Country guide · 2 stories
Italy
A country that rewards the slow traveller: an espresso standing at the bar in Rome, the last ferry out of Vernazza, pasta that costs less than the bus to the airport. These are the guides I wish I’d had on my first trip.
Written from trips I paid for myself · Updated Nov 2026
Start here
The reads before you book.
When to go
The best time to visit Italy.
Weather by month: Rome
- Month
- Daytime
- Night
- Rainy days
- Verdict
- Perfect
- Good
- Mixed
- Poor
Average daytime and night temperature and rainy days (1 mm or more), 2015–2024, from NASA POWER. Verdict is based on temperature and rainfall only. Place data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Values are climate averages, not a forecast.
April to June and September to October are the sweet spot: warm enough to eat outside, cool enough to walk 15 km a day, and far quieter than July. Late April is my favourite — the wisteria is out and the long weekends haven’t started.
July and August are hot, expensive and packed, especially on the coast. If those are your only dates, plan around water and shade: mornings for ruins, afternoons for beaches or museums, evenings for everything else.
All guides
Every Italy guide, newest first.
Plan your trip
The three things I book first.
Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes what I recommend.
Where to stay
Pick the area, not the hotel.
In Italy the neighbourhood decides how much walking you do. These are the bases I keep coming back to, with honest price ranges for a double room in shoulder season.
Not sure how many days you need?
Use the free trip planner: pick your dates, pace and budget, and it builds a day-by-day outline with travel times between cities.