What time is it in Italy?
CET / CEST · Europe/Rome
Back to ItalyNow in Rome
CET UTC+01:00
UTC+01:00
UTC+02:00 in summerCentral European Standard Time
Italy runs on Central European Time, UTC+1, and puts its clocks forward to ora legale, summer time at UTC+2, from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. The time zone database gives the country a single zone, Europe/Rome, and San Marino and Vatican City, which border only Italy, keep the same clock as Rome.
Today
Daylight in Rome today
DayLive
12:00
- Sunrise
- 07:03First light 06:35
- Sunset
- 18:58Last light 19:26
- Day length
- 11 h 55 min−3 min on yesterday
- Solar noon
- 13:00Sun at 46°, its highest
Plan a call
Find an hour that works in Italy and elsewhere
The two rows are the same day, hour for hour. Pick a city, then an hour, and the line between the rows marks the office hours both sides share.
Time difference
How far Italy is from other places
Neighbours
- AustriaViennaSame time
- SwitzerlandBernSame time
- FranceParisSame time
- MaltaVallettaSame time
- SloveniaLjubljanaSame time
- San MarinoSan MarinoSame time
- Vatican CityVatican CitySame time
Around the world
- London−1 h
- New York−6 h
- Los Angeles−9 h
- São Paulo−5 h
- Moscow+1 h
- Dubai+2 h
- Delhi+3:30 h
- Beijing+6 h
- Tokyo+7 h
- Sydney+8 h
Clock changes
When the clocks change in Italy
Next change
Sunday, 25 October 2026
Clocks go back one hour: at 03:00 it becomes 02:00 CET, UTC+01:00. The night is an hour longer.
| Year | Clocks go forward | Clocks go back |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 29 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 25 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
| 2027 | 28 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 31 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
| 2028 | 26 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 29 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
| 2029 | 25 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 28 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
| 2030 | 31 March 02:00 → 03:00 | 27 October 03:00 → 02:00 |
Italy kept summer time from 1916 to 1920 and again from 1940 to 1948, and in 1941 the clocks stayed at UTC+2 through the winter as well. A law of 1965 made ora legale compulsory across the whole country from 1966, and it has been used every summer since. From 1996 the dates have followed European Union rules: forward on the last Sunday in March and back on the last Sunday in October, both at 01:00 UTC. Before 1893 Italy kept a mean solar time 49 minutes ahead of Greenwich.
Italy was one of the member states in favour of keeping the present arrangement when the European Commission proposed ending seasonal clock changes in 2018. The European Parliament backed the proposal on 26 March 2019 and debated it again on 23 October 2025, but the directive needs the Council of the European Union as well, and the Council has not approved it.
Daylight
Sunrise and sunset through the year in Rome
- Sunrise
- 07:03
- Sunset
- 18:58
- Daylight
- 11 h 55 min
- Change
- −3 min
Longest day of 2026: 19 June, 15 h 14 min.
Computed for 41.89, 12.48 at sea level with the NOAA solar equations, to the nearest minute, taking no account of hills.
Writing the time
- Clock
- 24-hour
- Short date
- 05/03/26
- Long date
- 5 marzo 2026
- Week starts
- Monday
- Zone names
- CET / CEST
- Time zone database
- Rome
History
How the clocks in Italy got here
- 1890
- To 1892.Local mean time, UTC+00:49, before the standard zone.
- 1893
- The move from local mean time, UTC+00:49, to UTC+01:00.
- 1894
- To 1915.UTC+01:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1916
- To 1920.UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
- 1921
- To 1939.UTC+01:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1940
- UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
- 1941
- Summer time kept through the winter: UTC+02:00 all year.
- 1942
- UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
- 1943
- To 1948.UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
- 1949
- To 1965.UTC+01:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1966
- To today.UTC+01:00 in winter, UTC+02:00 in summer time.
From the IANA time zone database, Europe/Rome, as the build machine carries it.
Common questions
Questions about the time in Italy
What time zone is Italy in?
Italy keeps Central European Time in winter, one hour ahead of UTC, and Central European Summer Time, two hours ahead, from late March to late October. Italians call the summer offset ora legale. There is no second zone: the time zone database lists a single one for the whole country, Europe/Rome, so the hour in Rome is the hour everywhere else in Italy.
When do the clocks change in Italy in 2026?
Ora legale began on Sunday 29 March 2026, when 02:00 became 03:00. It ends on Sunday 25 October, when 03:00 turns back to 02:00. In 2027 the clocks go forward on 28 March and back on 31 October. Both changes fall at 01:00 UTC, the same instant across the European Union.
What does ora legale mean?
It is the Italian name for summer time: the months from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October, when Italian clocks run at UTC+2 instead of UTC+1. A law of 1965 made it compulsory nationwide from 1966. The winter offset, Central European Time, is the standard one, and the one Italy returns to each October.
Do San Marino and Vatican City keep the same time as Italy?
Yes. Both are enclaves with a land border only with Italy, and both follow Italian time, changing to summer time on the same night in March and back on the same night in October. A clock in Rome, in Vatican City and in San Marino shows the same hour all year, so crossing either border never means resetting a watch.
When did Italy first use summer time?
In 1916, and it lasted until 1920. It returned from 1940 to 1948, a spell that included a winter in 1941 when the clocks were never put back. After seventeen years without it, a law of 1965 brought summer time back from 1966, and every year since has had one.
Will Italy stop changing the clocks?
No change is scheduled. The directive that would end the twice-yearly switch passed the European Parliament in 2019 and has been stuck in the Council of the European Union since. Italy itself was among the governments that preferred to keep ora legale in summer and standard time in winter, as now.
What time did Italy keep before 1893?
A mean solar time 49 minutes ahead of Greenwich, according to the time zone database. In 1893 the country moved to UTC+1, the offset of Central Europe, and that has remained its standard time ever since. Every clock change after that date has been a move between UTC+1 and UTC+2.