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March in Italy?

Hi. My husband and I have been to Italy twice (in May and Sept) but we were planning on taking our daughter, son in law and grandson (he is 16) last year to Italy. Well, we all know what happened to that plan! Anyway, now looking to 2022.
My family can only go on this trip during the last 2 weeks of March or get over there the middle of June for the 2 weeks, due to school obligations.
We should have around 12-13 days on the ground in Italy. We were originally planning on going to Rome, Amalfi Coast, Pompeii and then up to Orvieto and that area. If we go in March, I am thinking to skip Amalfi coast (as the beaches will not be inviting and ferries not running) and just doing a day at Pompeii and one night in Naples and the rest in Rome and where?
So my questions are: Has anyone been to Italy in late March and what was that like weather(rain?) and crowd wise?
Would you pick March over June or vice versa? Reasons why?
And if we do go in March what would be a good replacement for Amalfi coast? Looking for places my teenaged grandson would really enjoy.
Thanks for any input.
Karen

Posted by
9460 posts

Oh I would definitely pick June if I had it as an option.

To me, the only reason to pick March over June is that presumable both airfare and lodging would be cheaper in March (although I admit I haven’t looked at the date for Easter in 2022, which could change that calculus).

Posted by
3777 posts

We went mid-February in 2017 to Rome and had great weather. It was cool, just a sweater and light jacket needed. No hat, gloves, etc. we only had rain one afternoon. Was there for one week. Things were busy but not overcrowded, except for the Vatican Museum which is probably always crowded. We walked every where, since there was a strike for half the week we visited. We didn’t have any problem just walking into restaurants, we were 6 adults. After working in the NYC school system, I now avoid many places once the heat of summer kicks in. Don’t know how hot it is in June though.

Posted by
2165 posts

We were in Sicily the last ten days of March (and into April) one year. We had everything from cold and rainy to hot and sunny, but the cold and rainy parts were really unpleasant. I think the old, stone buildings got very cold over the winter and had not yet begun to warm up (think restaurants). And Italy has strict rules governing the dates when heating can be turned on (varies by region).

Posted by
4212 posts

I'd go to Italy in March if cities and indoor pursuits were the goal, but I really detest cold weather, and I like outdoor things more, so I would choose June if there was a choice (unless you save literally thousands).
With 12 days, Rome (with a side trip to Naples/Pompeii) and then a bit of smaller towns like Orvieto should be plenty.
What are your grandson's interests?
If you can tolerate some spontaneity in the plan, if you get nice sunny days, you could still to to Amalfi Coast--the hiking is vastly superior to the beaches anyway!
Just because the field is wide open, I'll share my personal interest: outside Rome and Orvieto, and up into Tuscany, there are numerous Etruscan sites that I think even those not passionate about archaeology would find interesting. Some require a car--would anything like that be of interest?

Posted by
16893 posts

My second trip to Italy was in February (for Carnevale) through March and I certainly did not regret it. Is Venice not on your list? A teenager might appreciate that it’s quite different from your other stops.

Posted by
4 posts

HI Karen,
I spent two months in Orvieto in 2018, from April through May. The weather was cool during the first few weeks, and got quite warm by the second week in May. It definitely rains during early Spring, but I was coming from spending February and March in Oxford...that was COLD!...so the rain was very manageable. Orvieto is a fascinating city, with a spectacular Duomo and beautiful views of Tuscany and Umbria. I chose it as a home base because it is centrally located and has excellent train service (one hour to Rome, a couple of hours to Florence, Siena and Perugia). The old town is reachable by a funicular, and the place you will want to stay rather than the newer city below.
Good luck with your trip. It sounds wonderful!
Laurie

Posted by
2922 posts

Hi Karen, I spent two weeks in IT the last two weeks in March and packed for winter and what a mistake that was. I had to shop for spring clothes so I could be comfortable. We did not need a coat and it rained one day but all that was necessary was an umbrella. My sister never did wear the raincoat she purchased for the trip. I have never been to IT in June so I can’t comment on that.
We went to the Torino region, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Siena, Cinque Terre, Rome and Sicily. I would replace the Amalfi Coast with a day trip by bus to Civita de Bagnoregio from Ovrieto.

Posted by
1369 posts

Since you are already in Naples and Pompeii, stay an extra day in each so you are not so rushed, and then how about going to Matera and then towns in Puglia? Matera is unique and you can stay in a cave hotel or B&B. Puglia has nice weather in late March, you could stay in a trullo, Our two boys enjoyed interesting buildings from toddlerhood to adulthood., and they either did like the places I've mentioned or I know they would have. I'm assuming you will have a car.

Posted by
1090 posts

I second going in June over March. Even mid April is too soon for my preference. I like to see and smell flowers, have leaves on the trees, be able to not have to pack a coat, etc.

Posted by
3119 posts

Easter 2022 is April 17th, so the last two weeks of March will be solidly in Lent with no Holy Week going on. My hubs & I are actually considering going to Italy in late March - early April 2022, not just to avoid summer crowds but also because we prefer cooler weather.

I once spent a couple of weeks in Rome in May and have fairly vivid memories of blisters on my feet because the weather turned hot; I had a pair of sandals but didn't count on the friction of walking miles (I love walking all over Rome). I've also traveled up and down Italy in August (which I won't do again due to crowds & heat), and a couple of times in September-October, which was really pleasant.

Regarding your grandson, I agree with the suggestion to put Venice on your itinerary. It won't be as crowded in March as it would be in June, and it's so memorable -- like nothing else on earth, IMO.

Posted by
847 posts

Due to my work schedule (academic) I have only been able to travel in March or summer and have done that for the past two decades and I have been in Italy the second two weeks in March a number of times. While June will come with more of a guarantee of good weather (but also higher prices and more crowds), March can be wonderful. Talk about flowers! Gorgeous pink flowering fruit trees, wisteria, forsythia, so many others. My most recent March there in 2017 I had mostly great weather. But did have some rain. Actually wrote a trip report I titled "Chasing the sun in Italy in March". Had originally planned Venice, Florence and Lake Como but as the trip went on the weather for Lake Como was rain so I was able to change my reservations and go to Rome instead where it was sunny and 70. Then I went to Milan and Lake Como after that where by the end of that week it was sunny and 80. Another trip in March I did what you are thinking of Rome, Orvieto and Amalfi Coast. I had some rain on that trip as well and unfortunately the rain was during the Amalfi Coast portion. That trip I also changed plans a little and took a couple nights off Amalfi and extended the Rome portion.

I would say the Amalfi coast would be the most "iffy" location for March because if it does rain there is not much to do. On the other hand, the couple days I had there before it started raining were glorious and no crowds and cheap hotels. It's pretty easy to do Pompeii from Sorrento so you might consider booking several nights there and hope some of the days are nice for trips to Amalfi and Positano (the bus has great views) and if it does rain you can go to Naples and Pompeii (and Herculaneum). But I wouldn't book a whole week in Sorrento in March and I wouldn't plan to stay in the smaller towns, just visit them as day trips.

Rome would be great because there is no much to see inside (churches, museums, shopping) that rain wouldn't ruin the time there. Florence also. I would plan it so that you base for several days at a time in a city and do day trips to smaller towns rather than planning to base in them. I love Orvieto and there are plenty of places in Tuscany and Umbria that would work as well.

Here's my trip report for that March trip: http://andiamo.zenfolio.com/blog/2017/5/march-in-northern-italy-milan-genoa-lake-como-lake-lugano-pavia

Here's my link to my photos. They are combined from numerous trips so hard to tell which were July and which were March (except for the ones in the trip report, those were all March). http://andiamo.zenfolio.com/f739967755

Posted by
1369 posts

Yes, Venice is another excellent idea for the 16-year-old --- he can take rowing lessons and if, like us, he thinks sitting in a gondola among lots of other people doing the same thing looks silly he (and you) can take an hour-long "topa" tour in a little Venetian motorboat going to lots of canals the gondola tours don't go to. Climb the bell tower across the water from San Marco. I've only been to Venice in December and late June, but my guess would be that early June would be better than March, weatherwise. More crowds, though.

Posted by
4525 posts

Some years ago, we went early April. Still considered 'rainy season' but that was only in Venice. It wasn't pleasant, but that was more the crowds with umbrellas, and me being taller - risks of losing an eye from their umbrella spokes. We also were dealing with 'acqua alta' (flooding). The rest of the visit was very pleasant, mostly sun, polar fleece in the morning, short sleeve T in the afternoon. No shorts.
If Pompeii and that era is a strong interest, Herculaneum is in the area and different than Pompeii...also smaller and manageable. Matera would be a 3rd but three may be overdose. Maybe GS would like to 'climb' Mt Vesuvius?
He may be too old, but there is gladiator school near Rome...though perhaps not in March.
I would think that in March, you could wing it on accommodation and rigid bookings and decide about Amalfi and/or other cities on the ground, or the week before depending on weather forecasts. Also looking at the past 5 years' historical weather for specific cities will give some idea on temps and rain. Ensure the site you use offers both. I have referenced Wunderground in the past, but I think date & time also offers this.
June may need more definite planning.

Posted by
171 posts

Wow, so many great suggestions!! Okay....now I am really going to have to mull this all over. Thank you so much for your replies and Happy Traveling!

Posted by
171 posts

Nancys8
Well thinking to going next June instead of March now. Can you give me any more information on the Topa Tours? Should that be something booked several weeks in advance? Looking online I do not really see a website to book.
Thanks in advance
Karen

Posted by
1369 posts

A topa (little Venetian motor boat) tour: http://www.vivivenezia.org. Gianluca was a little bit hard to get hold of in December, but it should be fine at a more normal time of the year!

Tripadvisor reviews of his topa tour: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187870-d3187911-r177789504-Like_a_Venetian-Venice_Veneto.html

Here's what I said about it (and about Row Venice) in a comment here three years ago:

"My husband and I greatly enjoyed a taking a topa tour in Venice, booked through http://www.vivivenezia.org. A topa is a cute little Venetian workers' motorboat. We motored quietly around the back canals, far from the crowds of gondola tours, and Gianluca told us about what we were seeing in excellent English. Gianluca says it's an hour and a half tour, but we were out for 2 hours.

We are both the kind of people who would just wouldn't have a good time on a 1/2 hour gondola ride, jostling along next to dozens of others, everybody making videos the whole time, being expected to kiss, plus the singing of Neapolitan songs in Venice is a bit odd, so the peaceful, personal, conversational topa tour was perfect for us....

Possibly it was on the expensive side of reasonable for what it was, like many unique experiences (such as a ride in a hot air balloon). I am pretty sure that Gianluca told us in advance what the tour would cost. Read the tripadvisor reviews on this tour --- very, very positive. My husband also took two 90 minute (standing-up) rowing lessons in a gondola-like boat from Row Venice, and enjoyed that immensely. I got to ride along. Likewise positive reviews."

Posted by
1369 posts

Well. shoot! Sorry --- I should have tried the link before I posted it! Doesn't work any more. I'll see if I can track this down for you --- let's hope the topa tour still exists!

Posted by
1369 posts

Looks like this business is closed either for COVID or permanently --- there are other non-gondola boat tours available, but not this particular one. Sorry about that, but keep checking to see if the topa tour by Gianluca reappears for 2022.

Row Venice is still operating! https://rowvenice.org/

Posted by
15041 posts

March Pros: fewer crowds at sights, cheaper airfare, cheaper accommodations.
March Cons: weather potentially rainy (March/early April is the rainiest time after Late Oct/Nov) and cold (temps are often still low, especially at night). Daylight savings start on the last Sunday of March in Europe, therefore it gets dark early in the evening.

June Pros: Warm weather very likely (sometimes too warm especially the second half of the month!), definitely beach weather if you go to the Amalfi Coast, longest daylight of the year, longer opening hours for many places.
June Cons: more crowds at sights, higher airfare, higher price of accommodations

Posted by
1206 posts

I'm thinking about when I spent about 10 days in Italy with my then-20-year-old son. Our days were happiest when he had a chance to do something physical - especially climb something. I tried to find something for him to climb up - or climb into - every day. These included: Rome: monuments including the top level of the Coliseum and the top of the V. E. II monument (the "wedding cake"); Orvieto: down into the "well" and we did the tour of the Etruscan ruins; Pisa: booked a time for him to climb the Tower, during a four-hour train layover; Venice: the clock tower, and found a spiraling tower for him to climb up that is part of a villa (don't remember the name); Florence: booked him a time to climb up the inside of the dome of the Duomo. We also went to Cinque Terre and he hiked all five towns (this was before the glut of cruise ship crowds and the terrible floods and landslides of several years ago). I don't know the physical condition of your grandson, or his preferences, of course, but if he is generally more physically active than the adults on this trip, finding ways for him to stretch and challenge himself might well make everyone else happier, too.