Hi Wayne, My wife and I just got back from Italy a few weeks ago. I can recommend a fantastic place to stay in Rome,
www.daphne-rome.com They are fluent English speakers and will go well out of their way to assist you in any way. They will lend you a local cell phone, arrange your tours, make reservations in other cities and make your dinner reservations. They have two inns in Rome, one is near Piazza Barbarini, this is where we stayed, Rooms 101 and 102. (Different parts of our trip). This one is a great 'north central' location in Rome. ICON Tours has fantastic Rome Tours, Vatican, Ancient Rome and two others.
We spent three days in Rome, then left for Venice. It was cold and damp. Neat city, we only spend 24 hours there though. In better weather I think it would have been much more fun.
We left Venice and went to Florence. Spent three days there. The place we stayed was so-so. Porta Faenze. Night clerk is lazy and unhelpful. The rooms were nice, but DO NOT get one facing Via Faenze, very noisy, there are two Hostels on that road and will keep you up at night. The backside has quieter rooms. I loved Florence and could easily have spent a week or longer there and not gotten bored. The Pitti Gardens are amazing.
http://selectitaly.com/museums.php?product_id=26&city_id=16 We left Florence far too soon.
From Florence we went to Siena. Siena is a small town. You could spend three days there and have fun. The Palio is neat and the tower offers a great view of the city. In Siena we stayed at Hotel Minerva, I would not recommend it. Rooms were small, they were loud and the breakfast was terrible. Really nice view from our room though, I will give it that. While we were in Siena we took a ;wine tour' through Chianti region. That was probably the most beautiful countryside I have seen. If you want to rent a car, the roads are terrible, but it woudl allow more time. If I did it again I would drive through Chianti on my own. There are several vinyards that have accomodations. I would suggest a night or two in a nice place there. I will look up the vineyards we visited. There was one that was very nice.
We intended to take day trips to Orvieto and Assis from Siena. Unfortunately the wife caught a virus or something and was ill from teh day we got to Siena until the second day back in Rome. So we skipped those places. Orvieto is/was a 'summer residence' for the Pope. I have been told it is a small place but very beautiful. If you are religeous, there is a chuch there that houses the cloth that was on the altar when the the 'host' began to bleed, leading to the holiday Corpus Christi. (This was what I was told, I did not see it)
We went back to Rome and hung out there for another four days. There is so much to do in Rome, you cant spend enough time there. Go out to Antica Ostica and there are some cool ruins that have not been entirely uncovered. Including a very well preserved outdoor theater. If you hop on teh commuter train and head to the coast (Columbus stop I think) you can hang out at the public beach, great sunset, but a dirty beach overall.
Some things to not do, we found out the hard way
Archeobus is terrible. Exchange your money at the ATMs, the exchange places charge a fee and are often lower rates than your US bank will offer. Stay away from 'tourist' restaurants, even if you are hungry. One place actually served microwaved pasta (American Bar in Rome) another offered fresh fruit for dessert (4 Euro) it was an apple on a plate with a fork and knife. Yeah. There is a Hard Rock cafe in Rome if you get tired of the 'local food' It sounds terrible but after 11 days I really wanted a cheeseburger. Do not buy umbrellas from the local street vendors, they will fall apart or dissolve in the rain.
If you have any questions, I would be happy to help. Have a fantastic trip!
Jim and Sarah