Italy in winter
While many North Americans head south, an alternative to consider may be a winter vacation in Italy; the low season is a great time to find more affordable flights to Rome. Italy in the summer can be a crowded, extremely hot and more expensive. Having to wait in line, shoulder to shoulder with other sweaty people, in the blazing sun to get a glimpse of the inside of the Vatican, can really lessen the experience. Trying to get that perfect picture without a kid hanging off something or a bus load of people obstructing your view can be challenging during peak times and has turned us off more than once.
Tim with the angel Gabriel
Alone in some hot attractions
Italy in winter is a different story. Imagine finding yourself alone in Orvieto’s magnificent Duomo. This happened to us a few weeks ago, something you can’t do during the summer rush. Composing the ultimate pictures in the Capella di San Brizio, free of unwanted characters who always stand in exactly the wrong spot, was a dream.
Capella di San Brizio
In summer time the chapel has a limit of fifteen minutes per visit so the next crowd can push in and mill through.
With fewer to no people in some museums during the week it also allows you to truly appreciate artwork with no distractions or noise, taking in all the details without tourists who ignore signs asking for silence.
Civita di Bagnoregio
We’ve also had the pleasure of walking through a whole town and seeing more cats than tourists. Civita di Bagnoregio greeted us like something out of a fairy tale. Most businesses were open and eager for our patronage. That said make sure to support local small businesses and spend your money where it can make a difference.
January is Italy’s national sale month at most retail stores so if shopping is your bag, deals abound, but beware, the crowds will be big and the shopping competitive, to say the least.
Larger cities still see their share of tourists in the winter but nothing as compared to summer when you have to beat your way into most attractions and cueing up becomes a major part of your day.
Truffles, black and white
For us, the food in winter time is the most exciting, think truffles, black and white, that appear on winter menus all over Italy. Dishes that include chestnuts and porcini mushrooms, walnuts and cavolo nero dominate kitchens. There are also winter specific baked goods such as the horse shoe shaped rocciata and Christmas pandoro and panettone. In late fall the olive and grape harvest flood the markets with their riches.
White truffles!
Another perk is the possibility of cheaper flights and accommodations. Since it’s low season it’s easier to get good deals on flights and many hotels will lower their rates during the winter months. If you are looking at a longer stay don’t be afraid to ask for a better price because most businesses would rather have something than possibly nothing.
Orvieto’s Duomo
A few tips for enjoying Italy in winter
Head out early: this tip is good summer or winter. Most businesses close for riposo, the midday break. There’s nothing more frustrating than arriving at your destination to find everything closed for the next three hours.
Call ahead: checking hours of operation on a website isn’t always enough. Call and make sure the business or tourist attraction you want to visit is open.
Bring warm clothing: depending on where you are headed you may experience some frost or even snow. So far we have been lucky, we’ve had mostly sunny skies and temperatures ranging from 7C to 16C with an occasional overnight low of 0. Still, heating is scarce in most attractions so bring your woollies.
City passes: buying a city pass to places like Orvieto can save you a few bucks and motivate you to see things you may have passed by otherwise.
Find more tips for enjoying Italy here.
If Italy has been on your to do list, there’s no time like the present to check it off. Take advantage of the low season and get yourself over here.
Disclosure: We thank Air Transat for their contribution to this article.
I love travelling in low season and not in Italy but everywhere. It’s the best, less people, more space and time to enjoy what you want to visit and most of the time cheaper prices. 🙂
Let’s enjoy it before people figure it out 😉
Italy is way up high on my list – I want a minimum of 3 months exploring the country and learning to cook authentic pasta carbonara!
You should do it, with the euro about to crash this is the perfect time.
What beautiful pictures. Italy is a great place to visit, we will visit the northern part in October for a food festival.
Orvieto’s Duomo is magnificent against that blue sky and wispy clouds. Italy has been on our must see list for so long I forget when we put it there but 2015 looks like the year! I’ll be reading your posts with great interest.
Orvieto would be a great base. It has a lot of great sights and restaurants and perfect for day trips.
So many compelling reasons for off-season travel although no season is off when it comes to Italy!
Well winter is definitely a lot slower than summer. We’ve always traveled to Italy in summer and never have we found ourselves alone in a touristy site let alone a whole town.
I love traveling on the off season, although I’ve never been to the Central region in wintertime, love Orvieto and Civita.
So far it’s been great.
My dream is Italy in spring. Thanks for sharing this great info.
Haven’t been in Spring yet but I can imagine it would be beautiful.
Staying one step ahead of the crowds is always a good idea!
We’d mainly travelled to Italy in summer. Until we enjoyed a long winter weekend in Ancona. It was lovely to walk around as the only foreign visitors. Although, to be perhaps a little unfair, we can’t imagine Ancona getting much busier in summer months.
It’s been only weeks since we were right there in Orvieto, and you make me eager to return! Those sights, that food and wine…
White truffles and no crowds- Italy in winter sounds amazing. Hopefully May will be an OK time to visit. Can’t wait!
There are many good reasons for visiting popular destinations in the off season – like no crowds :-). Imagine checking out the Vatican or museums in Florence without having to stand in line for hours! You’ve sold us.
Great idea to visit Italy in off-season–or anywhere most likely! That pasta dish made me hungry. I’m off to dinner now.
I fully agree with you! When I lived in Germany I used to go to Italy every 6-10 weeks for business, and winter or more so very early spring was my favorite time! My best memory of Venice is of a cold and sunny weekend in late February, right after carnival had ended. There were some frozen puddles in the shade, in the sun it was warm enough to sit for half an hour in an outside cafe. And almost exclusively locals around = bliss! Just avoid late October until mid December, as the north might be covered in thick fog for days.
Thanks for the tips. We’ve had a few foggy days but it makes for nice photo opportunities.
Winter is our favorite time to visit Italy. So much easier without the crowds and the weather is generally not too bad. Great tips too, especially on checking the hours on places. They are know to vary a lot in Italy.
I think winter is now our favourite time too 🙂
Although we’ve yet to visit Italy, traveling Europe in winter makes things seem more “real” as opposed to a summer holiday. Your photos heighten the mood.
Thanks Betsy, that’s a good way of putting it.
Yes! Four out of my five trips to Italy have been in November/December. Especially in Florence, it makes a world of difference. This year we met several European travelers who hopped to Florence for some weekend holiday shopping and rest.
Somehow I think I could tolerate the winter cold better in Italy than in Philly. One of the plusses of empty nester travel is definitely the ability to travel off season.
We visited my daughter in the off season and I agree, it was a wonderful time of year to be there. Civita di Bagnoregio was one of our favorite stops and the places that were open were so happy to see our faces. The pasta with truffles was a memorable meal and the magic of walking up to the town was unforgettable.
Your lovely post reminded me of one of my favorite Italy travel memories: dinner in a cozy restaurant on a side canal in Venice, enjoying osso buco as snow felt softly outside the window. Pure magic! White truffles would be reason enough to head back to Italy in winter….and good tip about changed/shortened hours of operation for museums and such.