When is the best time to visit Southern Italy?

When people talk about a north-south divide in Italy, it’s a conversation from another era, when the north was defined by industrialization and prosperity and the south by agriculture and neglect. Today, Southern Italy is on the rise, with a dynamic energy gripping once overlooked towns such as Lecce and Matera, and travelers thronging to busy cities such as Naples and Palermo as well as rural agriturismi (farm stays) and masserie (fortified farmsteads) in the hills. When it comes to the weather, however, you’ll feel a definite change as you head from north to south. 

Summers are warm all over Italy, but in the south, they positively sizzle, with temperatures creeping above 35°C on the hottest days. In the Mezzogiorno – the local name for the south of Italy – the climate is unmistakably Mediterranean, and the countryside turns from green to gold from June to September as humidity falls and the mercury soars. With mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers, the south is Italy’s grocery cart, providing more than half of the nation’s produce, from wine grapes to the durum wheat used to make pasta. 

Yet it’s fair to say that the regions of Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily have a rural tranquility and a laid-back attitude that stand in contrast to the faster pace of life in the north. Down south, they say, the ruins are older, the landscapes wilder and the lunches longer. 

To help you plan a trip to this sunbaked corner of the country, here are the best times to visit Southern Italy. 

June to August is the season for beaches, sunshine and sizzling summer heat

Southern Italy sings in summer. From June to August, piazzas buzz with evening concerts and locals move their social life to the beach, sharing trays of packed-to-go pasta al forno (pasta bake), sipping beach-club Negronis and taking selfies on bobbing yachts. 

From late May, the sandy shores of Sicily and chic coves on the Aeolian Islands and Capri start to fill up with beach towels as the international holiday season gets underway. Expect peak prices, frustrating traffic on the Amalfi Coast, and crowds at Sicily’s beaches and Greco-Roman ruins. In August, big cities quiet down as locals flee to the coast of Campania, Tropea and Cefalù. 

There’s plenty on the festival calendar, particularly in Campania and Sicily. In June, Naples hosts the annual Napoli Teatro Festival Italia, with plays and stage shows all over the city, while Catania devotes four days to world music for Mondo di Musica. Taormina hosts a flood of arts events from June to September for the annual Taormina Arte extravaganza. 

July sees quirky events such as the folk-music-themed Alkantara Fest around Mt Etna, the kid-focused Giffoni Film Festival, the firework-filled Festa di Sant'Anna on the island of Ischia and the weeklong Sagra della Madonna della Bruna festival in Matera, which culminates in the feverish destruction of a papier-mâché float. Meanwhile, Syracuse vibrates to the drum beats and synth sounds of Ortigia Music. 

In July and August, it’s the turn of Ravello, as local venues stage orchestral concerts, chamber music, ballet performances, film screenings and exhibitions. The Ravello Festival's most celebrated (and impressive) venue is the overhanging terrace in the Villa Rufolo gardens. Similar celebrations mark the Festival della Valle d'Itria in Puglia’s Martina Franca. 

August is the month for enthusiastic Ferragosto celebrations (particularly in Naples) as locals mark the Feast of the Assumption. Other events to travel for include the La Notte della Taranta – a celebration of pizzica dance and Salento folk music in the Puglian town of Melpignano – and the parades and fireworks of the Festino di Santa Rosalia in Palermo, Sicily. 

Visit from April to May and September to October to enjoy Mezzogiorno without the crowds

The shoulder seasons from April to May and September to October see days that are warm and dry enough to enjoy the outdoors, ancient sites and beaches, without the sizzling heat and heaving crowds of summer. If you have your heart set on visiting famous coastal playgrounds such as Capri, the Amalfi Coast or Taormina, visit in May or September, and book well ahead for the best deals.

Spring and fall are also the best times to go hiking in Italy, with springtime wildflowers or touches of autumnal color after the dry, hot summer. Prices fall too, either side of the tourist peak season, and you can expect daily maximum temperatures to hit 30°C in Sicily into September. 

The allure of Southern Italy goes deeper than summer tans. As fall edges onto the calendar, attention turns inland to farm-stay feasts, hikes in crimson-hued Calabrian forests, and food festivals celebrating mushrooms, chestnuts and vino novello (“young” wine).

For festival fans, April sees some interesting religious events in Sicily, including the four-day Processione dei Misteri in Trapani, and the Festa di San Giorgio in Modica, where a statue of the town’s patron saint is rushed through the streets to a triumphal welcome at the Duomo di San Giorgio.

Naples kicks off the pre-summer season in May with tastings and wine events for Wine&Thecity, and a month-long program of art exhibitions, concerts, performances and tours around the city (including free public openings at historical and architectural treasures) for Maggio dei Monumenti. 

In the same month, Syracuse’s ancient amphitheater begins its summer program of performances of Greek theater, while Noto pulls out the stops for Infiorata, when the streets are adorned with flowers and artworks made from colorful petals.

In September, the grape harvest begins, bringing small food festivals known as sagre to many rural communities, and by October, the ​​chestnut harvest and wild mushroom seasons begin in earnest in the mountains. Look out for dishes made with foraged seasonal produce on local menus. 

September also sees the launch of Le Vie di Tesori, an eight-week “open house” event held right across Sicily, where dozens of historic venues open their doors to celebrate the island’s rich cultural heritage. For three days in October, Ragusa's squares, streets and UNESCO-listed buildings become evocative settings for a buzzing celebration of Sicilian food for Scale del Gusto.

Winter reveals a slower side to Southern Italy 

The onset of winter creeps down the peninsula from November. Tourism slows to a trickle until things warm up again in March, but there's plenty going on around the Mezzogiorno. While the harvest is over in the region’s farms and vineyards, locals head into the hills to take advantage of nature’s bounty, harvesting chestnuts and wild mushrooms. 

This is also the time for skiing at higher elevations, with a handful of ski resorts keeping skiers entertained in the mountains. The Parco Nazionale della Sila in Calabria and Lake Laceno in Campania are popular locations. Despite being an active volcano, Sicily’s Mt Etna also doubles as a skiing spot from December to March. 

Winter is a great time for bargains. If you don’t mind cool (rather than cold) temperatures, and a chance of rain, prices for hotels and flights can be 30% lower than in high season (except during major holidays). Christmas is a rewarding time to visit larger cities, but many sights, hotels and restaurants in coastal and mountainous areas close during the winter season. 

The festival calendar remains busy through the winter. Ognissanti (All Saints' Day) on November 1 commemorates the saints and martyrs, while Festa dei Morti (All Souls' Day) on November 2 is set aside to honor the deceased, with family gatherings at churches and cemeteries across the region. 

The weeks preceding Natale (Christmas Day) are studded with religious events, and many churches set up Nativity scenes known as Presepe. While Naples is especially famous for these, you'll find impressive tableaux in many southern towns, including Erice in Sicily. Head to Salerno to see the sparkling illuminations of the Luci d'Artista celebrations. 

In the town of Amalfi, the Christmas season kicks off with the festival for the region’s patron saint, Sant’Andrea (Saint Andrew), on November 30. Head back to Amalfi for Capodanno (New Year's Eve) to watch massive fireworks displays over the harbor. Other good spots to mark New Year’s in Southern Italy include Naples, Palermo and Catania in Sicily, and towns on the coast of Campania such as Sorrento and Positano. 

Once New Year’s is out of the way, January is a quiet month, but February ushers in Carnevale, celebrated with colorful costumes and festive treats. Putignano, near Alberobello, hosts one of the most spectacular pre-Lenten parades, with show-stopping floats and giant papier-mâché caricatures. Over in Catania, more than a million people take to the streets for three days of street food, music, fireworks and processions for the Festa di Sant'Agata, honoring the city's patron saint. 

This article was adapted from Lonely Planet’s Southern Italy guidebook, published in May 2025.