Gorgeous Autumn Colours

Jim and Lynette Romagnesi • Feb 08, 2017

Vibrant autumn trees with red and orange leaves beside a rustic stone house with wooden shutters and greenery.

Rolling vineyard landscape with lush green fields, distant hills, and a tree framing the scene under a golden sky.

Are you thinking of coming to Italy this Autumn? If you are then you’re in luck! Many people think Autumn is the best time to visit Italy, with crisp days, changing colours and seasonal food products to enjoy. Autumn in Italy is often characterised by the last lingering warm-to-hot days from summer, but typically without the humidity, or the hot nights. So even if it feels a little warmer than you think it should during the middle of the day, it’ll cool down in the evenings so that your after-dinner passeggiata will surely be pleasant. In September it’s also likely to still be warm enough after dinner to warrant a gelato while you stroll!

Autumn colours can be found in vineyards, foothills, and mountains in mid-October and into November. During the spring and summer Italy puts on the most amazing array of greens that I have ever seen, but come Autumn, when the Lombard poplars and chestnut woods change to yellow, the vineyards turn burgundy and you sometimes get a low lying mist settling in between the valleys it becomes a photographers playground!

Italian Food in Autumn

Autumn is the best time for gourmet food lovers. What can be better than freshly pressed olive oil, or Vino Novello which is the first wine from the vendemmia that needs to be drunk within 6 months. It is also a time for roasted chestnuts, truffles or the salty-sweet taste of fresh figs wrapped in prosciutto. If you want to go in search of fresh porcini or the like, don't bother asking where the best place is to find them either. You will always be told by other mushroom hunters that 'there are none around here', whilst they're carrying their concealed load in their bags from their prized secret patch!

Fresh porcini mushrooms and a black truffle displayed in a wooden crate with leaves, berries, and handwritten price tags.

Ripe grapes hanging from a vine, overlooking terraced vineyards and a rustic farmhouse in a scenic hillside landscape.

Autumn Weather and Climate

One of the nicest things about Italy in early and mid-autumn is undoubtedly the weather. At this time of year the temperatures are very comfortable. This means that unlike in the summer, it becomes perfectly fine to take nice, long walks without worrying about dehydration, or having to find shade and air-conditioning. In the North you can expect temperatures from 7-10 (min) to 18-23 (max) degrees Celsius. In Central Italy you can expect between 13 and 23 degrees Celsius. In the Southern and seaside resorts temperatures get lower at night time, but during the day it's still quite warm - usually between maximums of 19 and 23 degrees Celsius.

Italy's Autumn Sagre (Festivals)

While there are festivals and celebrations year-round in Italy, some of the most enjoyable are the harvest-related food festivals that often take place in the autumn. From wine to chestnuts, to prosciutto to truffles, the foods being celebrated in autumn are the stuff of dreams – and the festivals are great cultural experiences where everyone is welcome! There are also other non-food-related festivals that happen in the autumn, and this is also when the regular seasons for things like Italian soccer and the various Italian opera houses start up again.