My husband and I are celebrating our 5 anniversary this year and plan to celebrate in Italy! Our anniversary is late October - I've noticed some significant price differences if we go in late October/early November vs all in October. Our itinerary is not but we're looking at either Venice > Florence > Rome or Florence > ? smaller town?> Rome.
Thoughts on whether paying extra during October is worth it - weather wise/activities available?
Thank you!
If I could predict the weather so far ahead, I’d be rich. I’d be a highly paid guest on TV every day.
All I can give you is historical data, and that data will tell you that the end of October and the beginning of November has the highest amount of rain precipitation of the whole year. The biggest floods in both Florence and Venice have famously occurred in the first few days of November. So from a probability stand point, going earlier in October will offer a higher chance of less wet weather. But of course, nobody will know for sure and weather forecast is reliable only for about a week forward.
Having lived there for 5 years, we liked that late fall time a lot. It was cool enough for a jacket in the morning and evening, but often shirt-sleeves weather during the day in Rome. So mild temps and far better than the heat of summer.
Can it rain? Sure. But it seldom is an all-day soaker. When it does rain, if you are in a city like Rome or Florence, you have lots of indoor choices to entertain yourselves. Venice is a little more challenging in rain, but still lovely and again, in many many visits there in all but the height of summer (we usually go there between October and December), it has never drowned out our enjoyment. And we love a nice off-season discount. We went to Florence one January and paid half-price at a place we would otherwise not have looked at due to price. Although it rained a bit, the museums were uncrowded.
How many nights will you have? V-F-R takes at least 10 nights, IMO, 14 is better. A smaller town option might be Orvieto as it is on the train line between Florence and Rome. Try to fly into one city and out of the other (i.e., into Venice and out of Rome) to minimize backtracking.
For most hotels/apartments high season ends mid-October and after that the prices decline a bit. In early November the weather is not bad at all in Florence and Rome. Maybe a few dreary days but not constant rain. We always travel in Italy Sep-Nov and we've never taken anything heavier than a thin hooded rain jacket. If you have clothes you can layer you'll be perfectly fine.
Thank you all so much for your advice and input! :)
