Spring in Italy

As spring unfolds, Italy begins to hum — but not with the crowds. Instead, it’s the season when Europe’s legacy families slip quietly into their favorite corners of the country. No fanfare, no influencers. Just discreet elegance, heritage, and an unspoken understanding of la dolce vita done right.

Here’s where old money spends its spring in Italy — and why.

Lake Como: The Water, The Villas, The Silence
Specifically: Cernobbio, Bellagio, and Tremezzo
Forget the celebrity sightings. Old money arrived here long before the tabloids. They stay in family villas passed down generations — behind hedges, never on Airbnb. Afternoons are for reading by the lake, early evenings for aperitivi on the terrace, always with a shawl and silver tray.

Florence (but never in a hotel)
Specifically: Oltrarno or a private villa in Fiesole
Florence in spring is best from a palazzo that doesn’t appear on Google Maps. The well-heeled return annually, attending private gallery openings and small garden concerts. Lunch is under wisteria, and nobody is rushing to the Uffizi — they already know the Botticellis by heart.

Rome’s Quiet Corners
Specifically: Aventine Hill or the Palazzo-lined Via Giulia
Old Roman families never left, and the seasonal visitors know exactly where to stay — typically in townhouses with frescoed ceilings, accessible only through worn bronze keys. Easter is spent at private chapels or in pews at Santa Sabina, not Instagramming the Vatican.

Veneto’s Palladian Villas
Specifically: Vicenza countryside
These estates don’t post updates; they’ve been here since the 1500s. Springtime means lunches under loggias, visits from family architects, and preparing for summer’s social season. The gardens are exact, the staff discreet, and the only sound is gravel under vintage Lancias.

Portofino (but up the hill, never by the port)
Specifically: San Sebastiano and the old villas above the marina
The jet-set may dock below, but true old money lives above. Spring is too early for showy arrivals, which makes it perfect. Think breakfasts with linen napkins on the terrace, boat rides with no photos, and aperitivo served by someone who’s worked for the family since the '80s.

Umbria, the Introvert’s Tuscany
Specifically: Todi, Spoleto, and privately owned monasteries turned homes
If Tuscany is the extroverted cousin, Umbria is where the aristocrats hide. Spring fog, green hills, silence. Time is spent restoring frescoes, writing letters, and preparing for Easter with a kind of pious charm money can’t buy — unless it was inherited with the property.

Capri in April
Specifically: Before the tourists, in Anacapri’s cliffside villas
The smart ones come early. No yachts, no noise — just lemon blossoms, quiet bookshops, and dinners where every guest arrives by foot. The homes are whitewashed, sun-drenched, and known only by those who return year after year.

For old money, spring in Italy isn’t about where you stay — it’s about how you stay. Quietly. With respect for the land, its history, and the rhythm of centuries. You arrive without announcement and leave without a footprint. And perhaps that’s the real luxury.