May or June for Italy

Becca, I was in various parts of Italy for two separate months quite recently, Oct 2013 and May 2014. In both cases, the weather was generally excellent, clear and comfortable, and the crowds, or lack of crowds, were not bad anywhere. I have not been in Italy in June thru Sept but have heard many stories of uncomfortable heat and crowded tourist areas. In all parts of Italy, I think tourism type facilities are up and running by May. So, bottom line, I would encourage you to go earlier in May, with the added benefit of saving on the airfare if you can. For your June 4th anniversary, bring home a favorite bottle of wine or package of fancy pasta to enjoy, and celebrate by looking over your trip photos and purchases!

Agree with Larry. Weather should be good and crowds only get worse as the summer goes on. That is 400 more dollars you can spend on wine/food/gelato/etc. Have a good trip.

What are the prices if you reverse the trip? Fly into Venice and out of Rome?

I'd rather start in Venice, which has less big sights to see then Rome. You can relax in Venice and just wander and get lost too. You might be more rushed in Rome and I would save that for last.

I would do the early trip. The further into May/June you go, the greater the potential for heat. Italy can get hot in June and, of course, the crowds will build as kids gets out of school and Americans hit the road.

Another vote for starting in Venice. There are many posts on this forum about flying out of Venice in the early AM. Very difficult to get off the island early without a lot of expense and hassle. 11 years ago, it is what we did and had an awful night in the closed down airport. Just a heads up.

Venice is also a great place to recover from jet lag. It's very quiet in the evenings and you'll be doing lots of walking in the fresh air. That said, I bet you're trying to time this so that you're in Venice for your anniversary, right?

Go in May, and use some of your savings for a nice anniversary dinner on June 4 back at home.

If you have the flexibility to alter the dates, and are wanting to save money, then by all means do the trip earlier. If the money doesn't matter to you and being there on a specific date does, then do the trip when you want. The weather will not be significantly different. Keep in mind you could get foul weather at any time. When I was in Italy in late May 2012 I encountered rain in both Venice and Rome. You may have the same, you may have mild weather, or have to suffer thru an early heat wave. Its just too early to know at this point.

If you have flexibility on your travel date, I would save the money and go 2 weeks earlier. Temperatures don't change that much in a two week period and in any case who can predict? In any case, if history is any guidance, it will not be cold. May is generally warm and pleasant, although rain is always a possibility.

I also suggest to reverse the trip. Fly into Venice, return from Rome. Rome airport is only 35 min. from the city center and since your flight back is likely early in the morning, it's best not having to get up at 3am to catch that boat from Venice to the airport (water transportation costs a lot more too).

Thank you everyone! Great idea on reversing and starting in Venice, but I checked prices and those are about $70 more. Yuck.

I think we'll bump the trip back. I know it's impossible to predict the weather, and I think I'd prefer the cooler temperatures as opposed to hot, sticky temperatures.

Thanks again for your thoughts!

$70 is not a reason to start in Rome and end in Venice. The trip will be more enjoyable starting in Venice! And as pointed out, having to leave in the dead of night to take a boat ride to Marco Polo airport is gonna cost you.

The train will probably cost more than $70!

Yes, you're right that $70 isn't a reason to start in Rome instead of Venice, but our initial plan was to start in Rome. I checked into reversing the trip because several people suggested seeing if the price was different, and it was. In the wrong direction.

I can see valid points for reversing the trip; easier access to the airport, easier to recover from jet lag, etc. We'll consider changing the order. But, I like the idea of starting in Rome and seeing the ancient ruins and then moving on to more recent (by comparison) sights with the renaissance art in Florence and Venice. I think it also makes sense to start further south when I'm concerned about weather and do the more northern cities later in the trip (not that there's a huge disparity in latitude, but there is some). And, ending the trip with relaxing, romantic Venice instead of frantic Rome. The flights I've looked at leave Venice around 11am; I recognize those still require an early start, but I'm not sure that the dead of the night comment is necessarily accurate.

@donna, I'm not sure which train you mean or why it's part of the comparison?

In a 2-week trip, the weather from north to south isn't going to change perceptibly. On a 2-month trip, maybe. I recommend booking only in rooms that have A/C. Even Venice can be quite warm in May. Be happy if you get a too-cool day! My guess is that rain is a pretty rare occurrence in Italy in May, as are temps below 80 during the day.

You'll probably be zonked on your first and second days from the jetlag and lack of sleep (everyone else is). Rome is a big, bustling city. Yes, there are ancient ruins, but there's a lot more that than that. Venice has a laid-back atmosphere in the early mornings and in the late afternoons and evenings (after the day-trippers have gone), even mid-day in the quiet back canals. It's perfect for soaking up the atmosphere without much physical exertion.

For good photos, get up really early to shoot places before the locals are commuting and the visitors are touring. One of the best mornings I ever had was getting up at first light in Venice and watching the sun rise over the lagoon from St. Mark's Square. There's a bridge just below the Ponte Vecchio in Florence - a great place for photos at sunset.

Before you decide on airfare, consider all transportation costs to your first destination: airport to Rome is either Leonardo Express (14E) or a taxi (48E), don't know what the costs are from the airport to Venice because I don't fly into Venice (I use Milano if I start in the north, Rome if I start further south).

Air conditioning: some hotels may not have it available in early May, but you probably won't need it. I was in Italy last May, June, and July and never used air conditioning, even when it was available. Each year is impossible to predict, but generally May is not hot nor particularly humid (but I'm from Miami, where humidity should have a different scale).

Re: photography, Chani is right, best to get out and about before the tour buses pull in, they usually start arriving at 9-10am.

Go in May! June gets crowded with university students on summer break thinking they own the piazzas and fountains. June gets pretty hot, too.

Start in Rome there is no jet lag flying West to East so hit the ground running.

I have hard time waiting so late in the year to go. I'm an incessant planner.

We usually leave the last few days of March when visiting southern European countries--before the airfares go up. Late April and May are also great times to go--when things green up. This year, our flight into Budapest and out of Prague was $728.

Who knows what it'll be this year, as 4 airline alliances are controlling the prices--and they're very good at controlling supply/demand and airfares.