Tuscany vs Puglia vs Emilia-Romagna vs Abruzzo

My thoughts. With only 10 nights I would look at only Rome and one other place. Are you flying into and out of Rome? With Florence or Bologna as potential bases, you might want to look at flying out of Milan.
How many nights do you want to spend in Rome? Remember the first full day you will probably need to take it easy due to jet lag. Does your husband have any ideas as to which sights he wants to see? The the Pantheon, the Colosseum, the Forum and Circus Maximus are close together and, with lunch and gelato stops, would make a nice day. Some of the nicest sites are outside the city, for example walking the Appian Way with its cobbles and impressive tombs, not to mention the catacombs; heading to Ostia Antica, a short train trip out of town and walking through a complete Roman city without the crowds found at Pompeii, the Aquaduct Park with its impressive array of Aquaducts that supplied Rome with water. Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli is another day trip - a huge complex and a good example of the over-consumption that brought the downfall of the Roman Empire.! I would also suggest a food tour while in Rome. I did one of Testaccio by Walks of Italy - they also do one of Trastevere.

You don’t say how you will travel within Italy - train or car? That will impact where you go next.

I’ve not been to Florence, Renaissance art is not my thing, but Siena might be an alternative. Puglia is fascinating but is probably not the best for such a short visit, you definitely need a car there. I enjoyed traveling through Umbria and Orvieto is an easy, short train trip from Rome. Lots of interesting Etruscan archaeology there, a nice museum and lots of vineyards in the area. You could easily do an overnight there and then head to Florence or wherever.

Good luck with your planning….

Thank you so much for all of that information! We haven’t planned exactly what we’re doing in Rome yet, but his main interest is the stuff you listed (Colloseum, forum, etc) as well as Vatican and basilica. Those day trips in the surrounding areas sound perfect I will look more into those. Am very intrigued by Oveierto and was hoping to fit that in as well. Maybe we need more time in Rome than I realize haha.

I didn’t say if we were doing train or rental car because we are very open. I suppose train is preferred but if we needed a car for something we aren’t opposed to doing a rental.

The way you talk about Rome makes me feel like we should basically half our trip there and then maybe we’ll consider our second home base in Florence, with the allowance of day trips to Siena and maybe a day trip food tour to Bologna If that’s feasible. So much to consider!! Appreciate your input!