Suggestions for short-term stays in Tuscany (locations/apartments)

I think I would opt for Florence. You can enjoy this wonderful city and take day trips to Sienna, San Gim, Chianti, etc.
During our stay in Florence, we rented an apartment through vrbo.com. Pretty reasonable and centrally located, although a little noisy at night especially weekends when the young people were returning from bars. But, I really loved Florence and would not hesitate to rent an apartment there and use it as my base.

Kelly, you might also consider Umbria for part of your Italy visit. Assisi is very nice and somewhat more affordable than Florence. You can take day trips to Perugia, Cortona and small towns like Gubio and Arezzo. Some of the towns are easily accessible by train others you might want to rent a car. Ciao! Linda

Are you planning on renting a car or doing daytrips by train? That might make a difference on where you locate yourself. I personally prefer the countryside of either Chianti or on the outskirts of Siena. However, we had a car to get to those apartments. Sounds like a great trip. Have fun making lifetime memories with your daughter--I did!

Schengen restricts you to 90 days, correct? Then you have to stay out of all the Schengen countries for another 90 days?

Mind the Schengen restrictions...

Tuscany is pretty big - you really should narrow it down to the north west part, Florence area, Siena and south, and maybe Massa Marttima and the southern coast. It really depends on what you want to do, if you plan to have a car, etc.

Cindy, nearly. Within 180 days, no more than 90 days within any Schengen countries. So 30 days in month 1, 30 days in month 3, 20 days in month 5, 11 days in month 6 and you've gone over. Or any 91 days together and you've gone over.

I spent a few weeks (and am going back for 4 months or more under a student visa this fall) in Arezzo this past fall. Consider it as a nice base city, or at least visit it while you are in Tuscany. It is not too small or too big in my opinion. Not a huge amount to do there, but for a month you will be fine, especially considering day trips into Florence, Siena, Cortona, Montepulciano, etc. The train station makes travel pretty easy, it is in the San Casentino valley (beautiful!). It depends on what you are wanting out of your stay! Florence is a larger city, and will have the aspects of that. There are many smaller cities in Tuscany that are nice, or you can be outside of the city in the countryside. Each is nice in its own way.

Hi Kelly we stayed 3 weeks at Podere Vignola (poderevignola.com), is Sieci, just 10km from downtown Florence. It is ideal if you want to rest in the sweet hills of chianti and visit Tuscany. We did not have a car and travelled everywhere by train. Venice is only a 2 hr train trip from Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence. Rome is 1.5 hours away, Bologna 45 minutes etc. Beautiful setting and very affordable. enjoy
Louis

Kelly, have you checked out Airbnb.com for places to stay in Tuscany? We've found some great deals if you have a car to get around. Though I suppose it can be done by train as well.