whfan_whfan

Hi everyone,

I have to book my vacations from work in the next few days... I want to travel to Italy (most likely 2 weeks of Rome/Florence/Venice). I wont be able this april/may so I'm guessing based on what I'm readting the other best time would be september/october.

My question is for September and October 2016, is there a particular period of 2-3 weeks that would be best in terms of combo of weather and crowds? Any particular week I should avoid because of some event that draws crowds, or maybe the contrary something special going on in those months that I should not miss?

Is there a big difference in crowds and weather for example between early september vs early october? I'm not ready to search for plane tickets yet but I just want to know which 2 week window would be best "usually"... Thanks

sandralist

In my experience, the nicest weather window is about Sept 15 to Oct 7. This is no secret, however, and for the places you have picked you will find very large crowds at all the major sightseeing attractions.

In recent years, one of the difficulties in predicting crowd flows is that tourism to Italy has been completely internationalized, and it's too hard to keep track of when Chinese or Brazilians or Australians etc are on holiday or have school breaks.

Venice hosts a lot of events throughout the year which draw crowds, so you might want to research what goes on in Sept/Oct.

southeuropetravel1

The weather in Italy has been a bit strange this year. We have had much warmer weather than expected for our winter. Not sure how that is going to play out in terms of spring, summer, and in your case, autumn. Usually by mid September weather is cooling off a bit, but it is hard to guess these days.

By September 15th schools are back, so Italians have come back from their vacations by then, which makes things a little busier in terms of traffic and daily life.

By the time you come, there will be quite a few chestnut sagre in the north of Italy.

PVR340PLA

My 4 times in Italy have been right around the third week in Sept and I have stayed 2 to 3 weeks. It was perfect for not too hot or cold weather and not very crowded. We were up north as far as Lake Como and down south on the Amalfi. This is my preferred time to travel because I don't like hot weather or mass crowds. With kids back in school this eliminates so many people on vacation.

nytraveler

For Venice I can only encourage you to check activities at the congress Center. I have worked on two meetings there in Sept and in both cases (20K+ attendees) the result was sky high hotel rates and room shortages as well as extra mobs on many of the vaporetti. The Congress center is on the Lido - so avoid that at all costs.

I found the weather still unpleasantly hot during the day both times (but I was indoors in AC except at night) but I have serous problems with heat - I prefer temps lower than 75 degrees. So I would probably go for the first part of Oct.

whfan_whfan

Thanks guys...

The plan right now is to book my vacation from work from the 19th September to the 13th October, for a total of 25 days off.

Is that an "ideal" window time to travel to Italy and/or for example Spain & Portugal? Otherwise, I can always make the vacation period start a little earlier in September and end a little earlier in October, or vice-versa...

Thanks guys.

sandralist

If you are asking if Rome, Florence and Venice have generally the same climate/crowds as most of Spain and Portugal (or other countries in Europe?), you should probably start another thread that isn't tagged "Italy" and say which cities in other countries you are considering visiting.

whfan_whfan

The goal is to go to Italy and do the 3 big cities + a couple of day trips like Orvieto from Rome and Pisa from Florence. I've made so much research about the country it's by far my number one dream destination. It looks the most amazing. The only reason why I would replace it by another European country like Portugal or Spain is if I find some huge deal and save tons of money. Or if something happens in the news for example all the Zika talk in Brazil and South America right now. But obviously the main concern for this thread is about Italy cause that's the goal and that's what I'm planning the vacation around. If it happens to suit other European destinations as well then it's a nice bonus.

sandralist

There are people who post here who have a lot of experience with the weather in Spain and Portugal (or live there) who won't bother to look at this thread because it is tagged "Italy." So that's all I am saying. There is a large difference in the weather of northern Spain/Portugal vs southern Spain/Portugal, so if you end up seriously considering substituing one of them for Italy in Sept/Oct, and still care about weather and crowds for those countries too, then you'll get more knowledgeable answers if you start a thread that attracts people who know about the destinations you are considering.