When to Go

May to June and September and October are the most pleasant months for touring Italy -- temperatures are usually mild and the hordes of tourists not so intense. But starting in mid-June, the summer rush really picks up, and from July to mid-September the country teems with visitors.

August (with July a close runner-up) is the worst month. Not only does it get uncomfortably hot, muggy, and crowded, but the entire country goes on vacation from at least August 15 to the end of the month -- and a good percentage of Italians take off the entire month, leaving the cities to the tourists. Many hotels, restaurants, and shops are closed -- except along the coast and on the islands, which is where most Italians head.

From late October to Easter, most tourist sights have shorter winter hours or close for renovation periods, many hotels and restaurants take a month or two off between November and February, beach destinations become padlocked ghost towns, and it can get much colder than you'd expect (it may even snow). The crowds thin remarkably, especially outside Venice.

In mountain towns and ski resorts, high season is from mid-December through mid-March; low season is June, when many hotels are closed (which is a shame, for there's great hiking in the mountains during June's warm days).

High season on most airlines' routes to Milan usually stretches from June to the end of September plus Christmas/New Year's week. This is the most expensive and most crowded time to travel. Shoulder season is from the Easter season (usually late Mar or Apr) to May, late September to October, and December 15 to December 24. Low season is generally January 6 to mid-March, November 1 to December 14, and December 25 to March 31.

Weather -- It's warm all over Italy in summer, especially inland. The high temperatures (measured in Centigrade) begin in May (sometimes later for the Alps), often lasting until some time in late September. July and August can be impossible, which explains why life in the cities slows down considerably (and life in the coastline resorts comes alive). Few budget hotels have air-conditioning (and just a handful of hotels in all of Italy have discovered mosquito screens, so when you open the windows for some respite from the heat, you tend to invite dozens of tiny bloodsuckers in as well). The November rains kick off Venice's acqua alte, when the lagoon backs up a few times each month, flooding the city with .6 to 1.8m (2-6 ft.) of water (no joke).

Winters in the north of Italy are cold with rain and snow, and December through February can often be unpleasant unless you're skiing in Cortina. Nights can be cold, and Italian hotels' heating systems can be, shall we say, frustrating. Purpose-built, modernized hotels in their own buildings often have independent heating/cooling systems you (or they) can control, but in older hotels and in small ones that take up only part of a building, the heat can often only be turned on for the winter on a preestablished date dictated by the local government, and only left on during certain hours of the day (just one of the many lovely laws still hanging on from the Fascist era).

For the most part, it's drier in Italy than in North America. Since the humidity is lower, high temperatures don't seem as bad; exceptions are cities known for their humidity factor, such as Venice. It's important to remember that this is not a country as smitten by the notion of air-conditioning and central heating as the United States. And remember that the inexpensive hotels we list in this book are often the very places that will remind you of the pros and cons of ancient stone palazzi built with 3-foot-thick walls. Don't expect the comfort of the Ritz at cheaper inns.

Holidays -- Offices and shops in Italy are closed on the following dates: January 1 (New Year's Day), January 6 (Epiphany, usually called La Befana after Italy's Christmas Witch, who used to bring the presents until Hollywood's version of Santa Claus moved the gift-giving to December 25 by popular kiddie demand, though a few presents are always held over for La Befana), Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, April 25 (Liberation Day), May 1 (Labor Day), August 15 (Assumption of the Virgin -- much of Italy takes its summer vacation Aug 15-30), November 1 (All Saints' Day), December 8 (Feast of the Immaculate Conception), December 25 (Christmas Day), and December 26 (Santo Stefano); most Italians' Christmas holidays last from December 24 though January 6.

Closings are also observed in the following cities on feast days honoring patron saints: Venice, April 25 (St. Mark); Genoa and Turin, June 24 (St. John the Baptist); Bologna, October 4 (St. Petronio); Trieste, November 3 (San Giusto); and Milan, December 7 (St. Ambrose).