one gets my vote.

Otherwise, sure, I can VERY easily go along with a week in Rome. Pretty sure there's oodles there as well that you haven't yet explored!

hey hey jumbo
take a look at castelli romani, 30 to 40 minutes by train from rome. home to the pope's summer home and gardens, wineries, strawberry festival and flower show end of may first sunday of june for parade, and lakes.
italymagazine.com/lake nemi and it's wild berry
anamericaninrome/castel gondolfo: italy's stunning lakeside town
italyheaven.co.uk search castelli romani, lazio
blog.rome-accomodation.net/take a day trip to nemi
withlocals.com/ beautiful countryside day trip: castelli romani
lacucinaitaliana.com/ nonna's rosanna's pupazza frascatana. ceralli.it is frascati where nonna is 93 years old till bakes and the family runs bakery/pizza oven with the "best" porchetta
eatwith.com search zagarola a cooking class in the countryside
book a hotel overlooking the lake, with a balcony, sit and have a morning coffee or afternoon glass of vino, maybe rent a paddleboat on the lake. a relaxing holiday for you, enjoy
aloha