Hi,

We're thinking of doing a week-long trip in Northern Italy around the 3rd week of Nov. Cities of interest: Milan, Florence, Padua, and Venice. Is the weather typically ok then? Rainy and cold? Heard Venice tends to flood in Nov. Would they greatly impact our sightseeing?

Also, not sure how to fit all those places in, given that Florence is a bit out of the way. We'll get into Milan and depart from Venice. We're art buffs, so wouldn't want to miss The Last Supper in Milan and Giotto's frescos in Padua. Any routing suggestions?

Thanks!

If you're art buffs, Florence is not out of the way, but with only 7 days I'd probably only visit two places on your list.

You'll need reservations for the Giotto frescoes.

http://www.cappelladegliscrovegni.it/eng/index_e.htm

Check your flight options, but I prefer to fly into Venice rather than out when flights tend to be very early.

The flooding in Venice is most likely to occur at new and full moons, Nov. 6th at 5:00 am and Nov. 21st at 5:30 pm respectively this year. If your time in Venice is somewhere in between those dates, you would probably not encounter acqua alta. You can look at the tide chart for Venice here:

http://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm.../IDPagina/1847

Venice does not really "flood" - the tide comes in, and some of the streets take water. San Marco is at the lowest point of the city, so floods more often than most places. Hotels often have rubber boots for guests to use, and the water goes away after an hour or three.

Of course, if it's a big "acqua alta", then there is chaos. These events are unusual. Web site for tidal info is here:

http://venicexplorer.net/venice_weather.php?hlangs=en

I hope the Accademia museum in Venice is on your list of art destinations. It is one of the finest musems of painting in Italy.

I also suggest that you visit the Pinoteca Ambrosiana in Milan. It is not a large museum, but it is incredibly enjoyable, and offer several true gems of Italian painting, from Raphael to Caravaggio

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/milan/A25105.html

Were it me, I would have no trouble fitting in all your destinations, but I would be resigned in advance to the fact that it takes weeks and months in both Venice and Florence to even begin to see everything of artistic importance. I'd make up a wish list for both cities knowing I was only going to see a fraction of it.

However,

You could fly into Milan. See the Pinoteca Ambrosiana and the Duomo your first day.

See the Last Supper the next morning, leave for Florence by train (it's a 2-hour trip)

Spend 3 nights in Florence.

Take morning train to Padova (90 minutes), stow luggage in station, see Giotto's freschi, retrieve luggage, head to Venice (20 minutes away).

Whatever you decide, have a great trip!

Wow, I'm so impressed! Thanks for all your useful and very specific advice! I'll look into the suggestions.

The itinerary looks good. And thanks for the info on the tide chart! We'll be in Venice until 11/20, so we'll just miss the full moon by 1 day. Hope it'll be all right.

Also, how far in advance we need to book tickets for the sites -- like Giotto's and the Last Supper? Any days or time would be better than others for any of the places? I think you can't see the Last Supper on Sunday and that's when we arrive in Milan.

Appreciate all your help!

You need to book the Last Supper as soon as you can. Take whatever fits your schedule. The reservations are time to control traffic.

The Cappella Scrovegni gets far fewer tourists.

It takes about 30 minutes on foot from the Padova train station to reach the Capella, and read the website about the rules for how long in advance you need to be there to pick up your tickets. (Likewise the Last Supper.) There are almost always taxis at the station if you need one. You can also see the Cappella as a day trip from Venice if that fits your schedule better.

There are museums in Florence that also take reservations, which can drastically cut the waiting time to get into these places if those museums are ones you want to see. Any good guidebook will tell you which ones and how to reserve.

I will also highly recommend to you the Museo San Marco in Florence, which needs no reservation and is a unique and beautiful museum. The building was one of the most important monasteries in the city, and Fra Angelico painted in each of the monk's cells a beautiful pastel religious mural. You move about the monastery sticking your heads into the cells to see the glowing works. It is often not crowded and needless to say, these paintings can never be seen anyplace else by Firenze. The Museo San Marco is in all the guidebooks.

Have a great trip! All the places you are going have great hot chocolate if you need it when you get there. (There is a beautiful cafe right across from the Museo San Marco.)

PS: To reduce the risk of getting caught by the 'acqua alta" in Venice in November, book a hotel AWAY from the area of San Marco and that side of the city, more in the direction of the train station.

I have found the trip on foot from the Padova train station to the Capella degli Scrovegni to be closer to 10-15 minutes at most. I last visit the chapel a few years ago on November 25, a Sunday. We reserved our spots the day before via the internet without a problem. When we reached the museum entrance on the day of our visit, there were still people arriving and reserving to visit that day.

No doubt Ellen's memory is better than mine (plus I stopped to buy torrone from a street vendor!) Just remember to leave time to drop off your bags at the station. I don't believe they will hold them for you at the Cappella.

I too would recommend reserving from Florence. You'll have a better idea once you are in Florence how you want to time seeing the freschi in Padova.

Hi JC 98!
Your itinerary looks really great - I also love Northern Italy. I noticed that zeppole suggested you visit the Giotto frescoes at the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padova. Absolutely! This capella is an intimate, beautiful spot!! In fact, last time we travelled in this area, we stayed in Padova rather than Venezia. We stayed at a simple hotel run by the church and very much enjoyed being based in Padova rather than Venice. We commuted to Venice by train from Padova (very short train ride - abt 30 mins) - it was great to explore Venice by day and then return each evening to a less touristy spot.

Enjoy your trip!

I'm not sure whether the 2nd half of Nov is a good time to travel to Italy though. Many guidebooks and websites say it's not a good month to visit, like the excerpt below from some italy travel website:

I don't mind the cold, but don't like rain. If it rains every day, it might spoil the vacation. What's your advice? Should I put it off? Thanks.

"November is not generally considered to be a good month for visiting Italy. The days are short and it is often rainy, although rarely very cold. In addition, some hotels and restaurants may close in order to carry out renovation work or allow the owners to take a holiday.
If you do opt for a November vacation, don't miss tasting the new wine ("vino novello") and chestnuts that abound at this time of year."

>>>I don't mind the cold, but don't like rain. If it rains every day, it might spoil the vacation. What's your advice? Should I put it off? Thanks.<<<

Hard to say whether if will rain every day. Can happen or not. But odds are pretty high that the weather will be nasty.

I live in Europe, and November is definitely the worst month. If you are a museum buff and intend to spend most of your time indoors, November will be okay. Be prepared to run with an umbrella in your hand through the streets. Forget any scenery, as mountains will be in clouds. A very nice hotel with an indoor pool, a sauna and a spa will help.

Otherwise, I would not recommend to travel to Europe in November. We Europeans like to spend this time of the year in Egypt, on the Maledives or in the Caribbean. The Canaries will also do.

Oops. We're arriving in Venice on 20th November. Better plan on an umbrella!

Might try to set up a Venetian get together! November 29th, 30th or December 1st.

I also live in Europe -- Italy to be precise -- and I'll take a dozen Novembers over any February, and October can be extremely rainy.

I think Echnaton's post is over the top, and maybe even partly in jest. You will not have to dash everywhere with an umbrella, nor is the weather predicatably "nasty." Paying for a hotel with spa or indoor pool in your target cities would be astronomical and unnecessary.

For a one week trip, it is really hard to guarantee that you won't get rained out for a few days just about anywhere in Italy, and not just in November. I have been in Florence on November 11 and it was sunny and warm enough to eat outdoors if properly dressed, even into the evening, but I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been just the opposite. For the few week of May this year, heavy runs closed the hiking trails in le Cinque Terre.

Probably mid-June to early September gives you the highest chance for a week of mostly dry weather, but then you are almost virtually guaranteed a much, much, much more crowded experience. Venice gets 20 million tourists a year, and the majority of them come in summer. If you don't mind, then go for it -- but I'd rather get rained on that be in swarms of tourists in a museum, jockeying for a view of the artworks.

Up to you, but if you are going to change your trip dates, you won't get much better weather odds by changing them to October. However, if you come before Oct 20, you will get longer daylight hours.

The first week (11/14 - 11/20) will be spent in Milan, Florence, Padua, Venice.

Then the 2nd week will be on a cruise from Venice to Barcelona, with stops in Croatia and several spots in Italy on the west coast. And then we'll spend 3 more days in Barcelona before flying home at the end of Nov.

Statistics-wise, Nov is the rainiest month in Italy. So afraid it'll be a waste of time and money if we get rained on most of the time on the trip.

Tomorrow is the deadline to book the flight portion. Yikes! What to do?? If we hold off, then we can only go to Europe next year since we already have other trips planned for this year.

Any advice?

Take a risk with the weather and make the booking!

"I'm not sure whether the 2nd half of Nov is a good time to travel to Italy though. Many guidebooks and websites say it's not a good month to visit, like the excerpt below from some italy travel website:"

We often go to Europe in late November as we leave on Thanksgiving Day which allows us to stay longer. We do get some rain but the trade off is a lack of crowds and better hotel prices and that is well worth it. We pack for every type of weather and have experienced it all, from sunny days to a blustery day or two.

We do not go to Italy for the weather and many cities have become so crowded in the more popular months that we just prefer to avoid them altogether. Late October through March is our preferred travel window for European vacations.

Thanks for your encouragement!

Anyone know of a website that predicts what this fall/winter weather will be like for Europe (Italy in particular)? Something like what NOAA puts out today announcing hurricane season this year is likely to more more active than average.

Or is there a website that lists rainfalls year by year for Italy over the past 30 years or so?

For our trip to see the Cherry Blossom Festival this year, I looked at the peak bloom statistics over the past 50 years and booked our trip right on the peak bloom days -- in the winter while D.C. was bombarded with unusual heavy snowstorms. The National Park Services, on the other hand, had to revise their predictions 3 times! And they only started their prediction 1 month before the festival, whereas I had to buy my plane tickets several months before. Call that lucky or what?

OK, let's see I can pull the same trick for Italy.

We're postponing the trip until mid April next year. Hope it's a better time to travel in northern Italy?

Thanks.

Good for you---better plan.