Why This Is The Best Time To Vacation In Italy
For many travelers, a visit to Italy is a lifelong dream, so choosing the best time to travel to have the best possible experience is important. While Italy is beautiful in every season, experts on European travel from Rick Steves to Lonely Planet agree that you can't go wrong with a late springtime visit. While this definitely is one of the busiest times of year for Italian tourism, that comes with some advantages. The destinations that people flock to Europe to see will all be open — especially the stunning beaches of the Amalfi Coast — businesses and restaurants will keep longer hours so that you can get the most out of your trip, you will be rewarded with beautiful weather across the nation.
May and June in particular have some of the best weather you could hope for when visiting beaches, cities, or beautiful, underrated Italian islands. While you may have to battle the crowds and pay a premium, that might be preferable to battling the heat in the summer or missing out on Italy's beautiful beach towns in winter.
What to expect from Italy in spring
While April can be rainy, the weather in late spring is usually warm and mild, perfect for exploring the Italian countryside or strolling around Rome. It might sometimes be a little chilly for the beach, but it's perfect if you're there to admire the landscape, since even popular beaches are rarely overcrowded in the spring. As spring and autumn are Italy's peak seasons for tourism, you can expect to pay a little more and have to wait a little longer at tourist hot spots, but if you can handle the extra expense, it's worth it for the experience.
If you have time between all of the sightseeing, dining, and museum visiting you'll want to do, there are plenty of festivals to enjoy in the spring while learning about the history of Italy. At the end of April, you can celebrate Liberation Day in Rome, and hear the folk songs that were sung by antifascist rebels in the 1940s. In early May, you can travel to Venice to enjoy the famous Festa della Sensa, where traditional boats row out of the city and into the sea to celebrate Venice's symbolic marriage to the ocean. Later in the month, you can visit Assisi for Calendimaggio (pictured) and catch a glimpse of an Italy that hasn't existed for 700 years. During this 3-day festival, people dress in Medieval costumes and enjoy competitions and parades.
Visit Italy the winter if avoiding tourists is your priority
If you're looking for tips on the best time to travel to different European countries, you'll need to consider exactly what your priorities are. If your number one concern for your vacation is avoiding tourists, you might have to change your travel plans and head to Italy in the off season. While spring might be considered the best time to visit Italy, you might find a lot of other visitors there, decked out in shorts and flip flops and accidentally ordering cups of milk instead of lattes at Italian cafes.
If you go in the wintertime, you might miss out on a lot of the most famous tourist destinations, like beach towns which are often entirely closed. Even some spots in big cities have limited hours since they expect less visitors. If you don't mind it being 50°F on your Mediterranean vacation however, you can be certain that you'll get a quiet, authentic experience of Italy in winter — just try not to end up in Naples or Milan on Christmas Eve if you want to avoid crowds.