We have been in all parts of Italy, both north and south (incl. Sicily), and never found the bread to be very tasty or especially good. Of course we're spoiled in Belgium with our 30+ varieties of freshly baked bread every day ...

I do think the bread is pretty different in every part of Italy. When we talk about Tuscany, we just talk about 10% of Italy.
The best bread I had, it was in Altamura, a small town in Puglia famous for his wood oven cooked semolina bread....it's a must if you're there.