late season travel in Italy
Is it too late for good weather to travel in Italy end of Oct.-early Nov? Thinking Rome, Tuscany, Florence, Venice. Would hate to spend all that money and have lousy weather. Thanks!
Chris
South Bend 10/6/12
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Your GUESS is as good as anyones. AND it is a guess.
In Noevember 2005 I went to Tuscany for a week....it was the week before Thanksgiving so make that mid November. A few chilly mornings but just beautiful weather the entire week. I had some friends on the same chedule a week later during Thanksgiving week...they received rain every day (but still had a great time)....go figure....
With Venice your heading north and expect it cooler...and higher chances of rain. Your also headed into aqua alta time in Venice (high water)- but even that is getting unpredictable as they recently had some, way too early....
I'd start the trip in the north if you can (Venice) and work your way south..
In 2010 I spent several weeks all over Italy from beginning to late November. It was chilly the entire time and toward the latter part, in Rome, it rained every day. Not all day, usually late in the day. Even Sicily (Cefalu) was chilly in mid-Nov. I think Oct. is about as late as I would go the next time since I'm not fond of being cold and damp.
What do you consider "good weather"? I'm not being snide - for some people, a little rain is fine, but for others it ruins the trip. For some, 80 degrees F is too hot, but others like it. Etc.
For Florence and Rome, there are plenty of indoor attractions if the weather is bad. For Venice, there are also indoor attractions, but a big part of the appeal is the outdoors and walking around, and this wouldn't be fun in the rain (my sister can attest to this - she had a lot of rain when she was there, and hated it). For rural Tuscany, you want not only lack of rain, but a time of year when things are green rather than brown.
I lived there most of my life and I can attest that the end of October/beginning of November is not cold but is generally (you can check the weather stats) the wettest time of the year. Plan to visit indoor places (churches, museums etc.), which are actually not as crowded then.
You want to know how rainy it can get?
The Great Flood of Florence of 1966 was on Nov. 4th. (and on that same day there was the great flood of Venice and of course Pisa, which is near Florence)
The Great Flood of Florence of 1844 was on Nov. 3rd.
'Nuff said!
Hope not. We plan on leaving Nov 2 for 20 days! If it floods I guess we will have to alter our plans.
I'm in Senigallia, Italy, right now, on the Adriatic coast. Last Saturday and Sunday were a sunny 80 degrees. Yesterday was a lovely 75. Today it's cool and rainy.
You'll need to be prepared for rain (rain jacket, umbrella) but if you're in a city, there should be plenty of indoor sights to see.
In general,I would say that first third of October on the Adriatic coast is completely different weather wise than November 1 in Venice.
Maybe I'm jaded by our dreary gray weather here right now, but I would think you could count on November being gloomy in Venice (which might be just fine and atmospheric!) and possibly so in other cities, and then count it as a pleasant surprise if it happens to be nice. The "guess" is indeed the best way to look at it.