can anyone suggest some truly beautiful and quaint towns or areas in northern tuscany- out of the way of all the toursits, but interesting. Going in early JUly.

The extreme nothern finger of Tuscany (next to Liguria) is a beautiful but rustic mountainous area called the Lunigiana. Most of the villages have a sort of stoney medieval appearance. My personal favorite is Bagnone. It has a castle and narrow streets next to a mountain stream.

The good news is that the entire area doesn't get many tourist (mostly English and German that rent houses for at least a week). The bad news is that also means that there are not a lot of tourist facilities. In the more remote areas like this it really does help to speak at least a little Italian. When I was there a few years ago some of the restaurants had no written menu. They simply told you what was available that day. BTW there are some interesting Lunigiana food specialties. Testaroli is a kind of pasta that is made with chestnut flour and frequently served with fresh pesto (the Ligurian influence). Panigaccia is a kind of flat bread cooked on an open fire and served with soft cheese and salami. You can only find Panigaccia in the town of Podenzana.

Vinci (home of Leonardo da ..) is a pretty, small town on a hilltop. There is a museum containing modern models of all the gadgets and inventions in Leonardo's sketch-books. You can turn the cranks and make them go. The also advertise a pleasant walk to the neighboring village where Leonardo was born, but we didn't have time to take it.

About a half-hour west of Florence.

Check out this website
http://www.borghitalia.it/index_en.php
It's dedicated to "THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES IN ITALY" - broken down into regions on the map. It's sponsored by an organization promoting the preservation of the less traveled villages.

I like Barga north of Lucca---and the Garfagnana area just north of there.

Garfagnana area:
http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=309

bm