Trento sits in a sheltered Alpine valley with hot summers (often 30 °C in July and August), cold winters, and brilliant short shoulder seasons. The most rewarding times to visit are May and June, when the apple orchards in the surrounding valleys finish flowering and the high meadows of Monte Bondone come into bloom, and September and October, when the grape harvest is on and the surrounding forests turn.
December brings the Mercatini di Natale, one of the most attended Christmas markets in northern Italy, with chalets across Piazza Battisti and Piazza Cesare Battisti for the four weeks before the holiday. Winter is also the ski season on Monte Bondone and at the larger resorts an hour's drive away.
Late summer hosts the Trento Film Festival (early May, mountain and adventure film) and the Festival dell'Economia (early June), both of which fill the city's hotels — book ahead in those windows.