August Closures in Italy

[Mimiya11]

Heading on a cruise in August.  In planning pre and post our cruise from Rome, we completely forgot that Europeans vacation in August. 

As a result, the Rome restaurant we had hoped to go to advised us that they are closed for August and now am concerned we may be finding planning more difficult for our post cruise 5 days in the Chianti region.   

Any advice is appreciated. 

 

[cruisemom42]

Usually closures begin around August 15 until the end of the month. That's the traditional vacation period.

 

These days I don't think it's that difficult to find restaurants open, especially in areas where there are lots of tourists. A few smaller ones may close, but some will remain open. 

[alserrod]

It simply depends on the client the business is aimed at (both restaurants and any type of store).
In Europe we tend to take most vacations in summer (and coinciding with non-school periods)... and by tradition much more in August than in July.
If the majority of customers are local, the business will try to coincide its holiday closing with those of the majority of its customers.
If most of the customers are tourists, the business will try to be open when there are more tourists.