I was in Italy for the first time from Aug. 14-22 and was expecting large crowds or mostly Americans and other non-italian countries. However, I did not find this. Did other find this to be an off-year for tourist due to bad economies and week dollar? I was told that Florence is not worth going to in August becuase of the large crowds however, we walked right into the Accademia. Venice was really crowded during the day, as was Siena but other places seemed to not be that overly crowded (was I expecting too much)? There also seemed to be a lot of Italians traveling and touring these places (maybe due to bad economy in Italy). I would like some insight on other who were traveling during this august and your thoughts. Thanks! Brian
Posted by
London, UK
286 posts
I was in Florence in June and it was heaving with tourists. I was elbow to elbow with Americans too.
I was in Venice in August and same story. Plenty of tourists including dollar spending Americans.
I am off to Rome in a couple of weeks and imagine it will be similar to other tourist countries.
I saw loads of Italians in Paris is August as well as other parts of Italy. Of course they travel within their own country particularly as travel isn't as cheap as it used to be.
Posted by
In the Mountains, USA
689 posts
Hubby was there 7/29-8/8 and said the country is empty. Granted he wasn't in any of the tourist areas (one fast night in Siena to pick up his parents). His family says the Americans are not traveling to Italy this year. Many of them however, are coming to the US.
Posted by
Henson, Florida, USA
466 posts
The Americans certainly were not in Italy this summer as in the past. I was there a month ago and did not see the Americans like I did the past couple of years. I work for a hotel in Miami and we were so busy with Americans and Europeans that instead of getting about 6 weeks off this summer, I was only able to take 2!!! I'm not complaining!!!
Posted by
London, UK
286 posts
I see more of a trend of Americans going shoulder season.
But it is always delightful to see them spending the 'weak' US dollar and still having a great time.
Posted by
Denver, Colorado, USA
26 posts
jenufa, you are quite possibly right - Americans are choosing the shoulder seasons to travel italy. However, the weakened dollar is on the rebound against the Euro - somewhat.
The dollar has gained 13 percent alone since hitting an all- time low of $1.6038 per euro back on July 15.
With slow global growth along with German banks lowering interest rates due to a
speculative "recession" in germany and spain, the dollar is doing much better - albeit not where we all would like it to be just yet -
but it should be interesting to see where it is next year against the Euro. my bet is that it will be even stronger than now.
Posted by
Aspen, Co.
64 posts
We were in Venice/Verona the last week of August-Sept2, and I agree that there were far fewer tourists, especially Americans, than I expected. Because I work in the service industry in a tourist town, I can tell you two major things (indirectly related to each otehr) affecting American travel. Number 1 is, of course, the economy. ot only is the $ weak right now (though not as bad as in midsummer) but there are a lot of American's who are suffering finalncially because of it. #2 is that the American Airline companies are making it more of a pain in the behind to travel (albeit international flights are often not affected though the average traveller doesn't know this.)
The bright side is that to some degree these same companies are realizing that they have to some degree created their own misery and are now offering huge savings to anyone who is still willing and able to travel. Maybe there will be a signicant increase in travel abroad during the "shoulderseason."
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA, USA
1003 posts
Well I can't comment on this year but I can comment on LAST year, I was in Italy from the last few days of August for 2 weeks in 2007 and I found it not nearly as busy as I had been expecting. Maybe I just over-estimated the crowds in my head after reading this and other boards and Rick's books etc, but I was expecting to be packed in places and have problems, and I had none whatsoever!! I walked right into the Accademia in Florence in the first few days of September (early in the morning) and I never had trouble getting into restaurants (though I ate a little on the early side I guess) without reservations, even places I had read about online beforehand that were really tough to get into without reservations. Certain places were "busy" but certainly not packed like I had heard about. People had told me the first couple weeks of September were still pretty crazy... but I just didn't experience it.
Posted by
San Leandro, CA, USA
632 posts
Last September (07) the only crowds we encountered were those in Vernazza (CT)...we were in Venice (lightly crowded, and mostly only when the cruise ships were in), Milan, Bellagio, Switzerland's Lucern and Interlaken, then on to Santa Margherita Ligure, Sestri Levanti, Lucca, and finally Florence.
Posted by
Lawton, OK, USA
64 posts
Brian,
We were in Italy in July. Visited the Amalfi Coast and Rome. I expected Sorrento and the surrounds to be overrun with tourists. It was not. Locals we spoke to said that the summer tourist season was unusually quiet and attributed it to our weak economy. It was great for us, but bad news for them as this is their livelyhood. Have been to other parts of Italy in past years, including Rome and was greatly suprised by the lack of crowds.
Debby