Autumn in Italy – Travel Tips

The grape harvest, glorious fall weather, white truffle season, Venice’s famed Regatta, saint’s feast days, music and chocolate all give Italians an excuse to celebrate.

As summer’s heat begins to moderate and Italians return from their traditional August vacations, perhaps the loveliest season for visiting Italy begins.

While Italy may not have the autumn foliage that turns the northeastern US to red and gold in the fall, it has hillsides of vineyards turning brilliant colors. Morning vistas in Lombardy, the Veneto and Piemonte may be backed by snow-covered mountains as the first layer of white descends on the Alps and Dolomites. Farther south, beaches that were elbow-to-elbow in the summer are serene, and the sun still warm.

Italians take full advantage of the beautiful fall weather to celebrate the harvest of everything from grapes to fungus, and saints Gennaro and Michael have further obliged by having their feast days at just the right time to use as an excuse for harvest festivals. But food is not the only thing that’s celebrated – music, historic events and the arts provide further incentive to come to Italy in the fall.

Here are a few highlights:

• Regatta Storica, Venice – perhaps the most colorful of all events in this city on water, the boat race on the first Sunday in September envelops the entire city in festivities.
• San Gennaro Day, Naples—Beginning on September 19, the city observes an entire week of religious processions, markets and festivities.
• San Michele day, everywhere -- September 29 is celebrated throughout Italy, and the timing makes it a natural to combine with a harvest fair or festival.
• Salon del Gusto, Turin – The Slow Food movement’s annual show and conferencein Late October draws food-lovers from all over the world to taste, discuss and revel in fine foods.
• Eurochocolate, Perugia – Everything chocolate is celebrated and sampled in mid-October.
• White Truffle Festival, Alba – The charming small city near Turin is the center of white truffle hunting, and the trifolao (truffle hunters) bring the best of their finds to sell to the world’s top chefs, the last week in October.
• Rome Film Festival, Rome – Movie previews and film-related events fill the Eternal City for a week in mid-October.
• Musica dei Popoli, Florence – Mid-October through mid-November is given over to the popular music of all parts of the world.