August 2009 Scotland to... France? Italy?

My boyfriend and I have set aside the first two weeks of August to travel to Europe. We are flying into London on August 1st and then on to Edinburgh where we will be staying for one week with family. From there we would like to travel either to Italy or France (or both) for the second week of our trip. We would like to visit the Mediterranean and spend some time on the beach (possibly Genova, Italy), see Florence, and I would love to visit Arles, France.
We fly home (USA) from London on August 15th.
We would like to stay in hotels some nights, but feel comfortable staying in hostels as well. We are on somewhat of a budget.
Can anyone recommend any hotels, hostels, places to see or some kind of itinerary?
We are very excited and could use some help! Thank you for any tips!

Hello.

Since my reply to your origonal post seems to be too late, may I ask what your travel plans ended up being?
How did your trip go?

Thanks:
Thor