Italy Food & Wine Calendar: What to Eat and Drink, Month by Month

Italy eats by the calendar, not the menu. The same trattoria that serves artichokes in March will not have them in July, the truffle you pay for in November does not exist in May, and the new olive oil that makes a slice of bread the best thing you eat all year is gone by spring. Plan a food trip around the wrong month and you will eat well; plan it around the right one and you will eat something you cannot get at home. This guide walks through the year for the regions we cover in depth, Tuscany, Rome and Naples, with the national events worth building a trip around.

The year at a glance

January: truffles, citrus and empty tables

Italy is quiet in January and the food is at its most honest. In Tuscany the bianchetto, a small white truffle, runs from January to April and keeps the truffle hunts going after the prized Tuber magnatum has finished; in Rome the winter chicory called puntarelle is dressed with anchovy and garlic; everywhere the New Year is eaten as lentils and cotechino. Prices are the lowest of the year, cooking classes have space, and a Chianti cellar will give you an hour it would not give you in June. Arezzo’s antiques fair fills the town on the first Sunday of every month and the Saturday before it.

February: artichokes and Carnival

Rome’s artichoke season begins in late February and runs to early May: carciofi alla giudia, fried whole in the Jewish Quarter, and carciofi alla romana, braised with mint. Carnival brings fritters, frittelle in Florence and chiacchiere everywhere. The wine trade gathers in Florence in mid-February for the Chianti Classico Collection, where the new vintages are shown; the second day is open to the public. Still low season, still cheap.

March: the artichoke peak and spring lamb

Artichokes are at their best in March, spring lamb arrives for Easter, and the first wild asparagus appears in the markets. Tuscany is green and empty and this is the last month to book a cooking class or a wine tour without competition. See Rome food tours for the artichoke-season tours of the Jewish Quarter.

April: Easter, pastiera and Vinitaly

Easter is the pastry holiday. Naples makes pastiera, the ricotta-and-wheat tart scented with orange blossom that families bake days ahead so it can rest; the rest of the country eats colomba and torta pasqualina. Vinitaly, Italy’s largest wine fair, fills Verona in mid-April, and Ladispoli, on the coast north of Rome, holds its artichoke festival the same month. Easter week is crowded and priced accordingly; the fortnight after it is one of the best windows of the year.

May: Cantine Aperte and the best shoulder month

May is the month wine people book. Cantine Aperte, on the last weekend, opens hundreds of wineries across the country for tastings without appointment; the black summer truffle season begins in Tuscany; Romans eat raw broad beans with pecorino on 1 May; cherries arrive. The weather is warm without being hot and the countryside is at its greenest. See Tuscany wine tours.

June: tomatoes, the sea and the first crowds

Real tomatoes return, apricots and the first peaches arrive, and the coast opens. Florence and Rome fill from mid-month; book morning food tours and evening cooking classes, and leave the afternoons to the museums. Naples is at its best: the sea, the fruit, and pizza that does not need a reason.

July: the Palio, Pizza Village and summer truffles

Siena runs the first Palio on 2 July and the city is impossible for days around it; Naples holds its Pizza Village in early July, moved in recent years to the seafront at Pozzuoli. Summer truffles, milder than the autumn ones, are shaved over pasta across Tuscany. It is hot: choose the earliest departures and the coolest cellars. See pizza making classes in Naples.

August: Ferragosto, steak and the first grapes

Italians go on holiday around 15 August and take their trattorie with them; Rome and Florence empty of locals and some kitchens close for a fortnight. The countryside compensates: Cortona’s Sagra della Bistecca grills Chianina steak in the park in mid-August, the second Palio runs on the 16th, and Montepulciano rolls barrels up its main street in the Bravìo delle Botti on the last Sunday. In hot years the grape harvest starts on the coast in the last week of the month. See Cortona and Arezzo and Montepulciano.

September: the vendemmia

The grape harvest is the reason to come. Bolgheri and the Maremma pick first, Chianti Classico’s Sangiovese comes in from the middle of the month into early October, and many estates let visitors watch the crush or join the picking. Greve hosts the Expo Chianti Classico in the second week; Naples celebrates San Gennaro on the 19th; figs and the first porcini reach the markets. Warm sea, cool evenings, the highest prices of the year outside Easter, and worth every euro. See Chianti.

October: white truffles open, olives begin

The white truffle season opens across central and northern Italy. Alba’s fair runs on weekends from early October to early December and sets the price for the country; Tuscany’s hunts around San Miniato find the same species for less. Porcini and chestnuts fill the markets, the olive harvest starts in the last week, and the vineyards turn red. See Tuscany truffle hunting.

November: new oil, peak truffles, new wine

If you care about food more than weather, this is the month. The olive mills press olio nuovo, green and peppery, and the first taste on grilled bread is a pilgrimage in itself; white truffles reach their peak and San Miniato holds its fair on the last three weekends; St Martin’s Day on the 11th opens the new wine; Montalcino presents the new Brunello vintage at Benvenuto Brunello; Perugia’s Eurochocolate now runs in November. It rains, prices drop, and the tables are yours. See Tuscany olive oil tours and Montalcino.

December: the last truffles and Christmas

White truffles last into early December. Then Christmas: panettone and pandoro in the north, struffoli and eel on Christmas Eve in Naples, panforte and ricciarelli in Siena, and markets in every square. Restaurants close on the 24th, 25th and often the 26th; the days between Christmas and Epiphany are lively and cheap.

The best month for what you want

• Grape harvest: mid-September to early October in Tuscany.
• White truffles: November, with October and early December on either side.
• New olive oil: November.
• Artichokes in Rome: March and April.
• Sea and food together: June and September.
• Cooking classes and cellars to yourself: November to March.
• Lowest prices: November to February, outside Christmas.
• Avoid: the week of Ferragosto for cities, Easter week for crowds.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best month to visit Italy for food?

September for the grape harvest and the weather, November for truffles and new olive oil. May is the best all-round shoulder month.

When is truffle season in Italy?

White truffles from October to early December, peaking in November; black summer truffles from May to September; the smaller bianchetto from January to April.

When is the grape harvest in Italy?

Late August on the coast and in hot years, mid-September to early October in Chianti and most of Tuscany, later in the north.

What closes in August in Italy?

Many family trattorie and shops in Rome and Florence close for one to two weeks around 15 August; the countryside and coast stay open.

Is November a good time to visit Italy for food?

Yes; it is the best month for truffles, new olive oil and new wine, with the lowest prices of the year. Bring an umbrella.