The best time to visit Italy

Warm without being hot, everything open, long light evenings and the countryside still green. The best all-round window, and the one that books out first.

The other one, and the better of the two for food — harvest, truffles, the wine towns busy in a good way. Sea still warm into late September.

The art cities at their emptiest and their cheapest — you will stand in front of paintings alone. Cold, short days, and most of the coast shut.

As January, plus Venice's carnival, which fills the city for a fortnight and prices accordingly. Skiing in the north is at its best.

Unreliable weather and low prices. Fine for cities, early for anywhere you want to swim. Easter sometimes lands here and moves everything.

The countryside is at its best and the cities fill up. Easter week is the single busiest thing in the Roman calendar — book far ahead or avoid it.

Warm, open, long evenings, everything running and the crowds not yet at their peak. If you can only go once, go now.

Excellent to about the middle of the month, then the heat and the crowds both arrive. Sea warm enough from mid-month.

Hot everywhere, packed on the coast, and the cities are hard work by mid-afternoon. Doable with early starts and a long lunch.

The month to understand before you book. Italians leave the cities for the coast, and a lot of city restaurants and small shops simply close for two or three weeks.

The heat breaks, the sea is still warm, the crowds thin through the month and the food gets better. Many people's favourite.

Cooler, quieter, cheaper, and the best month in the wine regions. Coastal places begin closing towards the end.

The wettest month, and the one Venice's high water is most associated with. Good value in the cities, poor on the coast.

Christmas markets in the north and a genuinely lovely fortnight in the cities. The coast and the lakes are largely shut.

A national holiday in the middle of the country's holiday month. Expect closures for the day and often the week around it — including restaurants you had planned on.

Rome in particular. Accommodation doubles and the Vatican is at capacity. Wonderful if that is why you came, difficult if it is not.

Many restaurants close Sunday evening or all Monday, and a lot of museums close Mondays. Worth checking before you build a day around one.

The Amalfi Coast, Cinque Terre and the lakes run roughly Easter to October. Outside that a good share of hotels, ferries and restaurants are closed, not merely quiet.