Traveling early vs late september in Italy?

Beginning Sept is likely to be hot or at least very warm.
Late Sept is likely not as hot, but still good, also for the beach.
Beginning October is generally nice weather, with cool mornings and evenings, but not really beach weather anymore.
Rain is a possibility throughout that period, and that cannot be predicted so far in advance.
You can find accommodations in that period, even on short notice. But it depends on where you go. The Cinque Terre (if you go there) have very limited accommodations, therefore on summer weekends it might be busy. Try to visit there or any beach or lake or mountain locations on weekdays. Italians are back at work/school at that time, therefore weekdays are lighter on those summer vacation spots. However if the weather is good, the Italians head out of the cities on weekends, therefore vacation spots will be fuller on weekends. There are plenty of hotels in cities like Rome or Florence, so you'll find something anytime, even on busy periods. My suggestion is to stay in the big cities on the weekends (when Italians go to the beach) and go to the beach on weekdays (when Italians are in the cities at work).

thank you ....those are some great tips!

A few weeks ago, I booked a trip in Italy for the middle two weeks of September. At least, in Cinque Terre my first couple of choices for places to stay were booked up -- already. That was determined by writing email messages directly to the places. So, I think if you want the best choices you should do your research now and start booking places. One option that I have used a few times is to reserve places using www.booking.com. Then you usually have the option to cancel the reservation with no penalty, pretty close up to your arrival date. So, at least as "insurance", you could reserve places using booking.com and then make some changes/cancellations later if you find something better or change some of your plans. Be aware that booking.com probably doesn't have access for every room at each hotel, so it might give the impression (example: "only two rooms left!") that the hotel is almost sold out when it may not be the case. Regarding warm weather, I presume the earlier dates will give you a better chance for that.

more great advise....thanks!

Hi Colleen,

I have been to Italy in all of September and October in the past. We are going again this year and booked our tickets so that we could take advantage of the holiday and squeeze that Monday in there too. It will still be hot in Italy, but that's great for beach weather. I have noticed that many hotels are already booked, or are filling up so I have reservations in Venice, Castelrotto, Lake Garda, Montalcino, Asissi and Ravello. Prices are still high season too most places. Many places in Cinque Terre were so booked already that we are skipping it until off season.

It will be a beautiful time for you to go. It's one of my favorite times to be in Italy.

Expect Italy to be hot in September, and be pleasantly surprised if it isn't. Even October can be quite hot, but more comfortable that a month earlier. I would imagine there would be fewer crowds of tourists later in the month.

October is lovely! Maybe not quite beach weather, though. For the best balance, I'd say mid-September to avoid the worst of the heat but be comfortable on the beach in the afternoon.

colleen,

Either time period would be good, but as the others have mentioned it likely won't be as warm at the latter part of September and there could more possibility of a rainy day at times.

September is still a busy month in Italy, so I'd recommend booking hotels as soon as you have your dates finalized. Where in Italy are you planning to visit on this trip?

Hoping to finalize dates this week. Aug 30 - sept 15th. We are looking at flying into Venice (2 nights), then lake Como (2 nights), Cinque terre (2 nights), Florence (tuscany region 4 nights), finishing off our tour in Rome (2nights). We are hoping to have 14 full days excluding the travel days from/back to the US. I still have 2 days that are unaccounted for....not sure what region would be best to tack these onto.

We were in Italy from mid-September to mid-October, 2013. The weather was wonderful until the end of the second week while we were in Florence--it rained cats and dogs. It rained off and on there and the next week in Rome. My conclusion is that any statements about weather are simply generalizations, and not guarantees you can take to the bank.

Regarding hotel reservations--I started making reservations in early August and rarely got our first choice. On the other hand, we were very satisfied with all but one of the hotels we stayed in.

Have a great trip!

@Galen... I was lucky... arriving just about when you were leaving. Last part of October...Barcelona, southern France, CT, Florence and Tuscany and we had perfect weather every day but one...so definitely not predictable....

Colleen,

You have a good variety of places to visit, but I definitely wouldn't tack on any other locations, but rather add to those you have already chosen. Keep in mind that each of your locations is going to take you at least a half a day to get there, so I would reconsider some of those two night stays and add to them. We spent five nights in Bellagio and we could have stayed for another week.

"Hoping to finalize dates this week. Aug 30 - sept 15th. We are looking at flying into Venice (2 nights), then lake Como (2 nights), Cinque terre (2 nights), Florence (tuscany region 4 nights), finishing off our tour in Rome (2nights). We are hoping to have 14 full days excluding the travel days from/back to the US. I still have 2 days that are unaccounted for....not sure what region would be best to tack these onto."

Staying 2 nights, which gives you only one day, in Venice and Rome and will not give you enough time in either city. I would add 1 night to each of them.

colleen,

Your last Itinerary looks quite reasonable. I'd suggest adding the two days to Rome, as there's so MUCH to see there. The two days you have allotted for Rome will likely be closer to 1.5 days due to travel times, which is absolutely not enough for Rome.

Where are you planning to stay on Lake Como?

I second what Bob said about your itinerary ("We are looking at flying into Venice (2 nights), then lake Como (2 nights), Cinque terre (2 nights), Florence (tuscany region 4 nights), finishing off our tour in Rome (2nights)." Plus two more days to plug in somewhere.) I would suggest that you add one night to Venice (so, 3 nights), skip Lake Como, add one night to Cinque Terre (so, 3 nights), Florence/Tuscany (4 nights), and add two nights to Rome (so, 4 nights).

We traveled at the end of August and beginning of September in 2013 (for 3 weeks) to take advantage of Labor Day as well. It worked out well. My husband & I are amateur photographers and rain is a major deterrent for us therefore I wanted to travel as early in September as possible because towards the middle & end of September, there seems to be more chance of rain. We were in the Cinque Terre mid-September a few years ago & it rained the whole time which was really disappointing. Of course, it can rain any time but the earlier you travel, generally the better.

We flew into Venice and worked our way north through the Dolomites, to the Cinque Terre, then south to the Amalfi Coast and we ended in Rome where we flew home. I would work your way north to south if possible because it will be warmer longer in the south. Have a great trip!