Spring or Fall

When is his retirement sendoff ?

Sept 2020 would be a good choice. Hotels and airfare will be lower in rate and less tourist crowds.

Sea9lion,

Congratulations on your DH upcoming retirement!

Where do you plan to go in Italy?

Spring & Fall are both great times to visit Italy. Having said this, do keep in mind that days will be longer (later sunsets) during the spring, than those in the Fall.
Do keep some dates in mind, such as Easter, when accommodations maybe at a premium and some places will be more crowded as well.

If you’re thinking about visiting in the Fall, I’d suggest going in October, rather than September. September may still be very warm or hot in Italy.

Happy planning!

I love September in Italy. After the crazy summer season and the weather is usually wonderful.

Depends somewhat on where you want to go. For me, avoiding hot weather is paramount. If you want to go to the South, spring (April, early May) is excellent, especially if you want to go to Sicily or Campania plus Roma and Florence ate lovely in spring for that matter. September — later rather than earlier — and into October is better in the north, IMO, and also good in Roma and Florence. Rates for hotels will not be lower, appreciably, in my experience, unless you go Nov to early Dec or in Jan/Feb.

Where in Italy? In the north and mountains, it may be too cold in April especially if you want to go hiking or visit higher elevations. Also the sea will still be colder if swimming is on the agenda. But it’s likely to be nice sightseeing weather in Rome, for example.

Both times of year are nice. If you want to avoid summer heat don’t go in early September.

My first trip to Italy was in mid-October, a circle of Milan/Verona/Venice/FlorenceMilan. I was grateful for the fan in my room in Venice and would have been unhappy without the AC in Florence and Milan. Since then all my trips have been in February except for once in late April-early May, mostly in Sicily. Early May seemed to be the end of spring.

I love being in Italy in February. There are many fewer tourists, hotel rooms are offered at low season rates and the weather is generally mild. I liked that sunset came at a "reasonable" hour, so I could enjoy seeing the cities after dark - Venice's Grand Canal is magical then, so is sunrise over the lagoon; Rome's sights look completely different when they're illuminated.

My 2 cents: My experience is that the nature look better in spring. In fall it is often burned by the sun.

Spring is my choice.

Each time has its charms. Like others have mentioned, it depends on where you want to go. If you can swing 3 weeks, then you can get a taste of both urban and rural areas.

I suggest you check for Harvest Festivals in Tuscany. We really want to go back during the harvest.

I've been to Italy at three times, at three different times of the year: early May, mid-June, and mid-September. The June trip was sizzling hot but we were traveling with teachers and had no choice. Both the May and September trips were wonderful. But both were still pretty warm and crowds were high. You may want to do more of a "shoulder season" trip and consider late April if it's Spring or early October for a fall trip. We're planning our fourth trip to Italy, this time to the Amalfi Coast area and then Puglia, and have decided to go with late April and into the first few days of May. I chose Spring instead of Fall because I love spring flowers. I want to see all that burst of color in the fields and gardens, bougainvillea spilling down the sides of buildings, bright pops of color everywhere. I'm especially hoping the wisteria is still in bloom during the first part of our time there! On the other hand, fall has its own beauty. Warm golden vineyards dripping with ripe purple grapes is a pretty enticing sight! You may want to use timeanddate.com to check the historic weather in the cities you want to visit. For example, if you'll be in Rome and want to compare its weather in the May 1-5 time frame versus Sept. 15-20 time frame, you can put in that city and have the ability to see what weather they have had every year on those dates going back quite far. Do a five year check and see if you can discern the patterns, how much rain those cities have had on those dates, how hot the daily high has gotten. For me, nothing can spoil a vacation more than clouds and rain, so that's a big priority in choosing dates, My husband's number 1 priority is avoiding crowds and number 2 is avoiding heat. We're pretty satisfied that our upcoming trip in late April will suit us both very well.

If you plan to visit northern Europe, go in the Fall. We were in Norway on a cruise in the middle of June and were told that we were lucky that our tour could still go, since a week before snow had blocked the roads.

ALSo, it is cooler in Greece and Southern Europe (Med) in the Spring then Fall. I remember going to Greece in September and temps were in the high 80s.

Hi Sea,

I've been to Italy in the Autumn, and it is still very warm. But, it also depends on what part of Italy you want to visit.

Keep in mind, that both Spring and Autumn are considered the "high seasons."

Although, you may be able to find good deals for airlines and hotel(s.) Some airlines run "flash deals" - deep discounts on future airfares.

Hotels may run a special booking too. If this is important to you, look for "breakfast included." Or, if you are basing your stay in one city (Rome, for example), check into a small apartment or B&B.

Also, in case you are not aware, hotel 'rankings' in Italy differ than what America is used to seeing.

For example, my fav hotel in Rome is considered a 4-Star hotel because of the amenities and services it offers. Trip Advisor is where you would see the guest rankings that we are accustomed to.

Also, keep in mind, the mandatory, per-person city tax charged for each night of hotel stay (up to ten nights.) Each hotel may differ because of the area they are positioned in. Some may be as low as 3€ per night up to 6€ per night. Some hotels may ask for that in Euro aside from your hotel bill.

To get an idea of some Italian cities, if you have time, I recommend a browse through the live cams of Italy

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia.html

It is a fun way to see and hear the sights and sounds of some of the major attractions and cities.

Also, for fun viewing, I like to suggest these guys -- https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRomanGuyTours
The videos are fun to watch, humorous, educating, have very good suggestions and tips for the new traveler as well as some refreshers for others. They receive a lot of very good to excellent reviews.

Check out their neighborhood series. The vids give you a peek inside Rome and a few other places they go to.

Sean narrates most of the videos. Bojan is another one. Both have been with the company a very long time. I don't know them personally.

Speaking of tours - Seem to be very good to excellent city tour companies if you are interested in pursuing one.

Walks Of Italy, https://www.walksofitaly.com/rome-tours/ (There is a Rick Steves discount on booking tours with them.)
Dark Rome, https://darkrome.com/rome-tours
Eternity Tours, https://www.througheternity.com/

Sealion, also check out the thread below for suggestions (if you will be staying in Rome) **

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy There is a little side conversation from Jay of Chicago regarding his stay at a small, affordable apartment in Campo de' Fiori - almost in the heart of things.

Also, https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy-reviews/rome-hotel-cd1888ea-12ed-4dda-af4d-51fa9738233f#bottom
Alan of Folsom gave his recommendations from a previous stay.

Maybe these guys will see this thread and have more input.

** Added suggestions

We've been twice to Europe in May and 5 times in October 4 to Italy. Much prefer October, especially Italy; less crowds and the weather has been perfect; capris etc.

We live in the Toronto, Canada area & starting in May the weather is nice here, not so October. September is still too hot for us and not many B&B's have A/C.

We flew into Milan rented a car & stayed in the Lake Como area; then on to Cinque Terre; 2 weeks in a Tuscan Villa touring the amazing small towns; then to Positano and ended in Rome by the end of Oct. We spent 3 - 4 days in each area except Tuscany. Great weather.

Will be in Rome again Oct. 2020.

Cheers,

Jean

You all have given me a lot of food for thought. Thank you!
I think my next step will be to look more closely at the weather to avoid both cool damp weather that increases my pain and the excessive heat that triggers dysautonomia symptoms. Yeah, I’m a mess. Can I just live in a 75 degree bubble, please.😂
I’ll also do more research on holidays and festival for ones that look like they’d be fun to attend and crowds to avoid.

I was fortunate to live in Italia for 18 months and highly recommend you go in the spring. Early May if possible. The heat wave hitting Italy and France is now the norm in the summer and ancient towns built of tufa and other stone are unbelievably hot, even at night since the stone doesn't have a chance to cool down properly. Also keep in mind that some areas, including Lago di Como and the Amalfi, close down in the late fall until the spring so don't book if things aren't open and running. If you are truly interested in the ancient art & history, I have a few "off the beaten track" suggestions for you that will not be overrun with tourists (no cruise ships and few bus tours).

Tivoli, about an hour outside of Rome, is home to the ancient Roman ruins of Villa Hadrian. Its the size of a small city, built atop a hill so the emperor could always have advance warning of any visitors. It is also home to Villa d'Este, the famous palazzo and amazing gardens that were built long before engineering should have been possible for hundreds of fountains! (The hotel, Villa d'Este, on Lago di Como, copied a tiny piece of the gardens). I took all of my visitors from the USA to Tivoli for a day trip and they all complained it wasn't enough time! There were occasions when we were the only visitors in Villa Hadrian, walking among the amazing columns and still standing structures. You can take a picnic lunch to Villa d'Este, or wander down one of the small alleys close to it for a lovely lunch.

The ruins at Vulci, closer to the sea and close enough to see from Rome, are another spectacular way to see some very beautiful Roman ruins set in a park that backs up to horse and cattle ranches. There is a spring fed waterfall into a crystal clear small lake. Rarely saw any other tourists, and never any Americans. My Italian friends had not even heard of it!
Monte Argentario -- for a breathtaking excursion to the sea, head to this picuresque "almost island" that is tied to Orbetello on the mainland by a narrow spit of road. There are two towns, the larger of the two is Santo Stefano which is a fishing town with a ferry over to the island of Giulio. Take the ferry just to go out on the beautiful Med and take in the villas perched along the hills of Argentario. There is an absolutely fantastic restaurant around the back side from Santo Stefano -- I must find the name. You will see exotic cars pulled off on the shoulder of the road as well as ancient Fiats. The restaurant is perched on the cliff with a stunning view and the best fresh seafood you'll find! You can continue the drive around the mountain, passing private villas and the uber exclusive resort on its western side with private coves and beaches. You'll get stunning photos!
Orvieto - my hometown, is halfway between Roma and Fiorenze, and is what Rick Steves describes as a "perfect example of a hill town." It's history dates back to the Etruscans, and its narrow winding streets and churches are just beautiful. The city empties of tourists at around 4:30 and the evenings are beautiful.
Paestum - south of Amalfi, this is home to three of the most beautiful Greek temples you will ever see. In a stunning green grass park that has carpets of wildflowers in the spring.
I hope that you will be confident and rent a car. Renting from the Roma airport means you don't drive in Roma, and you are right on the Autostrada to head north or south. Driving in Italia is truly not stressful. I was a solo traveler along with my dog, and when I got lost, I had a marvelous time! The only challenge is parking in cities and avoiding restricted driving areas. Please message me if you woud like more info on towns to see, restaurants and tips on driving!

I like to use this website for historical weather data, day by day, for the last 10 years. That will give you some idea of what to expect. BUT this year weather's been so extreme, it's harder to guess what to expect.