Weather in Italy- June vs October

Karen,

There's no guarantee of good weather at either time of year, but my preference would be early October. That will be towards the end of the season and the crowds should have thinned out by then. I'm not sure whether hotels will have switched to their "off season" prices at that time? Weather could be an issue but I've encountered torrential storms in Italy even in September, so rain can happen anytime.

OTOH, mid-June will be the end of the spring shoulder season and leading up to the peak July/August season so both crowds and heat will be more of a problem. That wouldn't be my favourite time to travel.

Our preference for travel is mid-Sep through Oct. We have never found Oct to be especially rainy. In fact, just the opposite, pretty dry. When we were in education we were forced to travel the last week of May through the first couple weeks of June. We found that weather to be more unpredictable with wide swings between heat and cool to cold. I would go in Oct. We are about to head out in two weeks for our usual trip.

Statistically max temperatures tend to be higher in mid June than in early October. (Low 80s. vs Low/Mid 70s). Rain in mid June is less likely than in October.
One more thing to consider is that daylight hours are longer in June than in October.
Crowds are probably similar between the two periods in Sorrento.
Crowds in art cities like Florence, are probably higher in October. From a study commissioned to mobile phone providers, which using cell phone movements analytics counted not only hotel nights but also day trippers determined that the crowdest month of the year in Florence was indeed October.

Your call!

Weather is a bit unpredictable, but if avoidimg excessive heat is a bigger concern than avoiding chilly, damp, weather, October's odds are better. On the other hand, there is no uncertainty about the length of the days, which will absolutely, positively, be a great deal shorter in October. I need daylight for energy, and I had trouble toward the end of the trip I took in 2015, when I flew home from Croatia on October 12. I've found returning before the middle of September works better for me--but I am more tolerant of heat than some others.

My thought about daylight hours is the opposite of acraven's. I prefer the earlier sunsets because there's more time to enjoy the cities' after-dark magic. That would work well for Rome and even Sorrento (loved it more after dark), in Tuscany it depends on whether you're driving and staying rural or carless and in a town.

Rome June 15, sunrise at 5.34, sunset at 8.46, on October 3, at 7.08 and 6.49.

When I'm concerning about the weather conditions, I use this website for historical daily weather for any month for the last 10 years.

Any time you can visit Europe and avoid the tourist crowds is the preferred time to go. How lucky to have October as a choice!

We usually travel to Italy in Sept-Oct. Last year we were in Sicily in late October and had some rain. But, that was still preferable to dealing with heat.

October.

Thanks so much for the replies. And didn't not know about the timeanddate.com site. That is very helpful. Love this Forum.
I'm sure I will be back on here soon for more great tips/advice.
Happy Travels!