Italy in November
 

My friend and I are planning a trip to Italy over Thanksgiving. (Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan... not in that order!) Is Italy really as cold, dank and rainy in November as the books say?

Hello veaElMundo, Italy in late spring, summer and early autumn is so hot and humid and overrun with tourist.

The weather patterns in Italy has changed considerably the last years so I don't think anyone can predicate what month will bring what kind of weather.

The days will be much shorter of course. Last year the northeast which normally has lots of snow and rain had very little and the south of Italy which normally does not have snow had so much roads etc. were closed.

If November is the month you can go to Italy than that is when I would go! Less tourist, beautiful winter dishes and wonderful red wine and more of a feeling in a lot of ways of the true day to day Italy.

Pack for layering your clothes. If you don't want to pack an umbrella they are for sale everywhere in Italy.
Go and enjoy!!

Check out our pictures from Italy in Nov 2004:
http://www.rozault.com/italy2004/

and you will see very little rain, although we were never very far north of Rome.

I think it's a great time to go ... prices are lower, and tourists are fewer, which in my book makes up for the clouds and raindrops you might encounter. Anyway, in the places you are planning to visit, there are plenty of indoor activities!

Mine is the other side of the coin: some american friends of mine came to visit me in November 2002 around Thanksgiving and on 7 says they stayed in Rome, it rained about 4 days. The day we went to Florence it was sunny and nice, but cold. Go figure.

So bottom line: weather is highly unpredictable and, living in Italy, I can tell you that November is usually a rainy an cold month in Italy. You will likely find fog in Milan too, and acqua alta (high tides) in Venice. But all that must not spoil your vacation: just enjoy Italy no matter what the weather is like.

Yes the fog in northern Italy. IMO it is terrible! But if you are departing from an airport in northern Italy such as Milan or Venice and have a flight that takes you to another airport to catch a flight home just don't make your flight home the day before you have to be back to work ( a good idea anyway IMHO). And the autostrada that runs west to east through northern Italy scares the holly heck out of me when it is foggy. Travelling by train is more relaxing. At least for me.
But every season has it pros and cons.

The "holly heck" ??? What the heck is that? You wouldn't be disparaging my good name, now, would you?

Thanks for the advice... I know one can never predict weather. Also, we are deciding if we want to head south: Pompeii specifically. Capri will be on our list the next time - when it is warmer. Any suggestions for cities South of Rome? Any suggestions for a day trip to the wineries?

There are a lot places that you can see south of Rome. The area south of Rome is called Castelli Romani and is famous for its wines. You can take a train from Rome to Frascati or to Marino which are little towns where they produce wines and in town you can find shops selling local wines. I don't know of any winery tour of the Castelli Romani. Genzano, the town I lived in for 30 and more years has about 5 wineries, but they are out of the centre. However you can fine the local wines sold at a couple of shops and at various restaurants. Also Genzano is connected to Rome by a regular bus service from Rome Anagnina subway station.
Very nice is also Tivoli with its villas (Villa D'Este and VIlla Adriana): you can reach Tivoli by bus from Rome. http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/tivoli.html
You can go to Ostia for the ruins.
YOu can also go to Cassino and see the imposing Abbey of Monte Cassino. http://www.officine.it/montecassino/main_e.htm

If you want to go even more south, you can go to Formia and from there take a ferry to Ponza and Ventotene. They are not as stunning as Capri, but if the weather is nice, they are worth a visit.

If you want to have a lovely day at the beach, I particularly love the area around Terracina, Sperlonga and San Felice Circeo. Apart from the beaches there are ancient remains like the Temple of Jove in Terracina and the grottos in San Felice Circeo. I would recommend rent a car for that day trip, because it's pleasant to drive around, in november there is little traffic and inorder to reach the temple of Jove which is perched on top of a mountain you'd better usa a car.