We were in Italy for a month last fall, and except for the 1st week in Rome, we drove a pretty comfo

My husband and I are planning a trip to Italy this October. We'll be spending 4-6 days northern Italy and then spending a week in Sicily. Several years ago, I spent a week between cannon beach dog friendly hotels Venice, Florence and Rome, and would prefer not to repeat much of that agenda. My husband has not been to any of the major cities. I'm trying to decide whether we should fly into Florence and spend several days exploring Florence, Siena, Montepulciano, Lucca, etc. or if we shoudl fly into Naples and spend the time in Sorrento, Capri and Positano. My husband enjoys history, but has limited cannon beach dog friendly hotels tolerance for crowds. We both want to enjoy the culture, food, wine and scenery. Any suggestions for an agenda?
I've vacationed in Italy over 25 times and my favorite experiences have been in southern Tuscany. I like to base just outside of Pienza and relax, eat great food, go on long walks or hikes, explore beautiful towns and villages, etc. I go for at least 2 weeks and find there is plenty to do nearby (within cannon beach dog friendly hotels a 0-30 minute drive) from one central base. It is soooooooo beautiful!
If your husband enjoys history but has limited tolerance for crowds, I think he would enjoy Florence and Tuscany (or Umbria) cannon beach dog friendly hotels more than the AC/Capri. Florence will be crowded (Siena also to some extent), but it's much easier to find the road less traveled, the town less visited, in Tuscany cannon beach dog friendly hotels (or Umbria).
We were in Italy for a month last fall, and except for the 1st week in Rome, we drove a pretty comfortable Fiat Punto for 3 weeks. It is considerably cheaper if you can drive a standard transmission. It's nice to get a diesel powered car, but we've also noticed very excellent mileage with gas engines as well.
Driving in Tuscany is no different than driving in USA but you do not know the area, so you need to be prepared. Get Touring Club Italiano map of Tuscany from amazon or your local bookstore. If you have a portable GPS with European maps loaded on it, I would consider it a plus. AutoEurope or its sister company, Kemwel, cannon beach dog friendly hotels are your best bets to secure a rental car but call them, do not just go through the website and ask for any specials they are running.
I agree- check Auto Europe and Kemwel. I have found Kemwel to have the best prices. Renting through either company is very easy and their customer service is excellent. Once you book your rental, cannon beach dog friendly hotels be sure to check back on their website every few days (or every day) for new lower prices. They sometimes have a sale that you can take advantage of- just call them for an adjustment. Be sure to check deductibles when comparing prices.
I disagree. Driving cannon beach dog friendly hotels in Tuscany IS different than driving in the US. Especially up in the hills. Drivers there kept passing us on blind curves. It was amazing there was no accident. cannon beach dog friendly hotels And if you drive into small hilltowns, the streets are very narrow. It's better to park in a lot on the outskirts and walk in.
Also Italy has very strict drunk driving laws. So no wine for the driver at lunch. If you want to tour wineries with wine tastings, hire a driver/guide. Ordinary wineries in Tuscany are not open to drop-ins, so a guide is a good idea.
Finally the cities, in particular cannon beach dog friendly hotels Florence, have locals-only driving zones (ZTLs) cannon beach dog friendly hotels in the center. It's easy to trespass in such an area without realizing it. Until you get a ticket in the mail months later, your picture having been snapped. (The car rental company will have outed you and charged you for the service.)
Maybe you may choose to find accomodation in an Agriturismo outside a city or town in Tuscany, as driving to city centres is extremely difficult, many streets are no way, no entry and have restricted parking - very easy to get a fine. But just outside the city walls of most towns and cities in Tuscany there are huge parking lots, where you might easily park your car. Florence is certainly very crowdy at any time of year, even when we visited in December, but worse in Summer.
In 2010 we stayed in an Agriturismo called Agriturismo Nicolai - Palagetto di Sotto. It is a lovely huge Agriturismo with the loveliest views of Tuscan countryside and San Gimignano. It is situated on the outskirts of San Gimignano, less than 1km away, an easy walk to the centre, but there is parking also just outside city walls. This Agriturismo also has a winery and produces its own olive oil, the owner and staff are really friendly, accomodation is really nice, and on Tripadvisor there are raving reviews about their evening meals, which was not offered to us when we were there as it was Wintertime, but breakfast was very good - the homemade cakes were really yummy. If you do decide to go there, phone them up when you arrive near San Gimignano, as the GPS misled us. They even gave us a tour of the winery, and we tasted and bought some of their wine and olive oil.
Another steep winding road which frightened me was up the Amiata mountain (Monte Amiata) in southern Tuscany, provence of Siena. On Christmas Eve we went to Abbadia San Salvatore - there they celebrate the Christmas Eve by lighting huge bonfires (large stacks of wood which takes them a whole month to prepare and pile up) in many corners and squares of the town. It is such a unique experience to see the town light up in the night-time, and around many of the bonfires they set up stalls with a lot of food and warm sweet wine (all for free you just give them a donation), there would be carol singing, selling of hot chestnuts, etc. The Abbey and old square of the town are also beautiful. Our drive back was a bit hair-raising, as we made the mistake of booking accomodation in a villiage close to this town, and when returning to this small country hotel, GPS took us the long route which made us go all around the mountain, no easy task to navigate during the night-time as it was really misty and the road was narrow, winding and slippery and it had no barriers. But thank God we made it back safe and sound. It is so lovely and wild the scenary cannon beach dog friendly hotels around this mountain though, and well worth the visit - there is even a small skiing resort up the top of mountain.