When is the best time to visit Italy’s Prosecco Hills?

Planning a visit to northern Italy’s Prosecco Hills? Discover the best time to visit, from spring’s fresh green vineyards to autumn’s grape harvest. In this guide we’ll explain what you can expect throughout the year, including seasonal highlights, winery visits and practical tips to help you plan your trip.

Month by month guide to visiting

The region is beautiful year-round and we offer tours throughout the year. Here are the main seasons month by month.

What’s the best time of year to visit?

Every visitor is different. Some people prefer sizzling summer days with busy crowds. Some prefer the peace of low season. The region is beautiful year-round and offers a different experience as the seasons change. Here’s a summary of what each season offers.

Peak season (July and August) has the hottest weather and largest crowds. You may want to ensure your accommodation has outdoor shade or a pool. Please book your hotels and tour months in advance, especially if you have fixed dates, want to visit specific wineries or plan to visit over the weekend.

Holidays – Carnivale, Easter, Christmas, New Year and national holidays in Italy are culturally fascinating times to visit. However, they should be treated as Peak Season and the area gets very busy with visitors. You can find out more details about local and national holidays in our Italian Events Calendar.

Harvest Season (Late August to Late September) – Harvest and the weeks before and after is a magical time to visit but do book your tour well in advance so we have time to work around winery closures.

Shoulder season (April, May and October) is a beautiful time to visit – the weather is warm enough and the crowds are fewer. In Spring, the vines are starting to bloom while in Autumn, the fruits of the harvest are evident. It’s one of our favourite times of year, and we’re not the only ones to recognise the beauty of these shoulder season months – outside peak season, May and October are our next busiest tour periods.

Low season (November to March) – the area is blissfully quiet during low season and we think it’s one of the most authentic seasons to visit. You’ll have a full choice of wineries available, accommodation is plentiful, and you’ll feel like you have the vineyards (almost) to yourself.

What’s the best day of the week to visit?

Weekdays (Monday to Friday) are the best days of the week to take a tour. We have fewer customers and therefore better availability, including at our wineries.

Saturdays are the most popular day to visit the region. As a result, our tours and the most popular wineries book months in advance. However, we successfully run tours every Saturday throughout the year, so you can go ahead and book, confident that we’ll put together a wonderful itinerary for your group.

Sunday – Many tour companies don’t offer tours on Sundays. This is because many of the wineries are closed (and some even close on Saturdays). However, we have an excellent relationship with our wineries and they will open especially for our customers. (Sunday winery closures are only a concern if you are planning to visit without booking a tour.)

How far in advance should I book (tours and hotels)?

Peak Season (July and August) and Holidays – Peak season and holidays are our busiest tour periods so we recommend booking months in advance. If you have some flexibility on dates, we may have last-minute availability. Check the booking calendar for availability. Available dates are shown in black. Unavailable dates are grey. We also suggest booking accommodation months in advance.

Popular Months – although May and October are shoulder season months, they have historically been some of our busiest months for tours. We recommend treating these months as peak season and booking months in advance, especially if you have fixed dates. Accommodation is generally more available in shoulder season compared to peak season and you should find availability a month or so in advance. However, for better availability of your chosen hotel, book sooner.

Shoulder Season (April) – Accommodation and tour availability are both easier. We’d still suggest booking accommodation a month or more in advance for a better choice. As we have several drivers, we typically have availability during shoulder season and you can often find availability as close as two weeks before your trip. However, Saturdays are most popular so we recommend booking further ahead (around one month in advance) for Saturday tours.

Low season – There is more hotel availability and you will likely have the vineyards (almost) to yourselves. We tend to have good availability and you can book our tours much closer to your trip date.

Saturdays are the most popular day year round and our tours book up faster. If want to combine a popular day of the week with peak season travel, you will need to book much further ahead to guarantee availability.

Sundays – due to limited vineyard availability, please book as early as possible, ideally months ahead, for Sunday tours. This allows us to reserve the best wineries for your visit. It also allows us to maintain a good relationship with our wineries – we want to remain popular with our wineries so they continue to offer Sunday visits for our customers.

When is the grape harvest?

The dates of the grape harvest are scheduled by nature and change every year. As a guide, harvest tends to take place in the middle of September. It can last for a few weeks depending on the location within the hills and what grapes the wineries are harvesting (white, red or both). We typically know by late May when the harvest will be for that year.

Does the harvest impact tours?

Many of the wineries close for a week or two before the harvest to take a short break ahead of the weeks of intense effort. Also during the harvest, the normal opening hours for wine tastings can be interrupted. The good news is that we are in close contact with all of our wineries and can offer a seamless experience with our tours uninterrupted. However, we do ask that you book as far ahead as possible so that we can find enough wineries open to allow you the full tour experience.

Are the wineries open every day?

We have a wonderful relationship with many wineries in the region and therefore we’re able to run tours every day of the week. However, if you are visiting without a tour, please note that many wineries are closed on Sundays, some close on Saturdays, and all may close without notice for family holidays. Check and book before visiting. This does not affect our tour customers.

Do the wineries close at lunchtime?

As mentioned above, we have a wonderful relationship with many wineries in the region and they can welcome our customers throughout the day. If you’re visiting privately, many wineries close for the lunch period from 12 p.m. until 2 p.m. This does not affect our tour customers.

Want to explore? Check out our tours.