What to see in ITALY north of Rome ? need suggestions for planning a trip

Sounds like a glorious trip! It seems like you have not been to Umbria yet. Orvieto, just 70 minutes north of Rome by train, and Assisi are both wonderful Umbrian towns to spend a few days, they are among my favorite spots in Italy. Others have mentioned Gubbio, Spello, Deruta and other towns in Umbria as well, although I have not been there. Many have said that Orvieto is an excellent place to rent your car, avoiding the congestion of driving from Rome. You also have not mentioned Bologna and Parma, famous for cuisine, Ravenna with magnificent, ancient mosaics in various buildings around the nice town, or the area around the shores of Lago di Garda. Finally, some have mentioned visiting the independent country of San Marino, more difficult to access by public transportation, but easy by car, I understand. Gee, 8-9 weeks may not be nearly enough!

If you haven't been to Sienna, be sure to spend some time there. I would also go to Orvieto and Assisi

thanks for the suggestion so far. we have driven from rome , near orvieto, stayed in cortona, san gim and visited volterra ( not Sienna)
so we were wondering if Umbria ( or the coast etc) would be different enough to spend time in?
have only driven past Bologna on our way from Florence to Venice.
not that didn't enjoy our time there and we would like to spend heaps more time there. we just want to consider it in the context of the whole trip and visiting other countries.

just to clarify we more than likely will lease the car and only pick up in Milan or Rome. ( they are the only options for us at this stage) while we could rent a car its not really that logical or cost effective if we are going to lease a car anyway. however a train etc is an option and then pick up the car in Milan.

Umbria is quite different from Tuscany. Some say it is as Tusany was many years ago: less touristed, less expensive, more rural. Assisi is a lovely city but the smaller towns are very charming. I suggest a week. When we planned our time there I used these two websites a lot:
Brigolante and Umbira in-and-out. Of course it depends on what you like to do. Scenic drives? Wine tasting? Hiking? I think a car is pretty necessary in Umbria, although we did it by train and bus it is more flexible with a car in this case. Come back if you need more detail or PM me.

BTW, near Modena is the Ferrari Museum in Maranello. Fabulous!

A car will be more convenient in Umbria, my favorite region in Italy. I manage to get around by bus and train, so it can be done. Umbria is a little more dramatic in terms of landscape, with so many beautiful medieval Townsend addition to those named; Todi is one of my favorites, less than an hour from Orvieto.

Bologna, Ravenna, Ferrara, Padova are all beautiful. You might enjoy the Colli Euganei area, north of Padova, a unique geological hill area with great wineries and lots of small towns. Two friends and I stayed at an agriturismo there, PM me if you are interested.

thanks for the suggestions, so far. I will investigate them.