Autumn is widely considered one of the best times to visit Italy, thanks to smaller crowds, temperate weather, gorgeous natural landscapes, and delicious seasonal food.
So where should you start? From harvest fairs to chocolate exhibitions to cultural and religious festivals, here’s what we recommend doing in Italy this autumn.
Visit Italy’s ‘hidden’ cultural sites for free
On Sunday October 15th and Sunday 16th, more than 700 cultural sites across Italy open their doors to the public with FAI Autumn Daysor ‘FAI Autumn days’, a program organized by the cultural heritage society Italian Environment Fund.
Many of the participating sites, including villas, castles, churches, abbeys, parks, and theatres, are not usually open to the public or are otherwise difficult to visit.
Entry is free but donations are encouraged. You can find more on which sites will be open and instructions for visiting each one (some require advance online booking) on FAI’s website here.
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Let off steam in a hot spring
From Sicily to Lombardy, Italy has a wealth of natural hot springs, and as the weather starts to cool off, autumn is the perfect time of year to test them out.
Some – like the stunning Terme di Saturnia or the Bagni San Filippo in Tuscany – are ‘wild’ natural hot springs that anyone can visit free of charge.
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Others, like Il Bagnaccio, are formed of man-made clay pools and run by associations that charge a small entry fee; others still are in luxury hotel spa complexes and are priced accordingly.
The range of options means whatever your preferences (and budget), you’re bound to find a hot spring for you.
Fill up at a festival
Autumn is harvest season, which means it’s also when Italy’s famous festival food festivals celebrating nature’s bounty get into full swing.
A festival could last for several weeks or one day, and might consist of anything from a raucous celebration with music and dancing to a lone food stall with a few wooden benches. It will usually be hosted in a field or a piazza, and entry is free.
A man sells marzipan treats at a festival in Catania, Sicily. Photo by MARCELLO PATERNOSTRO / AFP.
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It’s partly a chance to sample local delicacies, from mushrooms to apples to wine, and partly an opportunity to experience local traditions, as festivals have their origins in ancient pagan thanksgiving rituals.
There are hundreds of festivals held across the country each autumn; you can find some of those happening in October here.
Admire the changing landscape
Italy’s lush landscapes take on a whole new appearance in autumn, when streaks of red, gold and brown ripple through its hills and valleys.
The Foreste Casentinesi National Park and the valleys of Piedmont are particularly recommended for their autumn colours, but Italy has so much unspoiled nature that even if you’re based in a city you can expect to find a range of scenic hikes just a short drive or train ride away.
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If you’re not especially mobile, that doesn’t matter – there are plenty of Italians who like to immerse themselves natural beauty without physically exerting themselves, which means there are often restaurants or picnic spots with their own panoramic views just off the road at the start of hiking trails.
If you’re looking for a scenic train ride, the Foliage Train connecting Domodossola in Piedmont with Locarno in Switzerland is reputed to be particularly beautiful this time of year.
Go foraging
If you’re driving through the Italian countryside in the autumn, you’re bound to see empty cars parked haphazardly on the side of the road at various points.
That’s how you know you’ve happened upon a good foraging spot. Chestnuts, hazelnuts, and blackberries are some of the more popular items to forage at this time of year, but the real enthusiasts are the ones searching for mushrooms.
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As mushroom gathering tends to be considered a step up from other types of foraging in terms of both the knowledge required and the potential environmental impact, it’s regulated in Italy.
You’ll need to purchase a permit, and in some Italian regions you’re also required to take a course; partly so you can learn which mushrooms are safe to eat, and partly to protect the natural ecosystem.
Sample seasonal delicacies
Because fresh local produce is so central to Italian cooking, it’s a good idea to eat with the seasons in Italy.
You can order porcini mushroom tagliatelle at many restaurants out of season, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should – the mushrooms will either have been frozen or preserved in vinegar, either of which will detract from their rich natural flavour.
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Chestnuts, pumpkins and squash, truffles, bitter greens like turnip greensprickly pears, figs and persimmon, and of course, porcini mushrooms are all autumnal Italian foods.
While less seasonally dependant, you’re also particularly likely to find game on the menu in the autumn in Italy, including wild boar, venison, goose, hare, pheasant, deer, and duck, often in warming stews.
Indulge at a chocolate fair
If dessert’s more your thing, fear not: there’s a wide range of chocolate festivals held in Italy in the autumn. Perhaps the most famous of these is the EuroChocolate exhibition in Perugia, home of the traditional Italian Baci chocolates, which this year will take place from October 14th-23rd.
From October 28th to November 6th you can head north to CioccolaTÒ in Turin – where the first chocolate-hazelnut spread, a precursor to Nutella named Giandutto, was invented – or Cioccoshow in Bologna, which this year is happening on November 17th-20th.
Visitors to Italy’s chocolate fairs are spoilt for choice. Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP.
Wherever you are in Italy, it’s worth heading to your favourite cafe for a cup (which in reality is often a bowl) of hot chocolate – the Italian take on the drink is more of a dessert than a drink: a thick, dark, creamy, decadent concoction.
Experience the Ottobrata Zafferanese
The Italian word ‘Ottobrata’ has more than one definition, being both the name for the pleasant late-summer weather most of Italy has for several weeks in October and the Sunday excursions the ancient Romans would make to the countryside to enjoy the weather and the wine harvest (a bit like the modern-day picnic).
The Ottobrata Zafferanese, though, is its own thing altogether: a cultural and food festival that has been held every Sunday of October since 1978 in the Sicilian town of Zafferana Etnea, it’s one of Italy’s most famous autumn fairs.
Nestled on the slopes of Mount Etna, with stunning views over the Ionian Sea, Zafferana Etnea is well worth a visit at any time of year, but if you come on an Ottobrata day you’ll be rewarded with musical and theatrical displays, artisan craft stalls, and guided food and drink tastings.
Attend Venice’s Festa della Salute
Each year on November 21st, Venice celebrates the Festa della Salute (‘Festival of Health’), or to give it its full title, the Festa della Madonna della Salute, a religious festival dating back to the 1600s.
In 1630-1631 the bubonic plague swept through northern Italy, so devastating Venice that in 1631 the city’s leaders organised a three-day worship procession begging the Virgin Mary to spare its citizens, and made a vow that they would build a church in her honour if she did. The plague passed, and the Basilica of Madonna della Salute was erected.
The occasion isn’t restricted to Venice – Trieste and various other towns in the Veneto region also observe the same date – but in Venice a temporary floating wooden votive bridge, traditionally buoyed by boats, is constructed to allow residents to cross the lagoon en masse and give thanks to the Madonna in the basilica named after her.
