Concerned about 2 holidays on Italy trip - would you change your dates?
 

I am planning a trip for 2010 and it happens to have us in Venice on April 25 and Tuscany May 1. I've just posted other threads about dealing with these holidays, however I'm concerned about being there at this time, as I understand the week between April 25 and May 1 is a busy vacation time for Italians.

The only alternatives are to travel earlier in April - concerned about weather in doing that or going end of September/early October. I've already had to postpone this trip so that idea makes my heart heavy! We cannot travel later in May.

Realizing we're all different, with different views....but would you change your dates because of the holidays?

Early April you would need to avoid Easter holidays.

Hi tf,

Mid-Sept to mid-Oct is usually a very pleasant time to visit Italy.

((I))

I have traveled in Italy during that week. I think you'll enjoy your trip as long as you make sure to get any train tickets well ahead of time and be sure to get reserved seats. Almost any
month in Italy will include holidays. St. Francis of Assisi is celebrated in early October, and that can be a very crowded time, too.

As far as Venice is concerned, there are lovely parts of it that are not part of the usual tourist areas and are not crowded. The area around San Marco is very crowded whether it is a holiday or not.

As for Tuscany we spent two weeks there in late September/early October last fall and found that southern Tuscany was almost free of tourists and was lovely but the more usual tourist areas such as San Gimignano, Florence and Siena were bursting at the seams with crowds.

I don't think you will notice a difference in either Venice or So Tuscany on these holidays. No need to change your dates.

Venice- There is a lot more to explore in Venice than the San Marco area and it is almost always crowded anyway- no need to go to the islands on that day. Visit San Marco in the early morning and then explore the rest of beautiful Venice.

Tuscany- no problem on May 1.

Enjoy your trip!

I don't know what to do! This was a response to my post about being in Venice on the 25th. We've been there during the winter and I thought there were lots of tourists - this will be the first time for the other couple. I really feel I should change the date.

"My experience was dreadful, since the place was choking with day trippers. I believe it was also a weekend day, which may have worsened the effect. In fact, I think I may have actually been in Venice on April 26. But it was still awful (and a weekend, with lots of sun).

It wasn't my first trip to Venice (I live in italy), and fortunately my reasons for being there (to go to the Peggy Guggenheim, the Lido and the least dramatic scuola in Venice meant that I could make a wide detour around San Marco. But leaving, we talked to one set of visitors from the Netherlands who simply couldn't get into San Marco, and we felt the restaurants and bars we stopped at (as well as the vaporetti we took) were overwhelmed.

I would opt for sleeping it out! You might get a slight break from heading out to Burano or Torcello. But if it's a nice day, I would avoid San Marco."

Looks like you managed to hit the Liberation day (4/25/2010) and the Labor day (5/1/2010) but avoided the Easter (4/4/2010). Traveling earlier will hit Easter along with the school holiday that go with it.

Make sure you have key reservations.