Time : end of September
Schools children and Euro vacationaires out safely back and the weather is still GORGEOUS,
not hot, not cold.
If this is your first time, go with organised tours like Globus or Trafalgar..
it's cheaper and you'll see all the highlights without THINKING about anything.
DO NOT GO TO ITALY for the first time on your own,
you'll miss it all by going by yourself.
Here is the link to the tour which I beleive is the best based on your time availability and expereince,
I took the similar one in 1997 and my daughter this year:
http://www.affordabletours.com/search/it/?t=ZJ
we'll be there at the end of September/October. We'll go North we know the least.