Home For Italy travel guideItaly in November: Quiet Cities, Food & Low Prices

Italy in November

November may be one of Italy's more underrated month. The weather turns cool and wet, days shorten, and crowds all but vanish, leaving museums empty and prices low. It is a month for cities, food, and cozy indoor culture: new oil, new wine, truffles, and hearty cooking. Bring a coat and an umbrella.

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Overview

November is deep fall sliding toward winter: cool, wet, and short on daylight, but blissfully uncrowded. Prices hit their lowest and museums empty out, though the weather splits sharply between a grey north and a mild south.

North: cold, damp, and foggy, with lows near freezing by late month. Venice enters its acqua alta season, partial flooding is common, so pack waterproof boots.
Center: cool and often wet. Rome and Florence still get clear, mild spells, ideal for museums and quiet streets.
South and Sicily: mild and greener, with highs in the upper teens Celsius (low-to-mid 60s Fahrenheit), the best region for being outdoors now.
Alps: cold with the first real snow, and the high and glacier ski resorts begin opening late in the month.
Crowds and prices are at their lowest, aside from the busy All Saints' weekend at the start of the month.

Ancient columns and ruins at Pompeii below a mountain in late autumn light.

Best for

November is the connoisseur's month: empty museums, hearty food, and the lowest prices of the year. It suits travelers who want cities and culture over sun, and quiet over crowds.

Avoiding crowds and value: one of calmer, cheaper months, with the sights to yourself and prices at their floor.
Art and culture: Italy's big autumn exhibitions are open across Rome, Milan, and Bologna, and the galleries are calm enough to see them properly.
Food and wine: new olive oil, new wine, truffles, and chestnuts make it one of the year's richest months to eat.
Cozy cities: Rome, Bologna, and Turin are atmospheric and uncrowded, made for cafes, trattorias, and galleries.
Skiing: the first high and glacier resorts open late in the month for early-season snow.

Late autumn view over Turin with the Mole Antonelliana and the Alps at sunset.

Events

November is quiet on the festival front but rich in tradition and food, from All Saints' Day to a floating bridge across the Grand Canal to Europe's biggest chocolate fair.

Ognissanti (All Saints’ Day - November 1) and the Day of the Dead (November 2): a holiday for the departed, with cemetery visits and regional sweets.
San Martino (November 11): St. Martin's Day toasts the year's new wine with roasted chestnuts, often under a brief warm spell.
EuroChocolate (Perugia, mid-November): one of Europe's largest chocolate festivals fills the Umbrian capital with stalls and tastings.
Festa della Salute (Venice, November 21): a temporary bridge of boats crosses the Grand Canal to the Salute church, giving thanks since 1631.
San Miniato Truffle Festival (Tuscany, November weekends): the National White Truffle Exhibition draws food-lovers to the hills near Pisa.

Votive candles and flowers glowing on graves for All Saints' Day at night.

Food of the month

November foods are rich and warming, built on truffles, chestnuts, and the first new oil. It is also the month of the dead, with sweets baked in their memory across the whole country.

White truffles stay in season, weighed by the gram and shaved at your table, at the fairs in San Miniato and Acqualagna.
All Souls' sweets appear everywhere: ossa dei morti cookies, Sicily's marzipan frutta martorana, and Naples' torrone dei morti.
Chestnuts fill the markets, roasted on street corners and baked into Tuscan castagnaccio.
Winter greens take over: bitter Treviso radicchio, Tuscan cavolo nero (black kale), and celery-like cardoons.
Game, pumpkin, persimmons, and pomegranates round out a hearty fall table.
In Piedmont, Bagna Cauda season begins, a warm anchovy-and-garlic dip for raw and cooked vegetables.

Slices of castagnaccio chestnut cake with pine nuts, walnuts and rosemary.

What to book ahead

Outside a few busy dates, November is a relaxed month to travel. The All Saints' weekend and some food-event weekends are the ones to plan around.

The All Saints' weekend around November 1 sees Italians travel; book trains and rooms ahead, and expect closures on the day.
EuroChocolate fills Perugia in mid-November; reserve accommodation early if you want to be in town.
Venice draws crowds for the Salute on November 21; book ahead, and bring waterproof shoes for acqua alta.
Truffle-fair weekends in San Miniato and Alba book out; reserve rooms early for the Saturdays and Sundays.
Late November brings the Florence marathon; book those weekends ahead if they cross your plans.
For the Venice Biennale, book timed pavilion entry to skip lines in its closing weeks.

Crowds walk the Ponte Vecchio at dusk with the Florence Duomo beyond.

New oil and new wine

November is when Italy presses its olives and pours its youngest wine. Following the new oil and the vino novello is the tastiest way to spend the low season, above all in the center.

The new olive oil, olio nuovo, is pressed now, green and peppery; try it as fettunta appetizer, on warm garlic-rubbed toast.
In Umbria, Frantoi Aperti opens the mills for weeks of tastings, harvests, and hilltop feasts.
Tuscany and Puglia press too; many farms welcome visitors to watch the harvest and taste from the press.
San Martino on November 11 toasts the novello with roasted chestnuts, an old country tradition.
In the south, milder weather carries the olive harvest into December across Puglia and Calabria.