Summer in Italy is for the beach and the crowds. Fall is for everyone else: softer light, shorter lines and a museum calendar that suddenly gets very good.
Here are seven reasons to plan a trip, from Milan to Palermo.
01 / DALÍ AND FASHION, MILAN
Dalí e la Moda, Palazzo Reale. September 24, 2026 to January 31, 2027
Salvador Dalí never believed art should stay on the wall. This is the first major exhibition devoted to Dalí and fashion, with more than 200 paintings, drawings, photographs, garments and jewels. The story includes his collaborations with Elsa Schiaparelli, the designer behind the lobster dress Wallis Simpson made famous.
Good to know: it's open until 10:30 pm on Thursdays and closed on Mondays.
02 / MATISSE, MILAN
Matisse. Il mondo in una stanza, MUDEC. October 8, 2026 to February 21, 2027
Matisse's colors did not come out of nowhere. This show gathers around 100 works to trace how African, Islamic, Russian, Pacific and Chinese art shaped his language from the inside, with loans from MoMA, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Musée d'Orsay. The best part is the fabrics and objects from his own collection, lent by the Musée Matisse in Nice.
Good to know: MUDEC is in the Tortona design district. Pair it with a slow walk and an aperitivo by the Navigli.
03 / THE VENICE BIENNALE, VENICE
In Minor Keys, 61st International Art Exhibition. Until November 22, 2026
Go at the end of the season, when the summer crowds are gone and the lagoon turns silver. This edition was conceived by curator Koyo Kouoh, who died in 2025 before it opened, and it was completed by the team she chose. Its idea is simple and rare: art that whispers instead of shouting. More than a hundred artists and collectives fill the Giardini, the Arsenale and venues across the city.
Good to know: from October it's open 10 am to 6 pm and closed on most Mondays.
04 / ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI, FLORENCE
Artemisia Gentileschi a Firenze, Museo degli Innocenti. October 21, 2026 to April 4, 2027
Florence is where Artemisia Gentileschi became Artemisia. She arrived in 1612, after testifying against her rapist in a very public trial in Rome. Four years later she became the first woman admitted to the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno. She painted for the Medici and moved in the same circles as Galileo.
The show places her among the Florentine painters of her time, with two Caravaggios as guests. The setting helps too: the museum sits in Brunelleschi's foundling hospital, one of the first buildings of the Renaissance.
Good to know: arrive in Florence by Frecciarossa and show your train ticket for 25 percent off the exhibition. The ticket must be dated no more than two days before your visit.
05 / CHESTNUT SUNDAYS IN MARRADI, TUSCANY
Sagra delle Castagne. Every Sunday in October 2026
Every October, the small mountain town of Marradi, between Florence and Faenza, turns its center into a love letter to the Marron Buono, its local chestnut. There are chestnut tortelli, castagnaccio, marrons glacés and bruciati, the roasted ones.
Good to know: on festival Sundays, a vintage train has traditionally made the trip through the Apennine woods. Check this year's timetable before you go.
06 / PONTORMO, ROME
Pontormo, Scuderie del Quirinale. October 9, 2026 to February 7, 2027
This is the first major monographic exhibition ever devoted to Jacopo da Pontormo, the Florentine painter who took the calm of the Renaissance and made it strange: acid pinks, weightless bodies, faces that look like they just heard gossip. He went on to fascinate Pier Paolo Pasolini and Bill Viola. In his last years, he kept a diary that mostly records what he ate for dinner.
Good to know: book a timed ticket online before you go.
07 / LE VIE DEI TESORI, PALERMO
Weekends through November 15, 2026
Le Vie dei Tesori is Palermo's annual permission slip to walk through doors that are normally locked. It began in 2006 with ten University of Palermo sites, including the old prisons of the Spanish Inquisition. For its 20th edition, it spreads across 19 Sicilian cities, with aristocratic palazzi, hidden chapels and gardens behind walls.
Good to know: most visits are walk-in, but a few need booking, so check the program first.
Dates were checked in September 2026 and can change. Confirm on the official sites before you book.
