Celebrating retirement! Seeking best dates for March or April trip.

Congratulations!! Now you get to experience the joys of off-season travel and not being restricted by too-short American vacation schedules!
Even if the tour boats come in, you can wander a few canals away from San Marco during the hours the boat people are in town. April should be a little lighter and warmer than March -- but no guarantees on weather. Keep an eye on airfares and jump when you see something you like. Maybe an open-jaw flight into Rome which is warmer and end up in Venice in April -- or May ? Welcome to retirement!

I'll add my congratulations on your retirement! One year we spent 10 days in Rome mid-April-it snowed (not much but still.......) and another year the same in Venice in March-beautiful weather. This past June, we spent a few days in Venice and it rained the entire time. My take on weather in Europe is that it's weather in Europe, and not here at home! Just go prepared!

Since you were counting on reduced crowds, keep in mind that Easter is March 27. So the period of March 24-27 is likely to be busy, particularly in Rome.

joe,

I don't have any travel tips to offer at the moment, but wanted to congratulate you on your retirement! You'll find that "it's the best job you never had".

Aw gee, no more vacations after retirement. My sympathies :-)

The best "classic Italy" itinerary is to fly into Venice (or Milan if Venice isn't an option), then south through Florence/Tuscany and home from Rome.

If I had the choice of mid-March or any time in April, I'd choose April, for longer days (including DST) and better weather. I've been to Rome twice, both visits in February and there were crowds. Some places you can't avoid them, no matter when you're visiting, so you might as well have a better chance of sunshine.

Hi Joe, As you are flying out of Boston, consider our one stop, pleasant flight. We take the British Air day flight from Boston and land in London in the early evening. We stay at the airport at the Sofitel Hotel at Terminal 5. We get a good night's sleep in a real bed. In the morning, preferably late morning, we take our connecting flight to wherever, in your case Venice. BA flies in and out of terminal 5 so the stay is easy, and not a great deal of pre-flight time is needed for the internal Europe flight. Consequently, you arrive at your destination refreshed, alert, and ready to enjoy your trip. As you will be retired, there shouldn't be a problem with the extra night in flight, so to speak. We hate overnight flights as I, particularly, can't sleep on a plane. This way, our jet lag is significantly reduced! Have a great trip! Wray

But doesn't that mean a connecting flight home through Heathrow (ugh!) ?

Congratulations! What a great way to celebrate!

Personally I wouldn't want to mess around with Heathrow either. Just get onto Skyscanner and see what you can find for direct flights from Boston to Venice or even Milan; there have been some attractive rates to that one although you have to factor in train costs from there to Venice. Fly out of Rome.

If you must make a connection, Schiphol in Amsterdam isn't bad: very nice, very efficient port.

The 'Holy Trinity' - Venice/Florence/Rome - is a good first-timers itinerary with day trips around Tuscany from a base in Florence. All three cities are very different, and train transport is fast and frequent between them.

Yes, avoid the Easter Holiday as suggested, and I'd look at early to mid April. You will probably see some rain here and there but not a deal-breaker. Avoiding the ship-tour mobs? They are what they are and you can lose 'em by heading off to lesser-visited corners.

Hi, Congrats!

We are going to Italy for 3 weeks at the end of February to mid March. I know that you want to fly from Boston, but we got a great flight deal from JFK in New York to Milan, Italy on Emirates. :) A friend of ours got 2 tickets in April from JFK to Milan for about $600 each.

Keep a look out, you may find a great bargain esp since you will be traveling during the off-peak season.

Have a great time!

Hi Congrats on retirement. In April we flew Delta out of Boston to Milan with a layover in NY to and from On the way over it wasn't too bad as everything was contained within the same terminal. On the way home it was very congested and a long way between terminals and I found it more difficult to navigate.
This year I got terrific airfare on Delta. We leave at the end of April again. It is a direct flight from Logan to FCO.
Since we are flying open jaw, I wasn't able to get a direct flight home so we leave from Florence to Amsterdam to Boston.
The weather was a mixed bag. The first few days we were in Lake Como and it was rainy and overcast. When we went to Venice it started to clear and was fine for being outside. The week in Rome was very warm.

We traveled this year Feb 26 - Mar 14, starting in Paris and descending via rail to Lucerne, Florence, then Salerno.

Paris was damn cold, no question. Even with an ultralight down jacket, hat & gloves, with the wind off the Seine it felt chillier than the Chicago winter we had just left. Mostly 30's & 40's. Then in Lucerne, even though we were higher in altitude and I don't think the temps even hit 40, during the day it felt almost spring-like with a warming sun. And to do as the Romans (or Lucern-ites) do, al fresco cafes were doing a booming business even in these temps. It was wonderful.

Arrived Florence on March 4, with rain and wind, but temps a little more moderate. When the sun was out in the afternoon, we could open our apartment bay windows to the piazza and let the fresh air in. Low 50's as a high during the day, down to near 40 at night. Finally, in Salerno, Pompei and the Amalfi Coast, starting on March 9, it finally reached 60 degrees on a couple days & no doubt felt like spring. At night it was raw-feeling and I did not abandon the down jacket, but it certainly was tolerable.

We traveled at this time because my work allowed it, but if I had to pick the 'perfect' time to travel to Italy in the future, factoring in potential weather & avoidance of tourists/crowds, I'd probably pick late March/early April. I had checked it out in advance and as long as Easter was not in the mix, international flights around April 1 were identical to what we paid to fly a month earlier.

All in all, even given the semi-inclement weather at times, I have become an ardent proponent of off-season travel. I cannot tell you how we enjoyed not having to wait in lines at the Louvre, Florence museums & restaurants, or the Pompei ruins. And I can't think that approximately 2-3 weeks later would make much difference in that regard, except you'd get a little more warmth. A caveat, however. Weekends are still crowded at most all attractions--Monday through Friday are blissful, though.

Congrats on your retirement, enjoy your planning!

Thank you to all who took the time to support our trip.
So many of you clearly answered our questions and provided not only data but your experiences.

All the best,
Joe and Diane