How to Do Italy in the Off Season, According to Travel Specialists

05.04.2024 - 20:27 / cntraveler.com / Lake Como

While Italy is never a bad idea per se, there are times when the the high-heeled boot kicks better than others. Those times lie in the off-season, when baking heat compounds not with throngs of crowds, and you, the tourist, find yourself with a touch more cool air to breathe. Between October and April and from thigh to toe to rock that the toe kicks (I am referring to Sicily), the entire country comes alive in ways that most tourists will never get to experience if they stick to August.

"Could that really be true?" You ask. “It is true,” we at Traveler respond. It's easier to get reservations, for one thing, at storied establishments in Rome and elsewhere. The weather is milder, and not at cost of sunshine. Seasonal events you won't regret attending like Piedmont's White Truffle Festival and the Feast of Sant Agata in Catania fall during this portion of the calendar. But don't let us alone convince you. Below, we've spoken to a handful of agents from our most trusted travel specialists about trips to Italy that they've planned in the off-season of which they are particularly proud.

Langhe, the Barolo red wine region of Piedmont, in autumn.

“One of the trips I recently put together that I am really proud of is to Lake Como, Piedmont, and Emilia-Romagna. This particular multi-generational family of 13 is from Texas, and they were really wanting to avoid the heat and the crowds as they have enough of that at home. They were really interested in Como and Passalacqua, the new-kid-on-the-block hotel that’s leaning into off-season travel itself by being open year round.

That’s why I planned it around Como, but I had them starting in Piedmont at the Casa di Langa for three days, about a two-and-a-half hour drive away, because it’s the kick-off of white truffle season. They’ll go to the truffle fair which is every weekend in Alba and eat at a mix of Michelin-starred restaurants and local trattorias. This region in general, you could compare it to Tuscany, if you’re a wine connoisseur this is where the Barolos and Barbarescos come from. But it’s much more concentrated than Tuscany, with hilltop villages and Alps in the background. It’s still very local. And then Lake Como is Lake Como. Weaving in Emilia-Romagna for tree days at Grand Hotel Majestic già Baglioni, a three-hour-drive south from Como, for the food element as well—it’s the food capital of Italy in my mind with prosciutto di parma and parmesan cheese and what we would call 'bolognese"'. You base yourself in Bologna, the city heart, and go into the countryside for the producers. There’s also Modena and Parma, two beautiful towns, Modena being the home of [Massimo Bottura’s] Osteria Francescana. Another benefit of traveling in the off-season is that