is visiting italy in december a good or bad idea. are a lot of the exhibits open? i'm coming from hawaii so i know it'll be cold but how cold. somewhere during the middle of december for about 1-3 weeks. any help would be greatly appreciated.

Depends entirely where in Italy you go. Exhibits? Do you mean museums and such? No, those things don't close down in December.They are open year round - they don't just open up for tourists. The resort areas along the coasts may be shut down, but otherwise, the country continues to function in winter.

Agree with StCirq, but note that many--if not all--museums are closed on Christmas Day and close early Christmas Eve. I have spent Christmas and New Year in Rome twice and had a great time. It wasn't too cold for me, but I'm not from Hawaii. Definitely bring a coat, scarf, gloves and a hat.

I was so cold one February in Venice. Eeps!

Where in Italy would you like to go?

It all depends. We have experienced both beautiful (all over Italy) and frigid days (Tuscany snow; Venice winds) in November. We had some great early December weather in Rome. It is a big country with all sorts of weather much like the US (minus Hawaii and maybe south Florida). And, just like yesterday, when it was 70 degrees in Boston, the record low for that city on the same day is 18 below zero. An 88 degree difference! ×

same advice.
I was in Milano last month and we had melting ice. Then rain.

I was in Italy last month (first 2 weeks of December) and we had a bit of rain but mostly nice, fall-like weather. In Rome we were able to walk right into the Pantheon and there were few toursists in Pizza Navona. I thought is was wonderful!