March 2027 is an unusual Italian month, because Easter falls inside it. Easter Sunday is 28 March 2027 and Pasquetta is the 29th – and 28 March is also the night the clocks go forward. That puts Holy Week, the start of the season and an hour of extra evening light all in the last ten days, with three genuinely cheap weeks in front of them.
The shape of the month
Up to about 20 March, Italy is still in low season: cool, quiet, cheap, with the museums near empty and much of the coast still closed. From the 21st, Holy Week demand arrives and does not let go until after Easter Monday.
If you want cheap and quiet, book the first three weeks. If you want the ceremonies, the reopening coast and the light evenings, book the last ten days and pay for them. There is no middle option in 2027 – Easter is early, and it compresses everything.
Holy Week and Easter, 22–29 March 2027
Settimana Santa runs from Palm Sunday on 21 March to Easter Sunday on 28 March, with Pasquetta – Easter Monday, a public holiday – on the 29th. Two set-pieces are worth planning a trip around:
- Rome. The Via Crucis at the Colosseum on Good Friday evening (26 March 2027), led by the Pope, and Easter Mass followed by the Urbi et Orbi blessing in St Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday. Both are free; both require arriving hours early and passing through security, and the Vatican issues free tickets for some ceremonies through the Prefecture of the Papal Household.
- Florence. The Scoppio del Carro on Easter Sunday morning – a cart of fireworks hauled by white oxen to the Duomo and detonated by a mechanical dove launched from the altar. It is three hundred years old, free, and over in twenty minutes.
Almost every town does its own procession, and the southern ones – in Sicily, Puglia and Calabria – are often more striking than the famous ones. Expect closures on Easter Sunday and Monday: many shops shut, museums vary site by site, and restaurants take one long booked-out lunch sitting.
The clocks go forward on Easter Sunday
Italy moves to summer time on the last Sunday of March, which in 2027 is 28 March – the same day as Easter. You lose an hour of sleep on the night of the biggest religious ceremony of the year, and you gain an evening: sunset in Rome jumps from around 19:20 to after 20:00 overnight.
That single change is what turns Italy from a winter destination into a spring one. Terraces become usable, the passeggiata restarts, and the last four days of March feel like a different month from the first four.
Weather: real spring in the south, not yet in the north
- Rome and the centre – highs near 16°C, lows near 6°C, about 60 mm of rain across seven or eight days. Warm in the sun, cold in the shade, and genuinely changeable.
- Milan and the north – highs around 13°C, still with rain and cold mornings; the lakes start to wake up at the very end of the month.
- The Alps – still skiing, with spring snow and long sunny afternoons; most resorts run to early or mid April.
- Sicily and the south – highs near 18–19°C and the best hiking weather of the year before the heat arrives.
March is the windiest and least predictable month of the Italian spring. Pack for two seasons and expect to use both.
Free museums, and the other March dates
- Sunday 7 March 2027 – Domenica al Museo: free entry to more than 480 state museums, monuments and archaeological parks. March is the last month of the October-to-March window; from April the scheme does not run.
- Monday 8 March – Festa della Donna. Not a public holiday, but mimosa is sold on every street corner and given to women, and some museums offer free or reduced entry to women.
- 19 March – San Giuseppe, Father’s Day in Italy, and the day for zeppole and Sicilian sfinci.
What reopens
Easter is the switch for seasonal Italy, and an early Easter means an early reopening. From around Palm Sunday, hotels and restaurants on the Amalfi Coast, on Capri and Ischia, and around Lake Como and Lake Garda begin opening for the year, and ferry timetables step up.
“Begin” is the operative word: in the first half of March most of it is still shut, and a coastal trip before the 20th will find half the town closed. If the coast is the point of the trip, the last week of March 2027 is the earliest that works.
Prices
Three cheap weeks and one expensive one. Until about 20 March, city hotels are still on low-season rates. Holy Week and the Easter weekend are among the most expensive nights of the first half of the year in Rome and Florence, and they book out early – particularly anything walkable from St Peter’s.
The bargain, if you want one, is the week immediately after Pasquetta: the crowds leave, the weather stays, and rates drop back for a fortnight before the May build-up. See how much a trip to Italy costs.
The March 2027 calendar
- Sunday 7 March – free entry at state museums; the last free Sunday until October.
- Monday 8 March – Festa della Donna; mimosa everywhere.
- Friday 19 March – San Giuseppe, Italian Father’s Day.
- Sunday 21 March – Palm Sunday; Holy Week begins and prices step up.
- Friday 26 March – Good Friday; the Via Crucis at the Colosseum in the evening.
- Sunday 28 March – Easter Sunday; Scoppio del Carro in Florence, Urbi et Orbi in Rome. The clocks also go forward.
- Monday 29 March – Pasquetta, a public holiday; Italians picnic and the roads are busy.
Read alongside
- Italy in February – Carnival, and the last of the cheap months.
- Italy in April – the month Easter usually occupies, and in 2027 does not.
- Best time to visit Italy – all twelve months compared.
- How much a trip to Italy costs – shoulder-season daily numbers.
- Italy travel guide – regions, routes and how to combine them.
- What to pack for Italy – the two-seasons-in-one-bag list.
- Things to know before visiting Italy – the practical rules.
Frequently asked
When is Easter in Italy in 2027?
Easter Sunday is 28 March 2027 and Pasquetta, Easter Monday, is 29 March and a public holiday. Holy Week runs from Palm Sunday on 21 March. It is an unusually early Easter, so it falls in March rather than April.
Is March a good time to visit Italy?
The first three weeks are among the best value of the year – low-season prices, quiet museums and improving weather. The last ten days carry Holy Week, Easter and the clock change, which means better light and evenings but Easter pricing.
How warm is Italy in March?
Rome averages about 16°C by day and 6°C at night with roughly 60 mm of rain. Milan is a few degrees cooler, Sicily a few degrees warmer, and the Alps are still skiing. It is the most changeable month of the Italian spring.
What happens in Rome at Easter?
The Via Crucis at the Colosseum on Good Friday evening and Easter Mass with the Urbi et Orbi blessing in St Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday, both free and both requiring you to arrive hours early. Free tickets are issued for some ceremonies through the Prefecture of the Papal Household.
When do the clocks change in Italy in 2027?
On Sunday 28 March 2027, the last Sunday of the month – which is also Easter Sunday. Sunset in Rome moves from around 19:20 to after 20:00 overnight.
Are museums free in Italy in March?
On the first Sunday – 7 March in 2027 – more than 480 state museums and sites are free. March is the last month of the scheme’s October-to-March window.
Is the Amalfi Coast open in March?
It reopens around Easter, which in 2027 means the last week of March. Before about the 20th, most hotels and many restaurants in Positano and Amalfi are still closed.
Can you still ski in Italy in March?
Yes. Most Alpine and Dolomite resorts run into early or mid April, and March gives spring snow with long sunny afternoons.
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Written by
John Morrison is the founder and lead travel writer at Packzup. Over the past decade he has explored destinations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania — always self-funded, never on a press trip.
