If you only read one line
Italian strikes resume on 1 September. Part of August is protected by law; from the first of September that protection lifts and the calendar fills again. If your trip depends on trains, that is the date to plan around — and the strike calendar is here, updated daily from the Ministry of Transport's own register.
The autumn calendar
1 September
Italian law protects part of August from strike action. From 1 September that protection lifts and the calendar fills again. If you are travelling by train this autumn, this is the single date that matters most — and the reason the rest of this page exists.
7 September – 7 December
A special set of rules applies to access and circulation in Rome's ZTL A1 (Tridente) and the surrounding streets for three months. Anyone driving in central Rome this autumn should check the current provision rather than assuming the usual hours.
First Sunday of October
Florence's summer night ZTL — 23:00 to 03:00 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, covering all five sectors — runs from the first Thursday of April to the first Sunday of October. After that, evenings in the centre revert to the ordinary daytime rules.
4 October
The Lago Maggiore Express, the official train-and-boat circuit, runs only from 29 March to 4 October. After that the Vigezzina–Centovalli railway keeps running — 365 days a year — but the boat leg has finished. A traveller planning ‘train one way, ferry back’ in mid-October needs to know this.
10 October – 15 November
The Vigezzina–Centovalli runs its Foliage Train through valleys turning red and gold. Second class €42 at weekends, €36 midweek; first class €52 and €46. Online sales open around the end of September and it sells out. Tickets are non-refundable and non-changeable, though they can be transferred to someone else.
15 October
From 15 October to 15 March the archaeological park opens at 09:00 with last admission at 15:30 and closing at 17:00. For anyone arriving from Rome or off a cruise ship, that deadline — not the travel time — is what decides whether the day works.
29 October – 13 November
Trains 951 and 952 are routed via Chur – Landquart – Klosters – Vereina – Sagliains – Pontresina for engineering work. Worth flagging because that window falls inside the Centovalli foliage season, and people often plan both panoramic railways in the same trip.
1 November – 31 March
Five Sundays in that window are closed to circulation inside Rome's Fascia Verde. Separately, on smog emergency days at red level, diesel Euro 5 and Euro 6 are barred between 07:30 and 20:30 — that is an ordinary modern hire car, and the decision is taken on Mondays and Thursdays.
What this means in practice
- Check your specific train, not the strike. Trenitalia publishes permanent tables of the trains it guarantees during a strike — you can look up a train months ahead rather than waiting for the announcement. And a train already running when a strike begins normally reaches its destination, provided that destination is within an hour of the start.
- Work backwards from 15:30 at Pompeii. From mid-October the last admission, not the closing time, is what governs the day. Combined with a two-hour journey from Rome, an unhurried morning becomes a wasted trip.
- If you want the Foliage Train, buy in September. Sales open around the end of the month and the train sells out. Tickets cannot be refunded or changed, though they can be passed to someone else.
- Do not assume ferries have stopped. Lake Maggiore's boats do end on 4 October. The Amalfi Coast's do not — Travelmar states its service runs all year, just less often. The question is never whether the boat exists but what time the last one comes back.
And one rule that has nothing to do with the season
Autumn means rain, and in Italy the motorway speed limit drops automatically when it rains — from 130 to 110 km/h, and from 110 to 90 on main extra-urban roads. There is no sign to remind you and no grace period. It is one of the most common ways visitors collect a fine they never understood.
Frequently asked questions
Is September a good time to visit Italy?
In most respects yes — the heat has broken, the light is better and the queues are shorter than in August. The one thing that changes for the worse is transport: Italian law protects part of August from strike action, and from 1 September that protection lifts. If your trip depends on trains, check the Ministry of Transport calendar and Trenitalia's permanent guaranteed-train tables before you finalise anything.
Why do strikes start again in September?
Because a protected period covers part of August, when the country is on holiday and disruption would be at its worst. Once it ends, unions resume announcing action. Under Law 146/1990 strikes in essential services need at least ten days' notice, and the operator must tell the public at least five days beforehand how services will run — so nothing should ambush you at the platform, provided you look.
What changes at Pompeii on 15 October?
The winter timetable begins. From 15 October to 15 March the site opens at 09:00, LAST ADMISSION IS 15:30 and it closes at 17:00. In summer you can arrive mid-afternoon and still have hours inside; in winter that same arrival finds the ticket office shut. If you are coming from Rome or from a cruise ship at Naples, work backwards from 15:30, not from closing time.
Can I still take a boat on Lake Maggiore in October?
The combined Lago Maggiore Express train-and-boat circuit runs only until 4 October. The Vigezzina–Centovalli railway itself runs 365 days a year, so the train is available all winter — but the ferry leg is not. In foliage season, plan to return by train.
When do tickets for the Foliage Train go on sale?
Around the end of September, and they sell out. The Foliage Train runs 10 October to 15 November on the Vigezzina–Centovalli line between Domodossola and Locarno. Second class is €42 at weekends and €36 on weekdays. Tickets are non-refundable and non-changeable, but they can be transferred to another person.
Is autumn a good time to drive in Italy?
Better than summer in most places, but two things change. Rome runs five car-free Sundays inside its Fascia Verde between 1 November and 31 March, and on red-level smog days even diesel Euro 5 and Euro 6 are barred from 07:30 to 20:30. And remember the rule that catches everyone regardless of season: when it rains, motorway speed limits drop automatically from 130 to 110, with no sign to remind you.
Does anything get easier in autumn?
Yes. Florence's summer night ZTL — which closes all five sectors from 23:00 to 03:00 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights — ends on the first Sunday of October, so evenings in the centre become simpler. Rome's night ZTLs are suspended through August and the daytime ones run normally. And the coast empties: ferries on the Amalfi Coast run all year, just less often, so the binding constraint becomes the last crossing back rather than whether one exists.
Travelling on one of these dates?
Tell Pronto where you are going and when — it reads this same verified data and answers in seconds, free during beta. And when something needs confirming with an operator or a council, we make the call. That is the part a calendar cannot do.
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Sources, by entry: Law 146/1990 and the Ministry of Transport strike register for the September resumption; romamobilita.it for the Tridente scheme and the Fascia Verde; mobilita.comune.fi.it for Florence's summer night ZTL; vigezzinacentovalli.com for the Foliage Train and navigazionelaghi.it for the Lago Maggiore Express; pompeiisites.org for the winter timetable; rhb.ch for the Bernina diversion. Dates are set by operators and councils and change without notice; this page carries the date it was last checked and is reviewed monthly.