Italy in November

Old Jul 31st, 2015, 05:18 AM
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Italy in November

Hi Everyone,
We are a family of 2 adults and 2 children, exploring the idea of visiting Italy in the first two weeks of November. Since its out first time in Italy, we want to cover - Rome, Florence, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Verona and fly back from Milan.
Wanted some feedback on the following points:
- How is November as a time to visit these places?
- Will Lake Como be a place that we try to add to the itinerary?
- Or if the weather in North will be cold shall we try to cover more on Southern side of Italy?

Thanks.
naddy74 is offline  
Old Jul 31st, 2015, 05:30 AM
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That works out to 2 days per place. I know when it's your first trip, you want to get in as much as you can because you think you might never be back. But -- you won't see much of anything beyond your means of transportation [car, train etc]

You lose a lot of time checking out, traveling, checking in so those days are almost wasted; you're lucky if you get a site or 2 in on those days. It also gets dark much earlier in November, so that will also impact things.

How old are the children? If they are young, between schlepping them from town to town and jet lag the first few days, that too will impact plans.

Rethink the places you REALLY want to see and cut the others.

I would pass on Amalfi Coast and wouldn't even consider adding Lake Como.

Personally, I would do Rome, Florence and Naples. I would leave Milan [we were just there and really like it a lot, but it wasn't our 1st trip to Italy] et al to another time.
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Old Jul 31st, 2015, 06:13 AM
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Hi Debit NM,
Thanks for your quick reply. My children are 12 and 10. Since we like to travel a lot, they are typically not impacted by Jet lag of a few hours.

Few more questions:
a) How is the weather generally in November?

b) I had by mistake mentioned Verona in my post above. I was actually thinking about Venice. Should we try to add Venice?

c) Also we were planning to add Milan as for the flight back we need to either come to Rome or Milan, hence maybe a day in Milan on the way back from Venice?
Or we do Rome -> Naples -> Florence -> Venice (and then train back to either Milan or Rome, for the return flight)?


Thanks.
naddy74 is offline  
Old Jul 31st, 2015, 06:14 AM
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Hi Naddy.

Here is what the weather looks like in November on average throughout Italy…
Northern Italy: 35-50°F (2-10°C)
Central Italy: 45-60°F (7-16°C)
Southern Italy: 55-65°F (13-18°C)

As for if you should add Lago Como, really you should ask yourself why you have chosen the places you choose and if Lago Como adds to the reason for your trip. They are all beautiful selections for different reasons, including the Amalfi coast. So is the goal of your trip to see as much as possible? Or are you more interested in art, architecture, ruins, museums, etc?

If your main concern is that it is too cold, then you should stick with the southern part of Italy…Naples to Sicily, which is in itself a long and full trip. I live here, I know!

Hope this helps!
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Old Jul 31st, 2015, 06:34 AM
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I also live in Italy and the first two weeks of November can be times of torrential rain. Most days it is sunny and even warm, but it would be really unusual for there to be no heavy rain in the first 2 weeks of November. It is a little bit better south of Rome, but the risks of getting a rainy day are still high. In addition, Lago di Como can be quite cold. If you are dressed for it, it is beautiful, but many restaurants and even hotels close at the beginning of November.

If you decide to visit Venice, book a hotel that is not in the area of the tidal flooding that typically occurs in Venice, starting in mid-October.
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Old Jul 31st, 2015, 07:16 AM
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Also the Amalfi coast will be partially shut down in November. So I'd skip it as well as Lake Como. These, as well as Cinque Terre, are summer resorts.

As sandralist says, Venice in the winter is prone to flooding -- acqua alta. So if a high tide occurs during your visit, that might limit where you could visit during the part of the day when the tide is highest.

Get open jaws (multi-city on airline web sites) plane tickets into one city, out of another. For example into Venice, out of Rome or into Rome, out of Pisa. This should cost about the same as round trip tickets and will save you the time and expense of backtracking to your arrival city.

I agree that your trip is rushed. Plus the days are shorter in November and some sights have restricted hours. Instead of moving a lot look into day trips out of your base cities. For example, Ostia Antica, the ancient Roman port, is an easy trip from Rome and has lots to see. (And plenty of room for the kids to run.)
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Old Jul 31st, 2015, 07:51 AM
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Unfortunately you do have to consider the fact that it gets dark quite early, and the likelihood of rain, not just the temperatures. I was here (Italy) in November a few years ago and my god did it rain. That's just one year but check the various sites on line for amount of rain, cloud cover averages, etc, not just temps. You can also look up the sunrise/sunset times.

I was on the Amalfi Coast this past March and not only is there nothing to do and it's very depressing when it's raining, but a lot of stuff was shut down, so expect the same in March. On the other hand, the days it was sunny it was glorious.

But given it's your first trip and you only have two weeks I'd plan on at least 4-5 days IN Rome, 3-4 in Florence. Maybe a couple in Venice. A few of the larger hilltowns such as Siena and Orvieto (which have things to do if it's raining and also are nicely lit at night). Or maybe somewhere like Verona. I know you didn't mean Verona in your original post but consider it, it's a wonderful place and would be OK in November. You could stay there and do a day trip to Venice. Day trips are usually not a good idea to Venice as it's best when the cruise ship crowds are gone in the evening, but probably there aren't that many in November. Also Bologna. Those type places would be better than lakes or coast.

Why did you pick Naples? It has a lot going for it but it's not everyone's favorite city so I'd do some research before you decide to go there. But if you do decide you want a few days there then you could easily do a day trip to Sorrento on a sunny day and do shopping/museums if you get some rainy days.

But in general, November is not the ideal time for most people to visit. Could you go in October insteasd?
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Old Jul 31st, 2015, 09:19 AM
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November is fine if you are planning on mostly indoor activities plus limited countryside activities (much will be brown and crunchy) on the more pleasant days.

But without knowing what you want to see/do (if you're looking for beaches this time is useless) it's hard to make solid recos - except that you are trying to put20 pounds of stuff in a 5 pound bag.
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