September in Tuscia: the best month for a holiday near Rome

There is one month in Tuscia that only the returning guests seem to know about. The days are still long and warm, the lakes have held on to all of August's heat, and the villages empty out: no queue on the bridge to Civita, no traffic on the A1, no waiting for a table. September in Tuscia is summer without the crowds — an hour from Rome.

Why September is the best month

August here is beautiful and busy. September is the same land with the volume turned down. Temperatures drop a few degrees: enough to make a midday walk a pleasure, not enough to give up swimming. The light turns golden by six in the evening, the fields green again after the first rain, and the villages breathe the calm of people who have come home. It is the month when Tuscia goes back to being itself.

Two great festivals, one after the other

September is anything but empty: it opens with the two finest events of the year. On 3 September Viterbo carries the Macchina di Santa Rosa on its shoulders — a tower of light almost thirty metres high, lifted by one hundred men. It is UNESCO heritage, and one of the most astonishing sights in Italy. Meanwhile, fifteen minutes from us, Orte has already slipped back into the Middle Ages: the Medieval Octave runs from 31 August to 13 September, with the taverns of the seven districts open every evening and the Archers' Palio to close it.

It is harvest month

Between late August and September the hills around Viterbo fill with crates and the smell of pressed grapes: the vendemmia, the wine harvest. The local wineries — Vignanello, Castiglione in Teverina, Montefiascone — are at work, and you can see it as you drive past. Some open their doors to visitors: the dates change from year to year, so just ask us — we live here and we know who is welcoming guests. It is also the start of the real table season: the first mushrooms, the soups, the new wine everyone is waiting for.

The villages, finally empty

This is September's true gift. Civita di Bagnoregio with no queue on the bridge. The Monster Park of Bomarzo with the monsters all to yourselves. The gardens of Villa Lante, when the fountains still feel cool but the sun no longer beats down. And Viterbo, with the medieval quarter of San Pellegrino to wander on foot without breaking a sweat.

Water: the lake and the thermal baths

Lake Bolsena is the place to be in September: it is a volcanic lake, slow to warm and slow to cool, and the beaches of Marta and Capodimonte grow quiet again just as the water is at its best. If the weather turns, or you simply want a day of stillness, the Terme dei Papi in Viterbo are twenty-five minutes away: the monumental pool is warm in every season.

And then October comes

If you cannot make September, there is a second chance. October in Tuscia is the month of woods turning colour and of the Chestnut Festival in Soriano nel Cimino, the most famous autumn celebration in the province. We keep every date in order in our guide to events and festivals in Tuscia.

Where to stay in Tuscia in September

Villa Vacanze Valentina is in Bassano in Teverina, in the middle of all this: fifteen minutes from Orte, twenty-five from Viterbo, an hour from Rome and a quarter of an hour from the Orte exit on the A1. Two apartments in the villa for families and groups, the Casetta degli Innamorati for those travelling as a couple. Around you, the countryside and the quiet — and a pool that in September is, more often than not, entirely yours. Discover the holiday home with pool, or see why we are a holiday home with a pool an hour from Rome.