I intend to travel to Italy for the first tme in the beginning of December with my wife and our 9 years old boy(he´s very adventurous!).I´d like to go to Cinque Terre to spend 3-4 days enjoying the nature;is this period of the year very bad in therms of the weather to enjoy the region?Thank you for the input!
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Another person asked the same question yesterday. Ron, our man in Rome, tried unsuccessfully to persuade her that January (and December in your case) are not good times to, as you said, "enjoy nature" in the Cinque Terre. I heard she's going anyway. This is one of those things it's not worth arguing with people about: there's a certain fairness in the fact that if people decide to go to the CT in January or December, they get to do the trip and we don't have to. The essence of the CT is an outdoor place that is weather dependent in a way many destinations are not. And so accurate information to you has to include that December and January would be two months when it's unlikely you're going to get the weather that would make being outdoors for extended periods enjoyable. There are some great places in Italy to go in December, the CT isn't one of them. Sorry for the unfavorable answer, but we feel it's important to give you accurate information, even if it's not what you want to hear, so that if you decide to go anyway (not recommended) at least you will have realistic expectations about the conditions you're likely to face.
Posted by
Salem, Oregon, USA
2730 posts
Kent has a great answer. Keep in mind as well that the trails might not be open or could be particularly dangerous and slippery if it is raining. Also, ferries probably won't be running if the surf is high.
To get an idea of weather, you might want to look at the Trip Planner on Weather Underground (Here) and do some searches on the towns you are interested in visiting. A quick search for last year's early December in Monterosso showed plenty of rain (9 of 15 days, some with thunderstorms and hail) and average temps in the 43-54F range. That's just one year of course, but you can look at prior years to get an idea.
Posted by
OP
Sao Paulo, Brazil
2 posts
I appreciate very much the information that you ahave already given me and surely willtake that into account on the planning of my vacations;again,thank you very much for you help!
Posted by
Collierville, Tennessee, USA
517 posts
I have friends who have spent several Christmases in the Cinque Terre. They love it then. They love the fact that there are almost no tourists there and they hike the trails while they are there. In fact, they are going back this December.