How crowded was Italy in March and April 2023?

My daughter and her family have been staying in Lucca in Tuscany for several weeks. Late April/early May. Lucca is not crowded but they visited Pisa for a day and she said Pisa was extremely crowded.

Spent the second half of April in Italy (2 Italian holidays - Liberation Day 4/25 and Labor Day 5/1 probably stimulated some Italian tourism):

Florence: very busy at the big sights, particularly the Duomo, Uffizi, Accademia. Mercato Centrale was absolute chaos. But restaurants were only medium busy, our dinner reservations were only really necessary for 2 nights.

Tuscany countryside: Montepulciano was the busiest, parking was tough. Pienza and Montalcino were moderately busy, but you could still find parking. The wineries were actually fairly quiet - we ended up with an impromptu private tasting at one because there were no other customers! Overall not bad and you could enjoy things without crowds being disruptive.

Rome: massive crowds everywhere, though not unexpected

We were in Sorrento, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Capri the last week of March before Easter. I chose this week because I knew from previously living in a Mediterranean tourist area that tourism explodes from Easter on. European schools go on vacation, school groups are everywhere, seniors travel in April and May, families, DINKS, everyone.

Everyplace we went, March 26- April 3, was easy enough to navigate, peopled but manageable. We found tours, guides, rides, tickets at the last minute. We were never blocked from seeing sights. Allan, who posts here, went the same places two weeks later and reported heavy crowds, difficulty negotiating aisles.
Next time, shoot for just before Easter.

We were in northern Italy Mar 30-April 16. Milan, Verona, Florence, San Gimignano and Venice were very crowded. Verona, Florence and Venice were far more crowded than on my previous visits. The Milan metro was jam packed. Only took it once to central train station and very difficult to navigate through the crowds. The Venice vaporettos were absolutely jam packed. We mostly walked everywhere. Piazza San Marco was heavily crowded. Far fewer tourists in Brescia, Trento, northern Lake Garda towns, Bolzano and Ravenna. I enjoyed them so much more. We all commented that if the major tourist sites were already so crowded in early April what would they be like in the summer. I also spent three days in Malta and it too was full of tourists.

We were based in Sorrento for the last 2 weeks of April and thought it was crowded. Two of our guides said that usually, tourism gradually ramps up and gets busy in May, but both said they've been busy since March.

This summer will be interesting. We're still in the shoulder season.

I'm just picturing what Versailles will look like in July. The smells in particular.

Hello: We spent most of April, 2023 in Rome. It was unbelievably CROWDED! We have been to Rome countless times and I
lived in Rome for several years and never have I seen it as crowded as this year. We had to line-up at just about every church and museum. It was possible, however, to enter one church to see the Caravaggio's without a mandated line outside the church. However, the number of people inside the church - and the talking and shoving - was unbelievable! Assuming the number of travelers is due to a pent-up demand to start traveling again after covid!

Florence in late April was PACKED. Even non-major sites were mobbed. Can't image it as we head into peak season.

Bologna was pretty busy too, but more in line with what we expected.

Rovereto, Trento, Mezzacorona, etc. were extremely manageable crowd-wise in late April. Ditto for Turin and Aosta, although by then we were in early May. The big surprise for us was Milan, which was not crowded. Walked right up for Duomo tickets, and other sites were very chill and quiet (again, early May). Given our experience in Florence we had expected the worst, but it was fine!

Florence in April was crowded too, and even the mountains nearby were crowded with hikers (mostly Italians escaping the foreigners overcrowding Florence) I couldn't even find a table in any pizzeria/focacceria at Consuma on a Sunday.

I think more than Covid, this is the result of climate change.

We were in Sicily mid March thru mid April and Sorrento for a week third week of April. Sicily was variable, top sights in Palermo packed, no room to move inside one church. Other parts of Palermo were ok. We encountered Italian tour groups in many places in Sicily and school groups. The archeological park at Siracusa was mobbed, seemed hundreds of school groups were there. Ortigia was fine except on the weekend. Interestingly Segesta and Selinunte were not busy at all mid week but it was before Easter. Val di Noto towns busy but could find parking in AM. Most churches were not busy. PMs the crowds would arrive. Sorrento was packed the whole week. Impossible to walk the main streets, Capri town packed. Early AM was the only calm part of the day. We managed to have a wonderful trip but this was the most challenging of all our visits to Italy. BTW-the wildflowers in Sicily were nonstop stunning! To those who helped—we found cousins in Sciacca and they fed and toured us like family!

We were same same as Bets & co.
Amalfi town was way busy, too much so for the peace we were after. Minori was less so, just right. Ravello had its crowds but somehow felt more simpatico despite all that.
Ischia was also quite manageable during that same pre-Easter time. Due to its relative tininess, Procida felt more crowded, mostly with high school field trips and seniors on excursion. The same demographic seemed to be in evidence at Herculaneum, where we understand a silly Canadian traveler ended up crawling out through the ticket entry bathroom window, ending up smack dab among a baffled school group. Something about a jammed exit door.
Imagine such foolishness!

I am done. the crowds

Sounds to me like you should rethink what you want to do in Italy if you want to avoid crowds. Sure, the popular spots are crowded for a reason. But listen to what Rick is really telling you in his shows: Explore. Italy isn't just a bunch of monuments, churches and museums. There are almost 60 million of us and we do a lot of interesting stuff outside the Rome/Florence/Venice/Amalfi/CT etc places. Wander around the countryside; our neighborhood is pretty unspoiled and laid back (nope, I'm not giving away my exact location, but you can see the region from my bio). Emilia-Romagna is wonderful, so are Le Marche. Find a cool town to stay in, rent an apartment, get to be a regular in town. Experience, rather than "see" Italy.

Italy really doesn't have an off-season when it comes to foreign tourism, however much depends on location. The A-list destinations of Rome, Venice, Florence and Naples/Amalfi are always packed, all year round. They're popular for a reason, and the entire world wants to visit them regardless of calendar period; they also have the international airports so, they're also transportation hubs.

You get outside those major destinations, and things calm-down a bit, certain hill towns in Tuscany/Umbria will be packed year-round, so will Pisa, Cinque Terre, Verona, Milan etc. Places like Lucca, Sicily, Bologna, Lake Como, mountain resorts in the Dolomite, all have year-round tourists but, there's a distinct high-period and not so frenetic period. The further you get away from the hot-spots, the more seasonal will be.

In my opinion Italy has been very crowded this year. Bologna used to be less crowded but it is so much more crowded now. Visit LeMarche if you want to see some beautiful places without crowds. Fano is wonderful and so is Pesaro. I was in Pergola last weekend and saw Bronze statues that they discovered after WWII. The mountain towns nearby were quaint and fun to walk around. It is possible to take a bus to visit the different towns. Florence was very crowded in February and April. Capri two weekends ago was full of tourists (although it was a holiday weekend).

We were in Italy and San Marino for just over 2 weeks at the end of April/ beginning of May. Things were MUCH more crowded than on previous trips. MUCH. We were able to escape crowds in smaller Tuscan towns and even San Gimignano wasn't that bad in my opinion. Just wandering down a side street got away from most people. If you can spend the night, you'll feel like you almost have it to yourself after tour busses clear out. San Marino felt empty - almost abandoned and it was absolutely beautiful. We heard so many comments about the crowds and most people were blaming it on the end of COVID restrictions/ people rescheduling trips they intended to go on for the past couple of years (we fall into that category - we planned to do this trip in 2020 and couldn't reschedule until now). I also think having 2 national holidays while we were there probably amplified the crowds. Regardless, next time I go I might go in the dead of winter (I know there's no real offseason but I have to imagine there are less crowds in January/ February) or just avoid all big tourist areas as much as possible. There are so many amazing sights to see outside of the biggest tourist draws.

Was in Parma 10 days ago, not crowded, no ques st the museums; no crowds round the de Vinci sketch, the bustle of city life that is all. Brilliant weekend. I always avoid seeing the Must See cities, alot more relaxing this way🙂

I was in Northern Italy mid-March and thought it was crowded. What really surprised me though were the crowds when I was there in Nov 2022. I usually go to Italy in March so this was my first Nov trip. It seems to be a popular place no matter the time of year!

I think more than Covid, this is the result of climate change.

Roberto, what do you mean ? Do you mean that people are traveling to Italy more in March, April, May because they are avoiding the really hot months of July and August ?

I am quite interested in this.

Good thought. I think after last couple years the extreme summer heat Europe had may make people re-think there timing. I try not to fret…but I still do regarding our July trip!! It’s the only time our families could be away for over 2 wks. I preferred our spring and fall visits when it’s just us two!

I visited Rome from 4/27 through 5/1--so I missed Liberation Day but did get Worker's Day holiday crowds, on top of what seemed like just a whole lot of people. I travel solo so I generally zip in and out of crowded things but I sure had a hard time doing that! I took refuge in parks or less touristy neighborhoods whenever I could.

At this point, there are very very few travel attractions anywhere that could ever convince us to tolerate big, dense crowds.
We are almost allergic to line-ups of any sort.
And that applies to Italy.

I am done. The end.

I am wondering if this current shoulder season ramp-up of Italian tourists is a blip. I certainly hope so. We've traveled to Italy in October (2010), and twice in February (2015, 2017). Had been thinking of Sicily to Rome next April (get a little better weather!), but given the responses, I may stick to February. I hated crowds even before Covid. My brother is over there now and sent me a text--'trying to get around the Amalfi Coast makes me understand why you like Salerno so much.' We saw Positano when it was absolutely deserted in February & we loved it.

It's fine and well to say let's find an out-of-the-way burgh in Le Marche or Molise & assimilate, but I gotta think--especially without a car--that would get old really quick. Small town locals can be quite guarded--of course, if you click with them it's wonderful, but you can't count on it.

Our Rome/Sorrento experience in February 2017 was exactly what we wanted. Restaurants and attractions had no lines. We based at a walkup apartment in Rome for a week, and just used the bus/Metro to get around, and utilized Termini station to Orvieto, which was chill and perfect. Weather caught up with us for our 5 days in Sorrento, but we ate like kings and took the CV to Naples and the Archeological Museum, which wasn't crowded at all.

We just got back, we started our trip in Venice on April 29, then went to Rome after two days, spent five days there and then a week in Tuscany (near Lucca) with day trips to Florence and exploring.

Venice was pretty busy in some areas/times. But not crazy I thought. Rome was WOW. We were not prepared for those crowds at all! Just walking around near the top sites, we felt like we were at Disney World in July. Florence a bit less so except in the actual museums where we felt packed in. Especially at the Uffizi. We spent time in Lucca (in the walls) and that was not crowded at all, we loved it. Pisa was also quite busy, but we didn't go in or stay long, just took some pictures and took in the outside and left.

I was in Italy last March/April, then again in December last year. It was more crowded in December. When I climbed the duomo in Florence in March I was nearly alone on the stairs. When I climbed it in December it was a single file line the whole way up.

Yo Bertino,
These posts have answered your query about as well as could ever be expected, yeah?
Your question was a great one btw, useful to all.
I am done. the krowdage

Surely the whole point of Rick Steves is to direct the large majority of American tourists toward the Cinque Terre, Amalfi Coast, Venice, Florence and Rome, so that the rest of Italy remains bearable for everyone else?

Fyi- for shoulder season, avoid the weeks immediately before and after Easter. Safe travels!