Will Italy be warm enough in May?

You can sunbathe, but the water will still be cold. But then again, I guess cold is all relative. It won't be like going to Jamaica in May, let's put it that way, especially nelle Cinque Terre.

Hi Helen - Italy in May runs from the mid to high 60's - Fabulous weather to do almost anything except swimming. For all other things you will love the temps!!

Greg

Helen

Have been to Italy twice- both in May. CT next year in May.

The Amalfi Coast in May mid to end was really warm when we were there. High 80's. I swam and the water was cool but very pleasant with the heat. In Positano the beach at the water is small stones but a large sand area as well. Water shoes for getting in and out would be good. I wore my sandles which the salt nearly ruined.

You will love this area.

Click the topic "FAQ's: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions" near the top of this board, then select the weather link.

You need to look at the geography. The area you are considering is further north than San Francisco -- about midway to Seattle. What are the beach like in that area at that time of year? Not a perfect comparison but not like San Diego or Florida either.

Hi Helen,

Not to be a contrarian, but I wanted to point out that we West Coast folks usually have a completely skewed idea of what swimmable water temperature means, seeing as our ocean is nearly arctic. :-) I would never swim off the coast of California, but I found the water temperatures in southern Italy to be brisk but quite swimmable in late May. No wetsuit required! With the sun out, it was lovely bobbing along in the cool, buoyant water. I'd say bring your swimsuit and plan to at least give it a try.

Have fun planning!

I agree that you can't compare the Pacific US coast with the Mediterranean. Heck, you can't even compare the Pacific US coast to the Atlantic US coast. In Seattle we're farther north than Maine, but our winters are incredibly mild.

As to your question, obviously the farther south you go in Italy in May, the warmer you'll find the weather. The CT will likely be too cold to go in the water, but you might get lucky in Sorrento.

Hi Helen,

I was in Italy last May (8th-25th) and it was very hot....between 80-90degrees every day. It was definitely warmer than what we were expecting. It did cool off more at night. As for the water I never went in but it was perfect for sunbathing. Have a great trip!

I was in Italy in May of 2008. We had sunny warm weather everyday. We did swim along the Amalfi Coast and found the water to be like bath water. It was great!

Im not sure about 5Terre seeing as Ive never been, but I agree with the above posts regarding Sorrento and Amalfi. We were there last May and the weather was great. Very warm in the day, and since it's on the coast, at night it was much cooler (I wore a light hoodie over my short-sleeve top). Going up and down the Amalfi Coast everyone was swimming although I can't so no commnet on the water temp.

Helen, May is a fantastic time to go to Sicily. (there is even an overnight ferry that goes from Naples to Sicily)

The weather is warm, the hills are all a beautiful green, and the water is really warm towards the end of May.

The Aeolian Islands off the Northern tip are a wonderful place to visit; each one is different , and they offer many opportunities to lounge on uncrowded beaches.

On one of our Italy trips in May we did the Amalfi area for one week, then took a cheap plane ride from Naples over to Sicily for a second week.

May is a great time to be in Sicily!

I was in CT 2nd week of May 09 and it was HOT. I was sweating all day every day and we went swimming several times. I would estimate it was high 80s. Maybe unusually warm but hopefully you will get some warm weather to swim in!

May is an excellent time to go to Italy.
We went to Italy last year in May and we only wore pants when we went into the Vatican and places where pants were required, otherwise we were in shorts and capris for 16 days.