Warm destinations in Italy

Italy is summer-warm from May into October, and the heat climbs as you go south: Milan and Venice stay temperate, Rome and Florence bake by July, and Sicily and Puglia run hot well into autumn. The art cities are at their most comfortable in spring and early autumn, while the islands and the south stretch the beach season longest. Almost everywhere empties of Italians, and fills with everyone else, in August.

Where to go

Rome layers the Colosseum and the Forum into a living city, with supplì on more corners than coffee chains and Trastevere alleys that empty after midnight. Two hours north by fast train, Florence packs the Renaissance into a walkable centre, from Brunelleschi's dome to the Uffizi, while Venice swaps roads for canals and rewards anyone who walks ten minutes past St Mark's into the quiet sestieri. Further south, Naples is the rawest and best-fed of the lot, with Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast on its doorstep, and Bari brings Puglia within reach, its old town drying orecchiette in the lanes.

For the islands, Palermo carries you into Sicily, an Arab-Norman city with the country's wildest street food, while Olbia lands you on Sardinia's Costa Smeralda and the clearest water in the Mediterranean. Not on our map yet but hard to leave out: Milan for design and the aperitivo hour, Verona and the Dolomites in the north, and the Cinque Terre's cliff villages on the Ligurian coast.

When to go

April to June and September to October are the kindest months for the art cities, warm and walkable before and after the July and August peak, when Rome and Florence sit in the mid-30s and the queues lengthen with them. The south and the islands run warmer and longer: Sicily, Sardinia and Puglia hold beach weather from June well into October. If you can only come in August, head for the coast rather than the cities, and book everything early. Winter is mild in the south but properly cold in the north, where Venice gets fog and the occasional acqua alta flood.

Getting around

The Frecciarossa high-speed trains string the mainland together: Rome to Florence in ninety minutes, Florence to Venice in two hours, Rome to Naples in little over an hour, all cheaper booked ahead on Trenitalia or Italo. The islands need a flight or a ferry, Palermo and Olbia both quick hops from the mainland airports, with overnight boats an option if you want to bring a car. Within the cities you mostly walk, though Rome's two metro lines help and Venice moves on vaporetto water-buses. The currency is the euro, and one rule pays off everywhere: a coffee drunk standing at the bar costs a fraction of the same cup served at a table.