How to dress for weather in first two weeks of September in Italy

You should only need a light sweater for the evenings. If you also pack a lightweight waterproof, then these together should be enough for an unexpected cold spell.

Thank you. Would you suggest shorts or just pants?

Hi Laura. There are so many webites that can give you weather info. Here is one link: http://www.italylogue.com/weather

In addition a lot depends on you as well. My wife is always cold, so she always takes a sweater.

Just be prepared for a range of temperatures. If somehow you forget something, you can always go shopping.

Have a great trip.

Thanks! I guess I shouldn't worry about it. I won't hate going shopping in Italy! :-)

laura,

I normally travel in September and I've found that the weather is usually warm (hot) during the daytime, but the evenings can be cool. Taking light clothes for layering works well. I would highly recommend packing rain gear though as I've experienced some severe downpours, and those can occur quickly.

Thanks, Ken. I wasn't even considering rain gear.

Any advice on a good time to see the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums the day we arrive? We land at 10:30am on a Saturday. Would it be safe to say we should purchase the skip the line tickets for 3:00pm?

Rome on 2nd September? Definitely shorts still.

Don't forget you should not be wearing shorts into churches. That includes St. Peter's.

It could be sweltering hot, or pleasant. My SIL went middle of September 2014 and was melting. I went in the middle of last September and it was quite pleasant. The most you will need for warmth is a lightweight black sweater to pack and I also took a lightweight white jacket. It is definitely short weather, although I wore skirts and dresses the whole time. I wouldn't take any pants, unless you would take a pair of lightweight white. Dress for summer.

Thank you for the advice on what to wear. I was thinking shorts and dresses but wasn't sure if it would be chilly the first two weeks of September. I think I may bring a couple pairs of pants but pack shorts, dresses, light sweaters and a light jacket.

We land at 10:30am on a Saturday. Would it be safe to say we should purchase the skip the line tickets for 3:00pm?

Are you arriving from the U.S? I think a museum on jetlag is very tough. It is best, IMO, to stay outdoors as much as possible on day one. If you are jetlagged, dealing with Vatican crowds and museums in general is not a good combo. Can you go on Monday?

It's HOT in Italy in September, maybe a few rainy days sometime in the month, always have a wrap to wear for evenings when it may cool off a bit. I wear a wrap on the Jet cause those cabins are freezing cold, and that's the wrap I wear after dark in Italy.

Online there are resouces for historical temperatures/weather on a given day in a given town.
Some sites show every day for the last 3 years so taking a 3 year average is probably a good option.
Also Accuweather's website now gives a 90 day forecast, which is insane and I assume much less accurate than just looking at last year's weather and assuming the same but is another tool for you to look at.
Either of these options though sound better than asking non-weathermen on a forum though I guess anyone's guess could be as good.
My guess is it will extremely HOT in Rome, 90's and then still hot but more like mid 80's in Florence. CT should be nice and warm weather but should be a little cooler than the cities, still a good chance of beach days. By the time you reach the northern cities of Verona and Florence temps may be more mid 70's and rain more likely I would imagine.
Your trip would probably be better done in reverse in terms of optimal weather, don't underestimate how HOT it will be in Rome, drink plenty of water and don't pack your days with site-seeing there.
Rome's weather will be quite different than Venice and Verona 2 weeks later.
If you thought of California and the difference from the northern part of the state being Verona/Venice and Los Angeles being Rome that may make things a little easier.
Also as mentioned above flying in from the US in the morning and doing a Vatican museum tour later that same day would be a really bad idea. Just wander outside this first day on the ground with no firm plans getting yourself adjusted and checking out some of the piazza's.

On average the first 2 weeks of September is still pretty hot at all locations you are visiting. Nights and early mornings may be cooler, and so can days when the occasional rainstorm may lower the average temperatures. However there are odd years when the weather is unseasonably cold or hot or rainy. This past May/early June for example the weather was unusually cool and wet in Italy.

Since it is not possible to predict the weather so far ahead of time, I suggest you check the weather forecast a day or two before you depart. Forecasts tend to be accurate up to 10 days ahead. I generally use www.wunderground.com.

I was in Italy last year at that time. Other than our days in the Dolomite mountains, it was light weight clothes and air conditioning sure felt nice even in the evenings. In the Dolomite area only a light rain jacket required. I think we would have suffocated in Venice if our hotel had not had air conditioning!

Yikes. I didn't expect to need air conditioning in September. The weather forecasts that I had looked at were in the high 70's. A couple of our AirBNB's do NOT have A/C. Wondering if I should change that? May be too late. A lot of places are booked!

Florida's early Sept is not much different than end of August is it?
Early Sept is basically summer weather, later in Sept it starts to cool off.
I not sure how the humidity compares but the temps for Rome and Florence are probably not much different than they will be at home for you.
I would think you would want AC in these 2 cities, the rest AC you can likely go without but no one knows what type of weather you will actually get and your tolerance to go with or without.

Yes, you want air conditioning.

We did the first few weeks of Sept in 2014. Naples/Amalfi, Rome then Venice more towards the middle of the month. I lived in capri pants and sandals. (My husband wears jeans and only jeans, no matter how hot it is). Very very hot in Amalfi and Rome. A few of the days we went back to our room in the afternoon to rest and cool off. Venice was a little cooler towards the middle of the month, but (personally) was still fine with t-shirts in the evening. We were in Florence in 2012 - the third week of Sept and I thought I was gonna melt the few days we were there.

It wouldn't hurt to take a light cardigan or jacket for the evenings.

Our airbnb in Rome had air con - thank goodness - it sure felt good on those hot afternoons to come back and turn it on for an hour and cool off.

I was still living in Florence in mid September 1988.

It was in the low 30's F at night that year in mid September.

So if you want to listen to those commenters who use their one time experience to determine the weather next September, I probably have more examples to share, ranging from the low 30's of 1988 all the way to the high 90's in 2011 and anything in between.

Heed to my advice. Look at the weather averages for the period but keep a close eye on the forecast just before you leave.

I will check the weather again in a couple of weeks and get a good idea of what the weather will be like next month and take it from there! Thanks everyone! :)

We were in Italy for a month a couple of Septembers ago -- Rome, Montepulciano and Florence before heading for Paris for October and November. I thought fall and we would be in Paris during coldish weather and so didn't focus on September in Italy. I had one cotton wrap skirt, a few black t shirts and a pair of linen slacks in addition to my fall clothes for Paris. That is all I wore for the entire month in Italy -- it was just plain hot. I don't wear shorts but if I did I would pack a pair. Skirts are perfect and pants should be linen -- jeans are way too hot. Of course you always want to be prepared for rain and for cool evenings -- but in our experience it is a hot time of year and sunscreen, hats, dark glasses, and cool clothing are all very appropriate.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I appreciate it!