Try driving south from Pisa along the coast, Livorno to Orbetello (where you’ll see the striking Monte Argentario promontory), then inland to Viterbo, southward to Lazio (Rome). Then it’s on to the Campania coast that includes Anzio (site of the 1943 landings), Nettuno (where baseball was born in Italy, thanks to GIs playing in a cemetery), Gaeta (a naval base, but a nice town), then Naples and the Amalfi coast. The Adriatic coastal equivileltn (and remember, we’re not talking about a California coast highway; it’s more rugged) is to drive the eastern lane: Rimini, Pesaro, Ancona, Pescara. These are all small cities with rich, non-touristy attractions. Around them are tiny villages you’ll literally bump into or hear of by word of mouth. The only way to successfully escape the tourist drag trip is to pick itineraries that consciously leave them out and discover an Italy that creeps up on you. Italy without a map, so to speak.