Vacation in Italy

Hi, welcome to the forum!

Almost everyone on this forum either takes Rick Steves tours or plans their own itineraries using internet research & booking our own transportation, hotels, etc.

People often travel to Italy in "shoulder" season. So spring or fall. It's a good idea to avoid August as that is when most Italians/Europeans take their vacations and head to the beaches and South. But it really depends on what you want to see and do vs how much time you have.

Hello timelesstotes,

There are many guides to the "best months" to travel in Italy. In general season starts earlier in the south - Rome and lower - because it warms up there first and later in the northern part of the country. July is hot and August is both hot and many people are on vacation so September and into October is good in warmer areas but rains tend to start in October. Some areas have definite seasons where train/bus/ferry service drops way off and restaurants may be closed so check the areas you want to visit before booking.

It is always a compromise/balancing act between when it's nice which also the busiest time and when the weather is less dependable but you may get lucky and crowds will be less.

You'll find most people here will use Rick Steve's guidebooks (and others) to plan their own vacations, take RS tours or some mix of the two. The website lists suggested itineraries for all of Italy as well as specific regions depending on what your are looking for.
If you're looking for someone to arrange everything for you or have an escorted experience I recommend you check out the tours and see if they appeal to you. If these don't appeal to you maybe you're looking for a different kind of experience.

These boards are full of information if you have questions. The first step is figuring out what you're interesting seeing and how you want to see it.

Good luck,
=Tod

Welcome to the Forum(s)!

As you've already seen, most of us here don't have travel agents plan trips for us, but rather do that ourselves with lots of help from the online resources here, other online resources and by researching (including Googling) to drill down to our final itineraries, methods of transportation, lodging, etc. Frankly, I'm 77, have never used a travel agent and didn’t realize that travel agents still existed. 🥴

One way for you to get started is to go to the Rick Steves Travel Tips here: https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips. Thoroughly exploring the categories there may seem overwhelming at first, but the information presented will help you understand what you need to consider in your planning.

Similarly, going to the very thorough Italy section under Explore Europe can help you decide what's most important for you to see and do in Italy. Here's the link to the extensive Rick Steves section on Italy: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy.

The Rick Steves tours of Italy will be referenced there, but here's a direct link to them: https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy.

You've already found the Forum on Italy, so that's great. The Forums in the group called Tips & Trip Reports are similar except that participants discuss practical European travel topics like Transportation or Packing or Best Walking Shoes for Travel.

I've visited Italy in October, November, December and June. It's great anytime. Good luck with your learning and planning.

I think I could give 12 reasons for each of the 12 months of the year to go to Italy: April is artichoke season etc. I find right after Christmas best. The least amount of tourists, the least expensive and so on. Venice with fog is magical, yes there may be "high water" all the better! Packing is simple as all anybody sees is your coat. Long johns, thick hiking socks, gloves, wool cap and your good to go. Scotch guard your shoes, pant legs and shoulders/back of your coat. J