Italy
Italy in October, not August — that is the house rule. The repertoire needs no introduction; what it needs is timing. Venice after the day-trippers thin, Tuscany in harvest, the Amalfi corniche when the buses stop competing for the bends, Rome in the low gold of autumn. Italy rewards the traveller who arrives just after everyone else has left.
Best for
- Food as itinerary
- Renaissance cities
- Coastlines
- Slow autumn weeks
When to go
- Sep–Oct
- Harvest and emptying piazzas; the best of it.
- Apr–May
- The spring equivalent, before the heat and the queues.
Photo: Wolfgang Moroder · CC BY-SA 3.0