Погода: Неаполь, декабрь

Sorrento-forum threads on whether it's worth visiting in December land firmly on yes, with caveats: cold but not miserable, sunny stretches genuinely possible, though the region's downpours are called legendary when they do arrive, worth keeping an eye on the forecast before planning a Capri or coastal-village day trip. Posters describe daytime temperatures in the high 50s Fahrenheit with much cooler nights, and the town itself leans into the season - both Sorrento and Naples decked out for Christmas, a real draw in its own right. The trade-off for the good rates and thin crowds is that plenty of pavement cafes and restaurants close for the winter, staff largely gone since late October, so dining runs leaner than in summer. Regulars recommend checking forecasts a couple of days out and keeping a backup plan for any coastal excursion. The record: 15.3C days feeling like 13C, 11.8C nights, 144mm across 11.5 days, an 18C sea, 74 percent humidity and just 6.8 hours of sun.

Regulars describe rain here as brief and self-correcting rather than a lasting event - a few muggy, wet minutes before the sun breaks back through - and are specific that there isn't much rain overall between July and September despite the persistent humidity. Our row backs the warm, humid-but-manageable read, 27.5C reading as a hot 29C at 73 percent humidity, over 18.3C nights, with 127.7mm of rain across 9.4 days. Regulars call this genuinely excellent sightseeing weather, less humid than peak summer and still warm enough for shorts and t-shirts, with crowds noticeably more tolerable than July or August. The sea holds a warm 25C. The record: 10.3 hours of sun, a 13.1 kph wind and AQI 56.

October is high season here until the 31st, and regulars point out that high season in this city is still nothing like Rome or Venice. The weather is generous - warm enough to swim on the good days, with a 24C sea - and unreliable in a specific way: mostly dry, then a short torrential shower, and warm enough through it for shirtsleeves. Our 107.9mm across 10.4 days is that. The practical note is for the ruins: there is almost nowhere to shelter at the archaeological sites, so a hooded waterproof beats an umbrella in the wind. Days average 22.9C over 14.6C. The record: humidity 79 percent, 8.8 hours of sun and AQI 58.

Asked whether June and early July differ much here, regulars answer with the inside of June: the first week runs about 25 to 30C and the last about 28 to 32C, so the month warms through itself and its end is closer to July than to its own beginning. Our single figure of 28.3C is the average of that climb. The other half is humidity, 72 percent, which turns those days into a felt 31C - the opposite arrangement to inland Spain at the same temperature, and the reason the open sites of the bay are a morning job rather than an afternoon one. Rain has nearly stopped at 31.9mm across 4.5 days and the sea is up to 24.1C. The record: 18.6C nights, 13.3 hours of sun and AQI 71.

Naples-forum threads on April crowds point to two clusters worth planning around, not the whole month: Easter and spring break bring one wave, and Italy's own public holidays on April 25 and May 1 bring another. Easter Sunday itself closes most sights, shops and restaurants, while Pasquetta (Easter Monday) is a second holiday that sends locals outdoors to enjoy the day off and the improving weather - so it's busy outside rather than shut. Posters call the shoulder stretches between those clusters noticeably thinner, good for museums like Capodimonte without the crowds. The record: 19.4C days, 9.5C nights, 70mm of rain across ten days, 11 hours of sun and a 15.5C sea still too cool to swim - mild, a little damp, sunshine building through the month.