Italy trip planning

We are seeking assistance with travel planning for a trip to Italy. We will be coming from Spain, and then at the end traveling to Zurich for the last 2-3 nights. We strongly seek if possible, a less crowded authentic experience. We need help planning a location and finding accomodations is the MAIN TASK. We are not the typical tourists, and we enjoy high adventure and nature experiences followed by relaxing slow times as well. We love water and would like to spend time close to the ocean, day trips on the ocean, and hiking. We are looking for an authentic boutique hotel or B&B in a small/medium size city where we can do day trips (NO large resorts). We enjoy slow travel, local experience, and recognize this might be more difficult to come by given the popularity of Italy, but look forward to working with someone who can help creat this.