My mom, sister and I are planning our once-in-a-lifetime girls only vacation to London and Italy this coming July 2016! My sis and I have done London before and we are only going to be there from a Friday to Sunday so we know which highlights to hit to show our mom, and we are getting tickets to the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child plays!!!

Where we need help is Italy. My sister has been to Venice before but that's all. We are planning on spending Sunday to the following Saturday in the middle of the country using Rome as our home base. Our mom's side of the family hails from Ancona, a fishing port on the Adriatic about a 90 minute train ride north of Rome, and we will stay there for one night before making our way back to Rome. We know Rome is huge and exhausting and we'd like to hit the highlights there but also do some non-touristy things in some of the villages or nearby countryside. We feel a bit out of our element and we have an informative travel book to start with but I am wondering if there are resources out there that people have used? We aren't completely interested in a tour group because we want to set our own itinerary and my sister speaks fluent Italian, but anything as far as where to stay for a moderate price in and around Rome, transportation systems, and of course the food and wine!

Grazie!