I am planning our first trip to these areas for this spring. My husband and I always prefer to travel in the off season since we dislike being in crowds and waiting in lines. My preference would be to tour Tuscany and Umbria in March but I am wondering if the weather would be too cool then. Is April a better choice? Or should we wait until early May? I know that so many of you are expert travellers so I would truly appreciate your advise. Thank you so much.

Think of that part of Italy as NC weather, which can be chilly in March. I would push it back until at least late Apri. Good luck !

Hi S,

I would wait until May.

Thank you both for your replies. I respect and will follow your advise.

Hi Sky,

May is best. The fields are green and the red poppies are blooming. Not too many crowds.

Buon viaggio!

I agree with the others. We spent a week in Umbria this past March. Although we had a lovely time, it was chilly and on the rainy side throughout the duration of our trip. If you wait a few months you will see greener terrain and lots of flowers, not to mention warmer temps.

Tracy

Thank you all very much for your thoughts. Even though I do want to go in March we will wait until the very end of April or the beginning of May. I am also wondering if there is a reasonable alternative to travelling on Alitalia? Could we, for example, fly Swissair? Have any of you gone that route? Alitalia is not my favorite carrier and the strike factor makes it less appealing. Thanks again in advance for your imput.

With springtime travel, you get cheaper tickets in March and April compared to May and the impending summer months. It is hit and miss with the weather in spring, I have been in Italy many times in March and personally I love the spring weather: the cooler temps, blowing winds help keep the skies clear and beautiful. In May, the weather starts to get hot and crowds do come. Maybe, as the some of the others have suggested, wait until late April to travel.

There are many different flight options to Italy: United/Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, SAS, British Air, etc. You could take a major carrier into an European city on the continent or into London, then transfer to another intra-Europe carrier (RyanAir, East Jet, etc) to fly into a city in Italy. Both www.economytravel.com and www.pricegrabber.com (travel icon on bottom R side) are good resources for checking multiple carriers and routes for the dates you want to travel. They will offer you different options and the prices are good too (low).

A big bonus to traveling in early spring is the lack of crowds, which we will always take over perfect weather. While the weather could have been better on our March vacation, we had a fabulous time. And as Huitres said, flights are cheaper and usually hotels are cheaper. I think April would be the perfect compromise.

Tracy

Thank you. As usual I find this to be a wonderful venue for the expertise of people who have travelled and who are willing to help others decide what is best for them.

April is delightful in Italy, but I would not suggest going during Easter week. Lots of places are closed and the traffic is horrendous. Easter of 2007 is April 8th, so I would avoid that weekend. We were in Umbria over Easter vacation a few years ago because we had school aged kids with us, otherwise I would never consider that time period.