I have heard many times that people were discouraged from going in August. I think that if you are looking for a place on a beach that might be good advice since they will tend to be overcrowded and most hotels will have no occupancy. This is particularly the case for the weeks immediately before and after the 15th of August which is the peak of the holiday season for Italians. However, if you are visiting cities like Rome, Florence or any city for that matter, July or August are excellent months I would say. In August when most Italians will be on vacation, it becomes amazingly easy to visit the cities. Traffic becomes minimal, and parking in Rome for example which is normally a stressful impossible task – becomes so easy! Then we must consider the nightlife!
This is a new phenomenon – which has emerged in the last 10 years or so. Most cities have all sorts of live entertainment going on every night right on the streets and squares. Rome has its “Estate Romana” (Roman summer) largely financed by the city government, the “comune di Roma”, that includes music shows and dancing in many historical places like Castel S. Angelo, and near the Coliseum. There is also an annual Latin dancing festival at Fiesta near via Appia. Every night there is usually an option of 4 of 5 places to go where you can dance ‘al fresco’ that is, under the stars in the open.
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