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crowds in florence in May 2020

Posted by on

I have revised part of our itinerary in response to feedback I received on this forum (ditched Cinque Terre and added Verona while keeping Venice) but am still debating about Florence. We will be traveling with our young adult children who have never been to Florence but my husband and I were many years ago. Even 30 years ago, I remember there being crowds in Florence more than any where else we traveled in three weeks (including Rome). We have four nights to play with and some questions I am hoping to get help with.

  1. We could be in Florence the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th week in May. Are there differences in the crowds by time in May? How about weekend versus weekday? And while we are avoiding May 1, I just found out the June 2 is a national holiday as well. Will that affect the number of people in Florence? We would have left by June 2 but what about the weekend before?

  2. I am puzzling about where all the people stay in Florence. Are there day trippers? I know Venice is crowded because of cruises but Florence is not on the water. I ask because I wonder if the time of day matters in seeing things which is the case if a significant portion of the crowds are day trippers who depart.

  3. I am considering avoiding Florence altogether and staying in a hill town instead. I don't want to be in an agritourisma because I want our group to be able to do things without having to get in a car. Any suggestions for locations? I have thought of Lucca or Volterra. We have been to Sienna.

  4. If we stayed outside of Florence, would it be worth coming into Florence for the day? Or does that just give you the worst of all possible worlds?

Thanks!

Beth

Posted by
16193 posts

  1. May is one of the busiest times of the year and differences between beginning or end of the month are not significant. May 1 is best avoided primarily because many sights and museums are closed. The last weekend in May will be busy but the June 2nd Holiday might impact it a bit because people have a long weekend and some might decide to spend it in Florence.
    June 2nd is the anniversary of the Italian Republic instituted with a referendum held on June 2, 1946 when Italians had to choose between maintaining the Kingdom or having a Republic (given how mad the Italians were at the time at the king Vittorio Emanuele II for having appointed Mussolini as Prime Minister in October 1922, we all know how the referendum went).

  2. Generally museums are less crowded as you near closing time. Book your slot online. There are thousands of hotel rooms in Florence, plus many rental apartments so don’t be surprised at the many tourists. The local population of the metro area is 1.5 million too, and some of them work in Florence City Center (although permanent local residents in the city center are decreasing yearly).

  3. That adds time to your commute. You can find quietness in the city center too. Just avoid the area north of the river near the corridor Ponte Vecchio, Piazza Signoria, Piazza Repubblica, Piazza Duomo, San Lorenzo, Piazza San Marco. As you move south of the river or east and west of the above corridor things get quieter. Try to avoid Piazza Stazione and the Mercato Centrale of San Lorenzo also. Both are busy.

  4. If you are interested in visiting Florence, stay in Florence. Plenty of quieter streets even in the city center. Without a car, you should stay within the city walls. My preference would be the Oltrarno (south of river Arno). The only busy spots south of the river are: Ponte Vecchio, Piazza Pitti, Piazza Santo Spirito.

Posted by
996 posts

I have been in Florence during roughly the second and third weeks of May (different years), and I remember a fair number of people both times. Having said that, if you stay in Florence (which I did the second time), you'll discover a much less crowded city later in the day. Evenings were lovely.

Posted by
2866 posts

Thanks for the help. My one son is suggesting we go later-finishing the first week of June. His thinking is weather will be less rainy. He was in Europe a few summers ago after graduating from college and said it was cool and sometimes rainy. He was in southern France, southern Germany and Austria.

I was thinking crowds would be even worse in early June. Is that true? I know years ago May was shoulder season but maybe that isn’t true any more.,

Posted by
16688 posts

My one son is suggesting we go later-finishing the first week of June.
His thinking is weather will be less rainy.

It won't make any real difference. Weather is a crapshoot; can't be predicted beyond averages and even those aren't always great predictors.

I know years ago May was shoulder season but maybe that isn’t true any
more.,

Referencing Roberto's earlier post regarding crowds:

May is one of the busiest times of the year and differences between
beginning or end of the month are not significant. May 1 is best
avoided primarily because many sights and museums are closed. The last
weekend in May will be busy but the June 2nd Holiday might impact it a
bit because people have a long weekend and some might decide to spend
it in Florence.

No, May is not shoulder season anymore - things have changed a LOT in 30 years! - but earlier in the month could be a bit cooler temperature-wise than the end of the month/June. In the end, just accept that there will be crowds to deal with so it really comes down to how badly your traveling companions want to experience Florence.

Posted by
2866 posts

Thanks for thoughtful responses. Actually, we were in Greece last May and it was shoulder season there. Even Santorini was not yet packed. I was hoping that May would be the same in Italy. But alas, it seems not to be the case.

Posted by
119 posts

You are right and as others have said Florence is always busy, however, we have found it less busy in May/beginning of June than July/August. We have found that by staying in the Oltrarno (south of river Arno) area we have a more authentic, and casual experience. Visit the iconic sites and museums either at opening or before closing and then wonder around absorbing the people, food and culture. Whatever you decide, it will be wonderful.

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