This Italian Island Is Offering Refunds If It Rains During Your Holiday

Booking a holiday out of season is risky business. Sure, it will probably cost you a fraction of the price of a mid-summer holiday, but there's always the chance you'll get bad weather. In which case, what was the point in leaving the UK at all?

Well now, one Italian holiday destination is removing this dilemma altogether, by offering holiday-goers refunds if it rains in May, September and October.

Yes, all hotels on the island of Elba in Italy will be offering refunds if it rains for more than two hours in the day between the hours of 10am and 8pm. If the heavens do open, you'll get a refund for the value of the night's stay.

Unsplash/Amanda Dalbjörn

So, if it rains every day during your holiday for more than two hours per day, you'll get your entire stay for free.

Elba No Rain, launched by the island's tourism board, will run for the entire month of May, and begin again from 15th September through to the end of October.

I know what you're thinking. Elba must be pretty confident in its sunny skies, right?

And with good reason - the Italian island, located just off the coast of Tuscany enjoys an average of 19 degrees in May, 22 degrees in September and 18 degrees in October, according to Holiday Weather.

Unsplash/Cristina Gottardi

July is the hottest month in Elba, with average temperatures of 25 degrees, while the coldest is January at 10 degrees. The wettest month is November, with an average of 86mm of rain, and the best month for a dip in the sea is August, with average sea temperatures sitting at a rather lovely 25 degrees.

Elba is Italy's third largest island after Sicily and Sardinia and boasts tropical-esque beaches and quaint towns. It's most famous attractions are the picturesque village of Marina di Campo, Mount Capanne, which you have to get a cable car to reach, and the white-sanded Beach Of Samson.

The tourist board's website reads: "Even if rain is rare in Elba in May, a little rain can happen. But at Elba even rain is not a problem! In fact, with the initiative 'Elba No Rain', during the month of May, in the case of rain, the overnight stay is not paid!"

The initiative is part of a push to attract more tourists to the island, and we can see it working a treat. Sunshine or your money back? Count us in.

Topics: Weather, Life News, Life

Ciara Sheppard

Ciara is a freelance journalist working for Tyla. After graduating from the University of Sussex, Ciara worked as a writer at GLAMOUR Magazine and later as the Assistant Editor of Yahoo Style UK.

@ciarasheppard