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spring or fall or both

I am rethinking my 90 day plan for visiting Italy. I would love some feedback on going 45 days in fall and 45 days in spring the next year. This would allow me to miss the crazy summer months. and spending the holidays at home. I am interested in visiting the hill towns of Tuscany, Florence, Rome, Naples and the Amalfi coast. I think I would really like to see Tuscany in both seasons and the Amalfi coast in late spring rather than fall. This is a retirement trip for me in 2023 but I find the planning is a lot of the fun of a trip.

Posted by
113 posts

My short answer:

  • Spring: higher chance of rain vs. more daylight.
  • Fall: less daylight vs. lower chance of rain.
Posted by
11052 posts

We have always split our trips to Italy into northern or southern Italy. I think your idea makes sense.

Posted by
6428 posts

The only downside I see to 45-45 is two airfares and two more long flights. An upside is seeing parts of Italy in different seasons. Plus you're safe from inadvertently blowing through the 90-day Schengen stay limit.

Posted by
55 posts

Thanks everyone. Sounds like I am thinking correctly. I do wonder about 2 flights but I also think it is worth it.

Posted by
224 posts

I love both the Spring and the Fall in Italy. The Spring brings out fields of flowers and the markets are awash with fresh vegetables. The Fall means the grape and olive harvests. It is very difficult to decide which is more glorious. Your decision to split your visit is a great one.

And I agree with you. Planning the trip is half the fun (well maybe less than half but really fun).

Posted by
26829 posts

Although I tend to assume there's more rain in spring than in fall ("April showers bring May flowers"), if it matters to you, you should always check. The Wikipedia entry for nearly every major city in Europe includes a climate chart. Usually you'll get both inches of rain and number of days with rain for each month of the year. I've just spot-checked Venice, Florence and Rome. It depends, of course, on how you define "spring" and "fall", but I definitely wouldn't say Florence and Rome are wetter in the spring. That might be true for Venice, but I don't see a major difference. Caution: The Wikipedia weather stats usually cover a time period ending in 2010; things may have changed since then.

The countryside will definitely be greener in spring; by mid-summer a lot of gardens (not the best ones) are likely to be looking rather parched. I think the sea will be warmer in the fall. I'm highly sensitive to short days, so for me the extra daylight hours in the spring outweigh any tendency toward more-stable weather in the fall.

Posted by
198 posts

We've been contemplating a trip next spring and so I added the towns to my weather app to track them. Not real scientific but it seems like north of Bologna (Bolzano, Ortisie and Bergamo) was experiencing much more rain in May than Siena and Perugia. I'm not sure if this is unusual, normal or perhaps the new normal.

We've only ever gone to Italy in late September/early October (Tuscany, Umbria, Emilia Romagna and the Piedmont) and never experienced more than one day of significant rain each time.

Posted by
15041 posts

I read predictions of weather patterns that may not have a basis on reality.

We need to define exactly when in Spring and when in the Fall.

Statistically, the end of October and November are the rainiest months in all the places you mentioned, followed by early spring (March/April). September and May have statistically similar precipitation numbers.

Anecdotal evidence from someone who’s traveled in Italy only a few times in a lifetime a trend does not make. The actual precipitation numbers can be verified on several websites.

https://www.holiday-weather.com/naples/averages/
https://www.holiday-weather.com/florence/averages/

Daylight hours are obviously longer in late spring than anytime in the Fall, and that is true every single year.

Posted by
15041 posts

Phrank:

Just trying not to get the OP's hopes too high for Fall travel. I can remember many rainy and cold Octobers in Tuscany in my lifetime (and I've spent at least 30 of them in Italy). May or September offer a better chance (albeit not certainty) of better weather, although early September is technically still summer.

Posted by
3064 posts

I've been in Italy 12 times in the past 25 years, and been there in May, June and September on different trips.

Here's my summary:
Venice and the Dolomites: cold and rainy in September. Also: hot and muggy in September.
Florence: rainy and cool in May. Hot and unbearable in June and September.
Rome: Rainy and warm in May. Also unbearably hot early September.

So: as you can see, the weather is totally unpredictable all over!

I don't think there is a bad time to go to Italy, just bad clothing choices.

Posted by
55 posts

Wow. Definitely dividing the trip! Thanks for all the information! So it sounds like maybe fall may consist of the last week in august for northern Italy to check out family history in Camogli then Sept for Tuscany. Maybe the first couple of weeks in Florence then traveling around the Hill Towns for a few weeks at the end. I understand it will be darker earlier then. But when will the fall colors be at the Peak? I find the planning also makes sure I have the correct clothes

Posted by
464 posts

I don’t expect to see bright fall colors when we visit Tuscany and Venice this fall. I don’t think they have the hardwoods that produce the many colors we see in our northern and eastern US states. It will have its own beauty of warm earthy tones and those evergreen Cyprus trees will stand out, Hope to see colorful grapes at harvest!