Spring 2020 in Italy

I think early May is about as good as it gets.

Friday May 1, 2020 is also a holiday, "Workers Liberation Day" similar to our Labor Day, so on the 1st-3rd a lot of sites will be packed.
Try to plan on after those dates if you don't want crowds.

May weather is generally very nice with longer daylight hours. Although I understand the EU is doing away with daylight savings time.

Perhaps on April 25 avoid an area that attracts a lot of tourists. We were in Venice and it is also the Feast day of San Marco so a double holiday. The crowds were Italians enjoying a day off.

I don't know where in Italy you want to go other than the CT, but if it is Venice, you want to arrive after May 1. We were there this year, and the crowds were terrible due to the holiday. We didn't realize it was a European holiday, and that Venice would attract those on a short vacation. (I know this as we dined next to a young couple from Austria who were there for a few days on a holiday break.)

Nonetheless, the weather was absolutely beautiful. From there we took the trains to Monterroso on the CT. It was miserable weather----heavy rain, windy and quite chilly. For us there wasn't a lot to do in the rain other than ferry down the coast after a brief walk around in 4 of the 5 villages. Probably good to have a backup plan in case foul weather.

We have also been in Rome, the Amalfi Coast and Lake Como in May. It truly is our favorite time of year in Italy. You dodge crowds by getting up and out early. Have a wonderful time!

Thank you all!

It does sound like May is the optimum time to go, vs March or April. My loose plan at this point is flying into Florence, then CT 3-4 nights or so, back to Florence 3 nights, Tuscany agriturismo 4 nights for wine/food countryside/hill towns, then Rome for last 2-3 nights and flying out. This is our first time, CT & Tuscany are high priorities. Frustratingly, the more I read, the more places I want to go and it makes me second guess our choices......but will have to wait for future trips. Hopefully this will be a good balance of history/sight-seeing/architecture and our love of wine/scenery/relaxation.

Laurie,

Since you're flying out of Chicago, check to see if you'd save time by flying into Pisa. British airways, connects at Heathrow, United/Lufthansa in Munich. KLM in Amsterdam.
The key is to make sure you have ample time between connections. Anything under 1 1/2 hours is too short of a timeframe unless you want to loose your mind.

From Pisa it's only an hour and a half by train to Monterosso. It's a small airport with easy connection to the train station.

For your Tuscany portion of the trip, renting a car, you'll need an IDP for every driver. . Available at AAA. $24 includes photos.

Driving in Italy make sure you're aware of their ZTLS, signage, speed limits and rules of the road. Info available here. You don't want to return home and up to a year later receive a very expensive ticket.

https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/dont-mess-with-ztl-zones

Download their PDF.

Your trip is well planned and you'll have a wonderful time.

If you are actually planning for Spring 2019, then Easter is April 21.

If your dates are 2020, per your topic title, Easter is April 12.

Yes, thanks for catching that Pam!

I did typo that, which is why I was thinking it would be hard to avoid both of the April holidays (the 12th & 25th) and now the May 1 holiday. I think we will go early in May right after the first weekend.

Thanks again, all, for the hints and advice. All very helpful!

We were in Italy over Easter weekend in early April about 6 years ago. We arrived in Positano the week before which was perfect because it was the first week shops were open and there were 0 crowds in Positano. The weather was also perfect unless of course you want to swim. We like to hike and it couldn't have been better. We then took the train from Naples to Florence where we spent 5 days. Florence was crowded for the holiday however it was really special to experience the "explosion of the cart" celebration. You just have to plan in advance and make sure you have dinner reservations and such. It rained a bit on the celebration but it wasn't cold and was kind of fun everyone standing there under their umbrellas. We only had a day to drive thru the countryside in Tuscany. I can tell you the grape vines were just starting to bud out so weren't the most picturesque. We did a day trip to CT and hiked. It was perfect weather for hiking and absolutely stunning scenery.