This interactive might be really useful to you suec1.

http://www.emmeti.it/Welcome/Toscana.../index.uk.html

and one more:

http://www.ilburchio.it/en/index.htm

Hi suec , I must agree that sometimes too many tourists can ruin anything. Last time we were in Florence in early March and it was ok.
I think someone said than in Pisa there is only the tower to see I do not agree, the center of town, if you take the trouble to look around is charming, it is full of history , I mentioned Pisa because the train connection is so convenient . Many people commute between both cities. Of course other places are more charming like Siena but I do not think they have such a good way to communicate between both cities.
Near Pisa you have also Luca very nice, nicer than Pisa but I do not know if the connection is good.
Once we were going to stay in Arezzo to enjoy Piero de la Francesca the antique fair etc and we knew it was easy to commute to Florence, but unfortunately we had a car accident getting into Arezzo and that was the end of the trip. But it might be a good place for sure it is out of the regular tourist path and you can commute by train.

Not far from Florence , Cortona is a charming town but again I am not aware of communications between both cities.

Hi suec , the more I think about it I feel Arezzo could be a good choice for you.
Think
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/tours/arez...tiquaria.shtml

train I believe is like an hour twenty minutes or so.

Zeppole the El Castello Certaldo Alto is a wonderful find. I wish I could plan to go there tomorrow. I will keep it in mind for our next trip. The descriptions of the food has made me very hungry.

I'm a bit late on this discussion, but thought I might comment anyway.

I love Lucca, but it is not at all convenient for the hill towns of Southern Tuscany, even with a car. Lucca to Florence is 75-90 minutes by train, but is fairly convenient for the Garfagnana area.

Siena is wonderful, and only 75 minutes from Florence by bus, but other places are less easy - there are fair bus links to places like Perugia and Arezzo, but places you would expect to be easy by public transport like Montalcino and Montepulciano can be tricky.

As an example, I was trying to work out a trip to Montepulciano earlier in the year, and found that although I could get there by bus at around Lunchtime, my only way back was via bus to Chiusi, and a train back to Siena.

nametaken,

if you have desires to go to Certaldo, you should get in touch with a woman who maintains a website called "Divina Cucina." She runs cooking classes in Firenze but she lives in Certaldo, I'm pretty sure. She's an English-speaker and can probably give you great tips about making the most of your stay. (That's for suec, too.)

Zeppole thank you so much for your suggestion. I hope how soon I can really plan this next trip to Italy.

Florence was just great two weeks ago. Crowds were minimal, we never waited anywhere (restaurants, Uffizi, etc.) and weather was excellent. Also, if you like a little tour here and there I totally recommend the company called "The Accidental Tourist". Wonderful tour guide, Steve.