Autumn is the best season for travelling around Italy. There are fewer crowds, lower prices, remarkable colours and tables piled high with truffles, chestnuts, mushrooms and new wine.
But which are the best places to visit in Italy in autumn? Art cities and villages in wine- and chestnut-growing areas are both good choices, with an especially welcoming feel at this time of year.
Main cities to visit
Italy’s art cities can become extremely busy in summer, quite apart from the heat. Autumn changes the picture. Walking around is far more pleasant, parks turn shades of yellow and orange, and the calendar fills with fairs, festivals and food events. These five cities to visit in autumn are at their best during this season.
Turin
Parco del Valentino is covered in golden leaves along the River Po, while the view from the Superga hill stretches as far as the Alps, already dusted with snow on clear days. The Luci d’Artista usually returns in late October, bringing artist-designed light installations that turn streets and squares into an open-air museum.
Contemporary-art fans also tend to have Artissima in their diaries for November. Between visits to the National Cinema Museum inside the Mole Antonelliana, there is always time for a hot bicerin, Turin’s traditional coffee-and-chocolate drink, in one of the city’s historic cafés.
Florence
The Uffizi Gallery and the Galleria dell’Accademia become easier to enjoy, while a walk through the historic centre feels pleasant again. Florence’s gardens, including the Boboli Gardens and the Bardini Garden, take on shades of red and ochre. The sunset from Piazzale Michelangelo also brings soft light that works particularly well in photographs.
At the table, it is time for new olive oil, best sampled on fettunta, Tuscan toasted bread, perhaps with castagnaccio chestnut cake and a recently bottled Chianti red.
Bologna
Bologna’s porticoes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021, stretch for kilometres and make walking enjoyable even on greyer days. The most striking is the one leading up to the Sanctuary of San Luca. At the top, the autumn-coloured hills make every step worthwhile.
Autumn is also the perfect time for a steaming bowl of tortellini in brodo, boiled meats and a mortadella board in an osteria in the Quadrilatero district of Bologna. In the Bolognese Hills, markets and local sagre celebrate the white truffle.
Perugia
Umbria’s regional capital has a close connection with chocolate. It is the birthplace of Eurochocolate, one of Europe’s best-known cocoa festivals, usually held in autumn. Perugia is worth visiting regardless. The medieval centre, covering Corso Vannucci, the Fontana Maggiore and the underground routes through Rocca Paolina, is best enjoyed in mild temperatures.
The Umbrian hills surrounding the city turn bright with autumn colour, while olive mills open their doors for pressing season. Many municipalities across the region host Frantoi Aperti events between October and November.
Bolzano
Between late September and Advent, Bolzano celebrates Törggelen, an old farming tradition. Farmsteads and osterie serve roasted chestnuts, new wine, speck and dishes from South Tyrolean cooking.
The larches turn gold, apple orchards are laden with fruit, and a cable car reaches the Renon plateau within minutes, with the Dolomites in the background. If it rains, the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology is an interesting stop for adults and children alike. One of Italy’s best-known Christmas markets then opens in Piazza Walther in late November.
Villages not to miss
Italian villages are at their most authentic during autumn. It is the season for grape harvesting, chestnut picking, medieval towns and autumn sagre, local food festivals. These are ideal villages for a slow-paced weekend centred on nature, good food and local traditions.
Barolo
The Langhe landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is particularly striking at this time of year. Barolo is a small village with plenty to experience. Falletti Castle houses WiMu, an interactive and surprising wine museum. The International Alba White Truffle Fair also takes place a few kilometres away, traditionally running from October until early December.
Montalcino
Set on a hill overlooking the Val d’Orcia, Montalcino is the home of Brunello, one of the world’s most prestigious red wines. Cellars are fully active in autumn, and tastings have a particular appeal. The date to note is the Sagra del Tordo, usually held on the final weekend of October.
The town’s districts compete in archery, accompanied by medieval-costume parades and food stalls. Before leaving, there is time for a visit to Sant’Antimo Abbey or an autumn soak in the thermal waters at nearby Bagno Vignoni.
Civita di Bagnoregio
When mist fills the Valle dei Calanchi, Civita di Bagnoregio appears to float above the void, linked to the surrounding area only by a long pedestrian bridge.
Nicknamed “the dying city” because erosion is slowly wearing away its tufa-rock outcrop, Civita has very few residents and an atmosphere that feels outside time. It draws far fewer visitors in autumn than it does in summer. Access to the village also requires an entry ticket.
Varenna
On the eastern shore of Lake Como, Varenna is well suited to those after romance and peace and quiet. The Passeggiata degli Innamorati, or Lovers’ Walk, is worth taking in, along with the botanical gardens of Villa Monastero and Castello di Vezio, which has views across the lake.
Just outside the centre runs the Fiumelatte, considered one of Italy’s shortest rivers. For hiking enthusiasts, the Sentiero del Viandante offers scenic stages through villages and chestnut woods.
Marradi
Italy’s chestnut capital may well be Marradi. This village in the Tuscan-Romagnolo Apennines, in the province of Florence, is associated with its marrone chestnuts, regarded among the country’s finest.
The highlight is the Chestnut Festival, which brings roasted chestnuts, sweets, tortelli pasta and woodland produce to the Sundays of October. Historic trains make the occasion even more special, travelling along the Faentina railway line from Florence and Bologna during the festival. It is a scenic, low-stress way of getting there.
