# Italy in the Fall: October, November and December | Doorways > Journey with Doorways through autumn in Italy: the harvest and the Ottobrata in October, new oil and truffles in November, the lights of December, and the cozy villas to light a fire in. Source: https://villavacations.com/italy-in-the-fall/ 71° Florence, by day Part I ## September The harvest month, when the grapes come in, the heat softens, and the sea is still warm enough for a swim. Late September · The harvest ## The grapes come in first The season begins in the vineyards. By early October the vendemmia, the grape harvest, is mostly finished across Chianti and Montalcino, and the wineries, busy as they are, are happy to pour and happier still to talk. Meanwhile in Florence the bakeries are selling schiacciata all'uva, a sweet flatbread baked with the wine grapes, which appears for a few weeks and then is gone. If you want sea days as well as harvest, go south: the Amalfi Coast, Sicily and Puglia stay warm well into October, with the beaches almost to yourselves. [Wine tasting and buying in Tuscany →](https://villavacations.com/travel-guide/wine-tasting-buying-tuscany/)[The Amalfi Coast in October →](https://villavacations.com/travel-guide/the-amalfi-coast-in-october/) ![A red crate filled with freshly picked Sangiovese grapes under the vine leaves](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/themes/doorways-theme/assets/img/guides/fall-interactive/grape-harvest-crate.jpg) The vendemmia at [Villa Benessere](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-benessere/), near Sarteano: a crate of grapes picked that morning. ### Doorways picks · vineyard villas [Villa Benessere](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-benessere/) Val d'Orcia · sleeps 20 · wine tasting included [Villa Colli](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-colli/) Chianti · heated pool [All vineyard villas](https://villavacations.com/collections/vineyard-villas/) Collection - On the calendar, every September - **1st Sunday**Historic boats and rowers in costume on the Grand Canal for the Regata Storica, Venice. - **1st Sunday**Knights from the town's four quarters joust in Piazza Grande at the Giostra del Saracino, Arezzo. - **Sept 7**Children carry paper lanterns through the streets on the eve of the Virgin's birthday for the Festa della Rificolona, Florence. - **2nd weekend**The wineries pour in the town's main piazza at the Chianti Classico Expo, Greve in Chianti. - **Sept 13**The old town lit by candlelight for the procession of the Volto Santo at the Luminara di Santa Croce, Lucca. - **Last Sunday**Harvest floats built by the town's quarters for the Festa dell'Uva, Impruneta, south of Florence. Part II ## October The golden month, when it is still warm at lunch and cool enough by dinner for the first fires, and the harvest is coming in by the crate. Early October · Rome's second summer ## Che splendida *ottobrata* Romans have a word for a warm, golden October day: ottobrata. You still hear it every year, *che bella ottobrata*, said with real pleasure when the sun is out, the air is soft and the city feels at its best. The word comes from an older custom, because from the 1700s until the early 1900s, on Sundays and Thursdays all through October, Romans left the city through its gates for the vineyards and wine caves beyond the walls, where they celebrated the end of the harvest with gnocchi, roast lamb and the new wine, and danced the saltarello until dark. The favorite spot was Monte Testaccio, a hill made entirely of broken ancient amphorae, whose cool caves kept the wine, and the trattorias there are still built into them today. A little further out, on the first Sunday of October, the fountains of Marino in the Castelli Romani run with wine for the Sagra dell'Uva, which is as close as you can get to the old Ottobrata now. [What is the Ottobrata Romana? →](https://villavacations.com/travel-guide/what-is-ottobrata-romana/)[Rome day trips →](https://villavacations.com/travel-guide/rome-day-trips/) ![A white marble statue of a reclining warrior in a garden niche, lit by golden October sun](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/themes/doorways-theme/assets/img/guides/fall-interactive/rome-garden-statue-golden-light.jpg) October light in a Roman garden. Private tours in Rome, with our partners at Context [Half day · privateRome food tour: the Jewish Ghetto and TrastevereFrom about $121 per person](https://villavacations.com/experiences/rome/) [Half day · skip-the-lineThe Colosseum with an archaeologistFrom about $126 per person](https://villavacations.com/experiences/rome/) [Half day · skip-the-lineThe Vatican with an art historianBefore the doors open to everyone else](https://villavacations.com/experiences/rome/) - On the calendar, every October - **1st Sunday**The fountains run with wine in the Castelli Romani for the Sagra dell'Uva, Marino. - **Oct–early Dec**White truffles weighed, judged and sold every weekend at the Alba White Truffle Fair, Piedmont. Worth the train from Milan or Lake Como. - **Mid Oct**The Film Festival's open-air night in the historic center, with screenings, music and museums open late: the Notte Bianca, Rome. - **Mid–late Oct**Red carpets and premieres open to the public at the Rome Film Festival, Auditorium Parco della Musica. - **Last weekend**Archery in medieval dress, Brunello and food stands at the Sagra del Tordo, Montalcino. - **Last Sunday**An extra hour of sleep as the clocks go back, a week ahead of the US. - **Around Nov 1**Europe's great comics festival turns the walled city into a costume party for Lucca Comics & Games; stay in the hills outside and dip in. Mid October · Heat, water and a fire ## Choosing the house Three things make a fall villa feel right for the season: a reliable way to heat the house, a warm place to swim or soak, and a living room you genuinely want to spend the evening in. The first matters more than you might think, because Italian rules set the date heating systems can run, November 1 in Florence, Siena and Lucca, so it is worth knowing how a house stays warm before then, whether by fireplace, wood stove or heat pump. We ask all of this before we suggest a house, so you don't have to. [Renting a villa in Tuscany in October or November →](https://villavacations.com/travel-guide/renting-a-villa-in-tuscany-october-november/)What to ask us → ![An arched window looking out over autumn woods and misty hills](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/themes/doorways-theme/assets/img/guides/fall-interactive/villa-arched-window-misty-hills.jpg) The view from a villa window in the fall. Late October · Warm water ## The water is still warm, if you know where to look. An unheated pool is too cold for most swimmers after the first week or two of October, but that is hardly the end of swimming. The answer is a heated pool, a private spa, or the thermal springs that Tuscany has in unusual numbers, from Saturnia and Bagno Vignoni to San Casciano dei Bagni and Rapolano. Warm water feels best when the air is cool, which is why a thermal day is the most rejuvenating thing you can do with a rainy afternoon, and the one everyone is still talking about on the flight home. [Best thermal springs in Tuscany →](https://villavacations.com/travel-guide/best-thermal-spring-tuscany/) ![Steam rising from the thermal pool at Saturnia on a cool night, with the lit stone building behind](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/themes/doorways-theme/assets/img/guides/fall-interactive/saturnia-thermal-pool-night.jpg) Saturnia, in the Maremma, after dark. The water comes out of the ground at about 99°F all year. ### Doorways picks · warm water [Casa Bachicche](https://villavacations.com/villas/casa-bachicche/) Heated pool · hot tub · Turkish bath [Villa Morea](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-morea/) Private spa, 9am–7pm [Villa Tullia](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-tullia/) Steam room · Cortona Part III ## November The quiet month, when the new oil goes on the bread and the truffles come out from under the oaks, and the evenings stretch long with the people you brought. November 1 · All Saints' Day ## A delicious oil change The olive harvest starts in late October and runs through November, and because the mills press within hours of picking, you can taste oil that is only days old: green, peppery and a little cloudy. The way to do it is fettunta, grilled bread rubbed with garlic and soaked in the new oil with a pinch of salt, and the easiest way to see the nets go down under the trees is to stay on a working estate while it happens. November 1 is All Saints' Day, and Italy takes it slowly: families visit, bells ring across the valleys, and when it falls on a Sunday the state museums open their doors for free. It is a lovely weekend to be in the country, where the harvest is in full swing and the mills are running. [The olive harvest in Italy →](https://villavacations.com/travel-guide/olive-harvest-italy/)[Villas within walking distance of a village →](https://villavacations.com/collections/walk-to-village-villas/) ![Olive branches in the foreground and a medieval stone tower on a wooded hill, with misty ridges fading into a golden sky](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/themes/doorways-theme/assets/img/guides/fall-interactive/tower-dawn-olive-branches.jpg) Olive branches at first light, a tower above the valley. ![Hands sorting freshly harvested olives in a yellow crate](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/themes/doorways-theme/assets/img/guides/fall-interactive/olives-sorted-harvest.jpg) Sorting the harvest. Photo: Joana Abreu / Unsplash ![A stone villa and its bell tower among cypresses, the walls covered in red autumn ivy, with mist in the valleys at sunrise](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/themes/doorways-theme/assets/img/guides/fall-interactive/chapel-cypresses-sunrise.jpg) Sunrise over a villa chapel, the ivy turned red for November. ### Doorways picks · olive estates [Villa Amarika](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-amarika/) Chianti · its own olive grove · sleeps 14 [La Poggiolaia](https://villavacations.com/villas/la-poggiolaia/) Chianti · 2 to 22 guests [Villa Sogno Casetta](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-sogno-casetta/) Umbria · presses its own oil - On the calendar, every November - **Nov 1**A national holiday, with bells across the valleys: All Saints' Day. - **Nov 11**The first new wine and roasted chestnuts in every town for San Martino. - **Dates vary**Umbria's chocolate festival takes over the center of Perugia: Eurochocolate. - **Mid Nov–Dec 20**Fifty wooden huts, open late, at the Christmas market in Piazza Santa Croce, Florence. - **Last 3 weekends**White truffles on the stalls at the San Miniato market. - **2nd, 3rd weekends**The Crete Senesi's own truffle festival at San Giovanni d'Asso. - **Nov 21**A pontoon bridge across the Grand Canal and candles in the basilica for the Festa della Salute, Venice. - **4th Thursday**An American dinner in an Italian city for Thanksgiving: book Accademia in Florence or the Cavalieri in Rome early. - **Last Sunday**Thirteen thousand runners finish in Piazza del Duomo for the Florence Marathon; cheer them on from a café on the course. Mid November · Truffles, chestnuts, the fire ## Eat what the hills are serving White truffle season peaks now, and the markets follow: San Giovanni d'Asso, south of Siena, on the second and third weekends of November, then San Miniato on the last three. In between comes San Martino on November 11, when every town pours the first new wine and roasts chestnuts in the street. By then the evenings are dark by five, and a villa with a fire lit and a long table becomes the coziest room in Italy. [Tuscany restaurant guide →](https://villavacations.com/travel-guide/tuscany-restaurant-guide/)[Rome restaurant guide →](https://villavacations.com/travel-guide/rome-restaurant-guide/) ![A bowl of bean and farro soup with vegetables and a sage leaf](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/themes/doorways-theme/assets/img/guides/fall-interactive/farro-bean-soup.jpg) Bean and farro soup. On the menu this month Fettunta bread, garlic, new oil Tagliolini al tartufo white truffle, shaved thin Pappardelle al cinghiale wild boar ragù Ribollita cavolo nero, after the first frost Castagnaccio chestnut-flour cake, rosemary Pan co' santi Siena's walnut bread, Nov 1 Abbacchio Roman roast lamb Trippa alla romana tomato, mint, pecorino Vin santo e cantucci to finish ### Doorways picks · fireplaces [Villa Benessere](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-benessere/) Fireplace · table for 20 · near Sarteano [Villa Araldica](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-araldica/) Reading room with fireplace [Villa Chiara](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-chiara/) Wood-burning fireplaces · spa wing Late November · Thanksgiving ## Thanksgiving, Italian style A few restaurants serve a proper Thanksgiving for Americans abroad, and they have become small traditions of their own. In Florence, Ristorante Accademia near Piazza San Marco has done it for more than 25 years, with pumpkin soup, turkey with stuffing and three desserts, while in Rome the Cavalieri hotel sets a buffet with live stations and Adelaide at Hotel Vilòn serves a multi-course dinner around a stuffed turkey. Tables go fast, so we book early. Or stay in, which may be the better Thanksgiving. A private chef can roast the turkey in the villa oven with chestnuts, porcini and the new oil on the side, and since whole turkeys are not easy to find in Italy, the butcher appreciates a little notice. Tell us when you book, and the concierge handles the rest. [The Doorways concierge →](https://villavacations.com/concierge/)[Staffed villas →](https://villavacations.com/collections/staffed-villas/) The villa chef carves the prosciutto before dinner. ### Doorways picks · Florence apartments [Villa Valorea](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-valorea/) Piazza Santa Croce · fireplace · elevator [Villa Scudo](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-scudo/) Oltrarno · private sauna [All Florence apartments](https://villavacations.com/destinations/florence/) Destination Part IV ## December The lit month, when the markets fill the piazzas, a presepe appears in every church, and fall ends on the 21st with the shortest day of the year. Early December · The lights go on ## December, lit from within December 8, the Immaculate Conception, is a national holiday and the day Italy switches on. By that evening the lights are up in Florence's streets, the German Christmas market fills Piazza Santa Croce, Siena's Mercato nel Campo spreads across the shell-shaped square, and Rome's Piazza Navona fills with stalls. Meanwhile the museums are quiet on weekdays, the truffle season is still on, and the first panettone is coming out of the bakeries. Days are short and golden, about 52°F in Florence and dark by 4:40, which is the best argument for a palazzo in the center with a fireplace, where the city becomes your living room. For a country Christmas, we know the handful of villas that are warm all winter. [Florence apartments →](https://villavacations.com/destinations/florence/)[Rome apartments →](https://villavacations.com/destinations/rome/) The Forum at dusk, a new moon over the Colosseum. Rome. A dome lit up on a December night. A frescoed palazzo gallery. ### Doorways picks · in the center [Villa Scudo](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-scudo/) Oltrarno · private sauna [All Florence apartments](https://villavacations.com/destinations/florence/) Destination [All Rome apartments](https://villavacations.com/destinations/rome/) Destination - On the calendar, every December - **Early Dec**A medieval-style market across the Piazza del Campo: the Mercato nel Campo, Siena. - **Dec 8**The Christmas season opens for the Immaculate Conception: Florence lights its tree, the Ice Village opens at Fortezza da Basso, and Piazza Navona's market is in full swing through January 6. - **Dec–early Jan**Projections on the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio and the palazzi after dark for Florence Lights Up. --- Doorways Villa Vacations, Italian villa specialists since 1994. Book through a travel advisor: https://villavacations.com/contact-us/