huge

Mrs Huge and I are leaving for Italy in a few days and still haven't nailed down where we want to go for the middle of our trip. We're spending our first 6 nights with friends in a villa in Tuscany (near Arezzo), and we're spending our last 4 nights in Rome, but in the middle (April 1-7) we're undecided. We've both spent quite a bit of time in Tuscany so wanted to try something different, and we've never really been south.

We've considered (and are still considering):

Naples (as a base to take day trips)
Amalfi Coast
Ischia
Sardinia
Sicily

Because we'll be in Rome the last four nights we probably don't want the middle 6 nights to be all big city time, so probably not Naples all 6, but we're not ruling out Naples in general because it seems like a good place to launch day trips from, and staying at the Naples Excelsior seems like a good use of my Starwood points.

We're moderately budget conscious (the Excelsior would be a splurge for us) but not super-cheap. We probably don't want to rent a car, but would consider it if it seemed like really the best way to do things (Sardinia seems like a good place to have a car?)

A small-ish or medium-sized charming town with good walking opportunities and big enough to have some good restaurants would be a clear plus. I feel ignorant about the whole agriturismo concept, but I'm intrigued by it. I just don't feel like I know enough about it to evaluate the options I see listed. We probably don't want to stay somewhere where the only attraction is the farm itself.

We like being by the ocean but it's not a requirement. We're open to doing 6 nights in one place or 3+3 or 4+2, whatever.


Does any or all of that fit the profile of somewhere you've been and loved (and where we might be able to get a reservation on short notice)? Or do you have any advice about places that might fit the bill, either on my list or not?

Thanks for any advice you can provide...