May or September for Italy Travel?
 

Hi guys,

I’m starting to plan another trip and would like your opinion on the best travel time to go to Rome and Tuscany. The two weeks available are the last week in May 2025 around Memorial Day or the first week of September 2025 around Labor Day.

What dd think is best for airfare prices and lower crowds?

Moved to the Europe Forum, tagged for Italy, and added Italy to the thread's title

Six of one. Half dozen of the other.

End of May runs into the June 2nd long weekend. It's smaller than many other long weekends but it still causes a bump up.

Start of September you tend to have all the people who didn't travel during the height of September traveling. That includes people who might work in tourism but also includes school groups. Families with younger kids might also wait to travel. Height of summer is when schools are out. September all the people that don't need to worry about school can travel. The last half of August can be a bit quiet but that turns around in September. Not to mention the weather often is a bit cooler. Making city breaks more appealing than the beach.

IMHO the big difference is the weather.

May things are warming up and it feels new . September after a long hot summer feels hot .

Airfares no idea.

Both timeframes will be crowded and expensive. You might get better weather late May.

Both are beautiful. The hills in Tuscany will be green in May and golden in September. I agree that the weather is probably nicer the end of May and hotter in September. Crowds will be tough to avoid, Airfare is hard to predict. If you have miles that may help in reducing your cost and looking at airfare sales.

Slightly confused; Memorial Day is in February in Italy while Labour Day is in May.

May has the best weather of any month for most purposes.

OP is la Yank -- In the USA Memorial Day is late May and Labour Labor Day is early Sept.

only slightly ;-)

We were in Lake Como, CT and Tuscany in the first 2 weeks of October last year and it was HOT!
I am always a May fan, everything is green and the service industry is more eager to see you.
Our guide in Florence said the season last year started in February and when we were there in October, it had not slowed down that much. She was wonderful, but admitted she was pretty exhausted. Go with the best airfare, but I don't think you are going to avoid the crowds with either one.

coral22 is right, crowds are there right through the year. We spent Thanksgiving week in Rome last year and I was stunned to see how crowded it was, I’d imagined early November to mid December would be relatively calm. No shoulder season anymore!

We always like to travel April/May, the weather is mostly good and spring flowers are out. Fares are also better than in summer. September rarely works for us, so that isn’t an option.

If you're looking at apartment or house rentals in Italy, May prices are often slightly better than September. IME prices go up in June and stay there until the end of September.

Following along with this thread. We hope to visit Italy in 2026 either May or September. Good advice here.

I don't think you can count on the weather. I have been to Italy several times in September, and it has always been quite warm. I was there the last two weeks of May in 2022, and it was very hot!

I guess it is a toss-up. School in the US is just getting out for summer at the end of May so there is a chance to beat some of the family travelers. The beginning of September may be similar regarding crowds but it does seem like September is so hot lately!

Thanks all!

We haven't had mild, pleasant temperatures In May or September recently. Last year high temperatures in Rome at the end of May and beginning of September were in the low 30s C (high 80s F), and humidity was about 60%. It was a bit hotter in Florence.

As for crowds, these are both very high tourist seasons. The summer holidays for schools have little to do with it. I can't find exact statistics, but a tourism website said that high season in Rome is from April 1st through October 31st. A similar website for Florence said that only the months of February and November are considered low season. (I would guess that high season is the same as Rome.)
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I myself would prefer May, because I think the chance of decent weather is better.

Our guide in Florence last October, said they usually look forward to a break from November 1 until right before Christmas. She said that she was booked through the rest of the year and her season had started in February.

I think the old charts Indicating optimal weather can be thrown out. It was the only time we could go and travel friends were very concerned about having cold, rainy weather in October last year at Lake Como. Our first day there was 86 and it was sunny our entire trip. In successive years we have just missed record heat in Ireland, Paris and Italy and that was in May and October.

I know the OP has the limitations of May and September, but if others are contemplating a big city, warm weather destination, I think I would move back to at least April.

Irice, thanks for this particular question. It addresses an important moving-target issue for many. I certainly have read all the above closely closely.

I am done. the tourist woman in Minori who did not know Irice and her husband after all but Zebec the idiot posted it anyway and confused things no end

September is still a busy time in Rome and in Tuscany. I was in Rome in mid November and it was still quite busy, the hotel staff said traditionally it should be a quiet period but no longer. Spent 10 days in Florence with day trips to countryside in early November and it was still quite busy there too.
Things have changed.

Exactly what I said either here or on another thread. We were in Rome for a week at Thanksgiving and I was stunned to see how crowded it was. The Spanish Steps and piazza at the bottom were mobbed, Piazza Navona and the Vatican too. There’s no shoulder season anymore!

We'll be in Rome and Calabria this spring. Will report back here as to crowdage if they let me out of Al Fodoria prison.
I am done. the vanishing shoulder seasons

We always prefer September in Europe.
Both May and September are beautiful weather, a bit less tourism, but we have found September to have all the flowers, etc.in bloom, so a lot prettier than May when they are just starting to flower.
Just one traveler’s opinion!

Thanks all! I really appreciate it. I actually am helping my son plan his honeymoon. They are thinking about 8 full days on the ground -- arrive on a Friday morning and depart the following Sunday.

Ideally, they want to experience Rome and then go relax on the Mediterranean somewhere. I think they need to avoid the Amalfi coast and Cinque Terre due to insane crowds. My husband and I loved Santa Margherita Ligure two decades ago and Camogli looks charming but I hate for them to waste a day traveling up to the Italian Riviera. My husband and I were in Forte di Marmi two decades ago but I just don't know much about the Tuscan coastal towns.

Anyway, just starting to help them (and plan my own 2025 trip as well!)

I has originally told you I had a slight preference for May over September, as I felt there was a
​​​ better chance of good weather. However, if you are looking at seaside stays, I want to warn you that the water is usually still very cold in May. If you just want to look at the sea, it's fine.

There are some beautiful Mediterranean locations closer to Rome than the Ligurian Coast. The easiest to get to is Sardegna. I would also consider Elba, or one of the very small islands off the coast of Tuscany, for instance Isola del Giglio. If you're don't want to find an island, there are some very nice spots in Tuscany. The Argentario Promontory has some very nice spots, and you can visit the Isola del Giglio from there. The Maremma Regional Park has some beautiful non touristy relatively undeveloped beaches.

South of Rome, I would consider Gaeta, or (another island) Ischia.

None of these places are overrun by tourists, although beaches will start to be a bit crowded, at least on weekends, by the end of May. And if the weather is as hot as it was in 2023 in September, the beach season will be prolonged well past August.

If I don't injure myself, we're going Rome/Naples in May next year, and Northern Italy in mid-September. Personally my favorite traveling time frame is mid-September through early October, especially if we're in wine country.

Last year northern Italy (Lecco, Como, Bergamo) was hot at the end of May, hot being 25, whlie in southeastern MA it was a cool 18. Greece was hot too but it was bearable, at least, and the island we went to was hot too. There’s no shoulder season anymore. Meanwhile my FIL has had 28 this week in Calolziocorte.

We see Tom running head-down/full-speed directly into a cactus. A large one.
I am done. the injury

25? I know plenty who will be wearing a jacket.

25 is the ideal temperature. If it's cloudy or windy, I might need a jacket or cardigan.

Italy has some real weird weather year round. I would suggest you visit central and southern Italy during may and Northern Italy in September.
If you visit Milan or Venice in May it might get a bit cold to fully enjoy the trip and if you visit Sicily in September you will be miserable with the heat.

The whole world has weird weather lately.

Sicily can be miserably hot even in May. This year there was summery weather already in February. Some of the beaches were full of sunbathers.

On the other hand, I think May would be fine for a visit to Milan and Venice. There's a fair chance of rain, but it's unlikely to be very cold.

amen to that

Albeit a while ago, we went in May to Venice, Cinque Terre, Tuscany, Florence and found it to be a great time to be there.

It honestly really depends on what temperature a person prefers, if they're fine with temperatures as low 55F then it would be great to visit Venice in May. I found Sicily was bearable in May compared to September when it got hotter than 80F, I was dying then.

Last year, the average high temperature for the month of May in both Venice and Milan was 73 degrees (Fahrenheit). The average low temperature was in the mid-60s in both cities. I live in Italy and I wouldn't expect to find 55 F temperatures in those cities. It could happen, of course, but I wouldn't plan a holiday anticipating those conditions.

I agree with late May. September will be more crowded and hot

A jacket for 25c? 😂. Where we live even when it’s 25 it doesn’t feel like it because of the constant winds which usually average 15-25 on any day of the week. We’re heading to a few Greek islands this year, bookended by our usual Italy family visits.

I love both times, see no problem with both dates.

Of course it might not get that low, but if someone is not used to colder climates then even 60F might be a bit cold to them. Imho Venice is pretty and enjoyable even in cold ass winter. I could go there any time of year, it's beautiful.

An average low temperature in the mid-60s doesn't mean you can expect to be walking around at a temperature of 60 degrees. The average low temperature is usually reached at around 3 AM.

By the time you're up and about, the temperatures would probably be in the high 60s or low 70s.

Of course, as I said before, it's always possible that there would be an unseasonable cold snap. These days it's even more likely that there would be an unseasonable heat wave.