It's difficult to find a spot of empty sand on any beach.
The heat is unbearable.
Although each of these statements is based on a grain of truth, these are some of the popular misconceptions about visiting the land of la dolce vita during the month of August, the most important vacation time of the year for Italians.
The average Italian citizen gets 42 days of vacation per year. Most Italians take at least a week or two off each August, and many are on vacation for the entire month. Businesses shut their doors for all or part of this vacation period. In fact, the productivity of the entire country takes a dive during the eighth month of the year. The Italian national statistics institute reports that production falls by approximately 50% in August and the volume on the national stock exchange reportedly diminishes by a third.
But just because Italians are on vacation doesn't mean you can't be. Here's what August is really like:
It just might be one of the best times of the year to visit Rome. The streets are empty (half of the city's population leaves town). All of the major sites are open. You'll find many restaurants and shops still welcoming tourists, although most are closed for some portion of the month. If you ever wanted to drive in Rome, now is the time. Reservations at the city's great hotel restaurants (see the January/February 2003 issue of Dream of Italy) are easy to come by. Because Rome is a major international capital, it must keep chugging along, even in August, but you can still enjoy it at a much slower pace.
Crowded beaches, yes, but a great time to visit inland towns. It might not be the ideal time to visit the beaches of Sicily and Sardinia, as many hotels are booked up as much as a year in advance. But this can be the ideal time to visit Italy's inland hill towns, especially in the south. Southern Italians who left their villages for work in the north or even to move to the United States often return home in August.The streets come alive with summer festivals and the evening passeggiata (walk around town) is even more lively, and the weather in the hills is lovely.
Which brings me to the next point...
The heat? That depends on your definition of hot. For a visitor from Washington, D.C. (where the summer heat and humidity can truly be unbearable), Italy's typical August temperatures hovering at around 80 degrees Fahrenheit can be downright delightful comparatively. Your perception of Italy's August weather all depends on where you are coming from. One way to ensure your comfort in case the temperatures shoot up is to make sure that your rental car and hotels have air conditioning.When all else fails, just take a siesta. In a sense, that is what the month of August is for all of Italy.
A final bit of advice, based on personal, frustrating experience. Don't attempt to drive on any of Italy's major highways, including the biggest, the A1, on any Saturday during August. Instead, flip on the television and watch as newscasters present special programming and live shots of the mass exodus of cars from the nation's cities. Even if you can't understand Italian, you will get the point that these traffic jams last for hours.You'll be happy you're not among those experiencing the August traffic nightmare.
Editor's Note: Legambiente will be releasing its 2006 list of Italy's best beaches on June 9. We will post an update to this story with the new top picks.
Tourists looking for pristine beaches in Italy would be wise to head south
this year.
Legambiente, an Italian environmental group, publishes an annual beach guide,
which uses 128 parameters to comb 243 coastal spots in a yearly quality test.
This year, it again gave Southern Italy or the Mezzogiorno top marks. Not all
of Italy's 1,000+ miles of coastline makes the grade, but the good news is that
figures are improving.The list can be used to decide where to go, but also where
to expect crowds. In a recent poll 41% of Italians said they plan to vacation
in 2004 by sunning on Italian beaches.
There has been some jostling over the previous years' top ten, but southern
beaches continue to dominate better-known locales in Liguria and Tuscany. Famous
beach spots Rimini and Riccione on the Adriatic coast were towards the bottom
of these ratings, scoring two and three out of a possible five respectively.
Ratings take into account natural beauty, contamination but also tourist structures,
noise levels and environment-friendly waste systems.
Ten spots received a perfect five out of five "sails" rating:
When investment banker Michael McGarry's wife received a year-long art
history fellowship in Bologna and Rome, he wasn’t sure what he would do
while she was working. A visit to Bologna's La Sorbetteria convinced him
that his calling was gelato. And so began a year of first-hand research that
culminated in his book Gelato: Finding Italy's Best Gelaterias(Fancy Pants Press, $10.00).
McGarry reviews over 50 gelaterias in northern Italy as well as Rome and Naples.
He plans a follow-up volume on southern Italy and Sicily. Interspersed with
reviews, McGarry explains the history of gelato and how it is to be eaten properly.
He also includes a glossary of over 75 flavors, which is very helpful for any
serious gelato lover/traveler. La Sorbetteria is still one of McGarry’s
favorite gelaterias but he also has a special place in his heart for the legendary
Roman gelateria, Gioliti. "Half of it is the experience. It is always
packed and there is always a scene he says," he says.
Gelato changed McGarry's life. He has left investment banking and started
his own publishing company. His books on American ice cream should be available
by next summer. For more information, visit www.happybellyguides.com
All Products
(Fancy Pants Press, $10.00).