Italy Travel Forum

Hi guys, My husband and I are planning a trip to Italy - only trouble is we can only get time off work in January. We would like to spend 3 or so weeks scratching around Naples, Rome, Florence and Venice. I know it will be cold and possibly wet, but that doesn't bother us, after all, it is winter. As a couple of Aussies who have never seen snow we wouldn't even mind if it's snowing in Venice. (Does it snow in Venice?). What we are worried about is
1. Accommodation - seems many hotels are closed during January. Would accomm. be difficult to get?
2. Trains - we will be using trains to get from A to B. Are there often problems with train travel in winter.
3. Day Tours and tourist sites - do these still operate in January.
We would like to check out Sorrento, Positano, Cinque Terre, Lake Como, etc.
Thanks guys, looking forward to your advice.

We were in Venice during january/February of this year. We had a real mix of weather from glorious sunny days to one day of fog and one day of torrential rain. Didn't matter at all, though. Dress is layers. Venice, being on the water can feel very cold, as the cold is of the damp variety and can be very penetrating. None of the tourist or other sites were closed, with the exception of the Library and the Campanile - the latter is closed indefinitely for major structural repair/restoration, and even those who were supposed to know didn't know why the Library was closed!! Early in our stay we had one morning with snow flakes - big and damp and didn't lie. We had no problem with train travel, going to Padua, Treviso, and Verona. Seems to me as though all the hotels were open and operating. We rented an apartment, which is much cheaper and more flexible. January/February is a good time to visit Venice, if you aren't going for blazing sunshine, as the tourist numbers are far less and the light is wonderful.
Sorry, only been to Sorrento and Naples in late February - lovely weather. Not all restaurants were open but enough to give us a different place to eat each night (7), if we had so wished. As we wer leaving, there was great hustle and bustle around the closed restaurants to open them at the start of March.

All the places yo mention are tourist-popular all year round, so yo should have no difficulties with accommodation. some will be closed, but there should still be plenty of choice. I recommend using www.venere.com to start your search.it is reliable, has honest guest reviews and is used by many VT-ers.

Snow in Venice (or elsewhere) is unlikely....but you never know!

http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html

will give you train times and fares in english. I can't speak for winter problems, but they've been fine when I've used them (always out of season).

Some day tours etc will operate, but they will obviously be more limited. Sorrento is edead easy..you just get the Circumvesuviana train from Naples. Frequent and cheap, it is a commuter service so always runs. From Sorrento you can get a bus along the coast to Positano and Amalfi.

Circumvesuviana trains are not listed on the Trenitalia site linked above. Look here for timetables:

http://www.vesuviana.it/web/en

Sorrento>Positano>Amalfi bus timetables under Quadro 15 here:

http://www.sitabus.it/wps/portal/OrariCampania

It's a superb experience on the bus, which travels along the coast road. Buy tickets from the newsagent at the Circumvesuviana station entrance: the bus leaves from there.

For Cinque Terre, just get the train to La Spezia and use the frequent and cheap local trains to village-hop. There is a CT information booth on the platform at La Sp (may be shut when you visit though) but you can find (and maybe note?) timetables for each village-hop from my first link. You may have a problem with Corniglia....it is a very long way up from the station (and down), and I'm not sure the minibus will meet the train at that time of year. But the other villages will be fine.

You can also get trains to Como, but as I haven't yet visited I'm not sure of which station would be best, or what buses etc are available.

Train timetables will change in winter, although not all and not by very much, so you do need to double-check timetables etc around November.

Most tourist sites are open all year, but it is best to check by visiting the official site. I assume you are going to visit Pompeii? It would seem daft to go past it on the Circumvesuviana to Sorrento and not stop to explore (Pompeii-Scavi-Villa-de-Mysteri station). It is open everyday from 8-5 (last admission 3.30) in January, closed 1st January.

http://www.pompeiisites.org

Due to extreme climatic changes the World is experiencing at the moment, trying to predict the weather can be difficult because of local, on the day variations.
Most places now are seeing weather conditions well outside the norm.
The information below should be used as a guide only.

Here is the average weather for Naples, Rome, Florence and Venice for this time of year.
Enjoy your holiday.

Naples
January.
High 54f / 12c
Low 39f / 4c
Rain 4.10in / 103.0mm
Rain days 14
Hours of sun 4
Daylight hours 10
UV level 2 = Low
Humidity = Frost may occur in January
Sea temp 58f / 15c

Rome
January.
High 54f / 12c
Low 37f / 3c
Rain 3.30in / 83.0mm
Rain days 14
Hours of sun 4
Daylight hours 10
UV level 2 = Low
Humidity = Frost may occur in January

Florence
January.
High 48f / 9c
Low 34f / 1c
Rain 2.70in / 69.0mm
Rain days 13
Hours of sun 3
Daylight hours 9
UV level 1 = Low
Humidity = Frost may occur in January

Venice
January.
High 43f / 6c
Low 31f / -1c
Rain 2.30in / 58.0mm
Rain days 10
Hours of sun 3
Daylight hours 9
UV level 1 = Low
Humidity = Frost may occur in January
Sea temp 53f / 11c

As the previous posters pointed out, no problem at all to visit all the places you want to see plus some. In fact it might be even easier in the off peak season than now as there will be less people and better service.

As for accomodation:
All the big cities have hotels which are open all year round for business travellers and only typical see side resorts would really be closed down. Cinque Terre might have a little less choice in terms of accomodation, but being a place where people spend the winter to get away from the real cold, there will be places open.
As for snow in Venice, it does snow and it also sticks, but it depends on the years
http://www.emilyhill.org/images/programmes/003717__Rosso_Bruno__Neve_a_Venezia_1951_400x302(low)2.jpg

Trains run regularly in winter and more so as they have less break downs caused by high temperature. You will be able to get to most places by train and bus.

If you are looking for snow try Bolzano and its hinterland which in January is brimming with skiers. You can take a train to Bolzano from Verona and in Bolzano a bus to Moena for example.
Or you could look into going to Cortina d'Ampezzo from Venice.http://www.dolomiti.org/dengl/Cortina/cinfo/info04.html

Enjoy your trip.