What's on in Florence (Firenze), Italy through the year

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season, Pitti Immagine trade fairs

• Rule

  Booked slots at the big museums

  1 Jan – 31 DecBook early

  The Uffizi and the Accademia sell timed entry and turning up without one costs hours between March and October. The city also charges a nightly tourist tax on every bed. Source ↗

• Festival

  Pitti Immagine trade fairs

  8–18 Jan · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Menswear buyers fill the Fortezza and every good hotel in the city in the second week of January, and again in the second week of June. The dearest week of an otherwise cheap month. Source ↗

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Booked slots at the big museums (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Festival

  Scoppio del Carro

  5 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowded

  On Easter morning a cart of fireworks is dragged by white oxen to the cathedral door and set off by a mechanical dove fired down a wire from the altar. It takes about ten minutes. Source ↗

Still on: Booked slots at the big museums (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Peak crowds — Scoppio del Carro, Easter holidays in Italy

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Booked slots at the big museums (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Scoppio del Carro (5 Apr)

Busy — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Booked slots at the big museums (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Peak crowds — Calcio Storico and San Giovanni, Summer holidays in Italy

• Festival

  Calcio Storico and San Giovanni

  10–24 JunMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  Semi-finals in the middle of June and the final always on 24 June, played on sand in Piazza Santa Croce behind a parade in armour, then fireworks off Piazzale Michelangelo that night. Source ↗

Still on: Booked slots at the big museums (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — Summer holidays in Italy, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Basin heat

  1 Jul – 25 AugExtreme heat

  The city sits in a bowl in the Arno valley with no breeze and stone that holds the day's heat overnight. Queues in the open, which is most of them, are the real problem. Source ↗

Still on: Booked slots at the big museums (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Peak crowds — Ferragosto, Summer holidays in Italy

• Holiday

  Ferragosto

  5–25 AugSchool holidaysClosuresCrowded

  Florentines leave and their trattorias close for a fortnight, while the coach tours carry on regardless. The queues stay; the reason to eat here does not. Source ↗

Still on: Booked slots at the big museums (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Basin heat (1 Jul – 25 Aug)

Busy — Summer holidays in Italy, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Booked slots at the big museums (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Nature

  Olive harvest and new oil

  25 Oct – 10 Dec · usually

  The hills at Fiesole and through Chianti are picked from late October and the first pressing turns up green and peppery on bruschetta everywhere for about six weeks.

Still on: Booked slots at the big museums (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Booked slots at the big museums (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Olive harvest and new oil (25 Oct – 10 Dec (usually))

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season, Christmas holidays in Italy

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Booked slots at the big museums (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Olive harvest and new oil (25 Oct – 10 Dec (usually))