I booked tickets to Tuscany for April 18- May 4. I thought I'd get cool weather and fewer crowds. A villa rental agent just told me how this is really off season and now has me worried over my choice of dates. Did I make a big mistake? thanks!

Weather can vary. Friends went in March 3 years ago and only wore light jackets. We were there last year in early April and it rained every single day and it was cool enough to wear my leather jacket daily. Everywhere we went we were told it was unusual for it to be so cool and wet then.

Off season is the best time to go. Few tourists and pleasant weather. Also, in late April and early May Tuscany is absolutely, positively beautiful Everything is in bloom!!

Check out my web site which includes several trips to Tuscany. URL below.

http://www.travel.stv77.com/

Hi T,

>A villa rental agent just told me how this is really off season...

Lucky you. No large crowds. All the greenery greening.

Enjoy your visit.

Here's a thread from Slowtravel that discusses this very topic. There, the consensus is that the month of May is best.

Tuni01 - that's wonderful that you will experience Tuscany for so many days. We were there two years running the first week of May. The weather was glorious while we were there! It was perfect...we were told by others that the previous week had been rainy so...who knows what it will be like in 2007. In my opinion, it'll be fine. We, too, are vacationing the last week of April this upcoming year and are willing to take the gamble of rain or cooler weather to experience fewer crowds, better service, and reasonable rates. Happy planning!

Tuni-as to the weather, what can I say? People on this board moan and groan that August is SO HOT in Rome and Venice. Well, today's high in Venice is all of 68 degrees, and Rome/Florence? a gorgeous 84! So don't tell me about "hot" August weather, or how "cool" it is in late April/May in Tuscany. Firenze has crowds en masse in April-May-and it has been boiling there in the early May time period-BUT it could just as easily NOT be hot, so best not to worry about that, and enjoy your lovely trip in the springtime.

Thanks everyone. We're using frequent flyer points and the availability is so limited we ended up with the April departure date. The weather is so unpreditable but you'd like to think you picked a reasonable time to go to such a wonderful place.
I'm now looking for a villa rental. Lots of posts to read on this topic!

We were in Tuscany and Umbria this past March. I won't lie; we had a few rainy days and it was a little overcast and hazy at times. However, we were told by the person who owned the agriturismo we stayed in that it was the wettest winter they've had in ages, so that probably isn't the norm.

On the positive side, there were hardly any crowds, and at times we felt like we had hilltowns all to ourselves. We loved it and had a great time.

Tracy

I see that I forgot to post the URL of the thread on slowtrav on this subject, so here it is.

http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a...271#6431027271

Cool weather and fewer tourists pretty much sum up what off season is all about.

Just curious, did you think that the time of the year when fewer tourists are visiting a place is the high season?

You cannot predict what weather you'll get, so don't worry about that. We were in Italy in early May this year, and the weather was gorgeous-- low 70s and sunny with only one night of rain in Rome. So we lucked out.
I believe that Italy begins to see tourists arriving from Easter on. I think your timing will be great. And if you have FF tickets for free, all the more money to spend on wine and food!
Enjoy planning your trip.

thanks SSSteve for adding the link
When I booked my tickets I thought mid-late April would be pleasant enough based on the average temp-rain charts you can find on weather sites. thanks for everyone's comments.