I have always dreamed of spending the holidays in Italy. I'd love to see the Christmas decorations, eat traditional foods and seasonal treats, see the lights and nativity scenes, experience a small village in Umbria or Tuscany during this season. My concern is that with so many things closed, it would be depressing to be in an apartment or rental with no tree, cookies, or sense of family. Have others found this to be true?

Thanks to Slow Travel, we have friends in various parts of Italy, but many B&Bs are closed during the winter. I am curious how others have found a family feeling when away for a couple weeks during Christmas and New Years? Will my idea remain a fantasy? How do others feel who have no children, or who don't see their kids at Christmas? Would you go away during this time? With a group? With other couples?

Hi, this is our first time to visit Europe. Any suggestions or recommendations. Thanks

Palma, in 2006 I spent Christmas with my relatives in Italy, and I can tell you that even with them around me, it just wasn't the same. It wasn't just being away from my immediate family, it was the whole package. There was no crazy shopping in the lead up to the big day and none of the same Christmas carols. And of course, I missed all the things about Christmas in Australia... the sun, the beach, cherries, the Boxing Day test (it's a cricket match) and the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

It was still a fun day, it was interesting to see how other people celebrate Christmas and the food was amazing... but it just wasn't home.

I don't know if I would do another Christmas away from home. Look at it this way - I wouldn't go out of my way to travel to celebrate Christmas away from home. The exception would be if I made a trip together with my parents and my sister's family.

I hope this helps you. Claire.

Palma, although you have an aversion to France , you should read about Roz's experiences in France during Christams, Deux Joyeux Noëls: Two Joyous Christmases in France. It might give you an idea on what it's like to be away. She went again this past Christmas, and there are some posts over on the France forum (I think), about her journey.

The Italians have an expression:

"Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi"
(Christmas with your family, Easter with whoever you wish"

And I think they have a point!

The idea of being part of an Italian Christmas is enticing but unless you're with your very nearest and dearest maybe the idea is better than the reality.

Away from Australia and in Italy for Christmas, I like experiencing all the pre-Christmas things like visiting the wonderful presepi, eating panettone/pandoro, seeing the shop windows decked out with gorgeous things and enjoying the Christmas lights glittering through the winter gloom (very different for me used to the long days of an Australian summer)

But, unless I have my family around me eating and doing all the traditional family things that we have done every Christmas, I don't want to be away from home on Christmas Day.

Whenever I've been away from home on Christmas Day, I've felt pangs of homesickness never felt on any other day of the year.

For you, it might be very different - and I guess you won't know until you try!

Palma - although I have never been away from home on Christmas day, I have sworn never to be AT HOME for new years again. The last three years, I have left home the day after Christmas for Italy and have spent two weeks there - obviously including new years. I LOVE Italy in December and for New Years - lovely weather, few people, and except for actual New Years day, most things open. I don't know about missing Christmas at home, but I can give a hearty YES to the idea of New Years away - and especially in Italy!!

Palma, much as we love Italy, I think France is a better choice for a Christmas visit, unless you are going to be with friends or family. Italy does seem to be very family- and church-oriented at this season, and I think it's harder to be on your own there.

France is a very secular society, so the religious aspects of Christmas are not so all-encompassing as they are in Italy. In Paris even some museums are open on Christmas Day.

As I wrote in my trip report, we do not live near our immediate family, and our friends here all have big families of their own close by, so staying at home for Christmas can be a bit depressing. Sometimes we do go to California to be with family, but Christmas can be such a hectic and stressful time, and of course when your kids are married, the "other" families also have claims on their time. So we actually find it more rewarding to visit our children at other times of the year when we can spend more time together. Experiencing the holidays in another country has made the season special for us. On this most recent trip we also enjoyed visiting some Slow Trav friends in various places in France.

We had such a wonderful time on the French Riviera in 2005 that we went back again this past Christmas. There is a lot of Italian influence in Provence and the Riviera, so in some ways you get the best of both worlds there. Nice was part of the Italian kingdom of Savoy until the mid-19th century, and there is quite a bit of Italian still spoken in that area. And there are a lot of Italian restaurants.

If you click on the link under my name, you will go to a page with links to my photo albums from the past December in Paris, Aix, and Nice.

- Roz

We are "travel at Christmas" folks. We spent this Christmas in Sorrento. I was a little concerned about everything being closed as we usually spend Christmas in large cities, but Sorrento turned out to be a great place for Christmas. It's very festive and there were lots of other tourists (lots of Brits) and the weather was mild. The little markets and cafes were open until about 1/2 on Christmas day. We went down to the piazza, sat in the cafe, drank coffee and people watched (and made videos of the cars trying to navigate the traffic circle which had a huge Christmas tree in the center). LOts of the locals gathered in the piazza to talk and exchange greeting. And then we fixed a small Christmas dinner at the apartment. We didn't feel at all sad or depressed. We did call home to some family members.

Prior to Sorrento we spent 12 days in Rome and 12 days in Florence. Of the three, Sorrento had the most Christmas spirit, in my opinion. The people were very friendly and welcoming. There were great fireworks in the evening on Christmas Day. The fireworks on New Year's Eve (and continuing into the early hours of New Years Day was awesome.) There were more shops closed on the 26th than I expected. But once again the little markets were open for a few hours in the morning. However, on New Year Day restaurants were open but very few shops -- New Years Eve is party time there.

What I like about traveling at Christmas are the following:
1) I don't spend all of December baking cookies (if I'm going to gain weight, I want to do in a foreign country) and 2) no Christmas hype in the stores and on TV. It a much calmer holiday season in Europe. It's impossible for me not to bake like a madwoman if we are at home!

The downside is that I have to get all my cards, presents, etc out the door before we leave. This year I actually got all my xmas cards ready to mail in Sept.

Bottom line -- love traveling at Christmas!

quote:

no Christmas hype in the stores and on TV. It a much calmer holiday season in Europe.

So true ... that is something we love, too. The Christmases we have seen in France seem to be much more about traditions and less about relentless marketing.

We just opted out of Christmas cards and sent emails with a holiday picture and/or link to a holiday video we had posted. Of course, that means you have to be staying in a place with a high-speed Internet connection.

We also told our family not to send us any Christmas gifts, and that we would have a belated mini-Christmas when we next come to visit.

- Roz

I vote for going during the holidays. My husband and I have been to Italy for the holidays the last 2 years. We will never regret it! I did not miss the U.S. commercialism one bit.

The country is beautiful during this time of year. You must realize only a few things will be closed, you definately will not be alone. I love the lights, the real life manger scenes the cool weather and the wonderful hospitality of the italians. It is a perfect time to enjoy this country slowly.

A visit during this season is once in a lifetime experience. My husband and I celebrated our anniversary in Tuscany this year and renewed our wedding vows in Assisi last year. Life is short and a lifetime is not enough to enjoy all that there is to do!

If you have the opportunity, go for it! This last trip I found many Americans
visiting, most reported they return to this little slice of heaven every Christmas season.

Enjoy!
St. Monica

Palma, I have to say that Italian Christmas is no near as nice as NorthAmerican one, in terms of decorations, etc. And actually most things will only be closed on the 25th and 26th. Anyway, if you decide to cross the ocean and experience Christmas in this part of the world, you are most welcome to share the table with us.
You will have to be resistant though, because we first have Christmas lunch at my parents' place and then at Marcel's, so you must be able to put up with the full Italian treatment and the Anglo-Canadian one, and all in one day!

I love Italy at Christmas.

Our little city, Acqui Terme, is so beautifully decorated with some white lights spelling out AUGURI and others forming the outline of little fountains. The bars are full of people in the evening, having aperitivi and laughing. THe shops are all open late into the evenings and on Sundays as well, there are carols on some corners, a little play train for the kids going through the pedestrian streets. Restaurants are serving, there is a tree in the piazza, and while there is virtually no commercialism, there is a warm and wonderful atmosphere, and of course the smell of wood burning stoves.

THe thing is, Christmas here is small. Small and precious and quiet. No big work-up, no going crazy. YOur neighbors give you a panetone. You give them a bottle of Moscato. People go to church, sure, but it's not overtly religious. There are mangers to see, and there are, on the four weekends during advent, Christmas markets outside on the streets. This year they even made a little ice skating rink for people.

I really love it. I remember the pressure I used to feel in the states around the holidays, and I don't feel that here. Everything just naturally slows down, right up to the Epiphany on January 6th. It's lovely.

One other great thing about Italy in December (at least in our experience) -- no crowds and no lines at the museums and other historic sites. The only crowded museum was at the Vatican. At other museums in Rome, Florence and Napoli we were almost alone. Awesome!

I would never spend a Christmas away from home and my family in my entire life !

And for sure not in a warm place ... I love too much snow and the good chances of a White Christmas that we have here

About the fact that in Italy Christmas is a little less "commercial" and "stressed" than America is true above all for medium-little towns/villages.
In medium-big towns/cities the Christmas holiday is not that much different from USA.

I mean ... try to go in a mall district and then tell me the differences

And on TV we have load of Christmas advs and movies between late november and early january.

bye

I would like to add my "two cents" to this topic. Although not in Italy, my husband and I spent Christmas of 2006 with our 12 year old son in Portugal. We were amazed at how less commercial Christmas was especially in the smaller towns and villages. On the trains, we noticed people were not burdened down with shopping bags either. The residents did not seem to be overwhelmed.

We celebrated Christmas without a tree, decorations and yes.......no presents! We even cooked frozen pizza for dinner!!!!!!!! It now is a wonderful memory of Christmas spent in the true sense of the season...........being with family with no demands, obligations or a tree bulging with gifts.

Sandy

Palma, it would simply be a different experience for you. From reading your blog it's obvious that you adore cooking, baking, and entertaining your friends. That would all be different for you. So...you'd make a new memory instead!

When I was 18, I made my first trip to Florence with my parents, who were at the time living in Provence. I remember the night before, staying in a hotel in La Spezia, I heard a little boy saying excitedly to his grandparents, "Domani e Natale!" and that was the first Italian sentence I ever understood. Then, on Christmas day, it was a brilliant sunny day in Florence, and no one was walking about except me, and I had the Italian illuminaries of the Piazzale degli Uffizi (Michelangelo, Leonardo, Petrarch, etc etc etc) all to myself. And with church bells pealing, I felt like I was having a religious experience. Never to be forgotten.

quote:

THe thing is, Christmas here is small. Small and precious and quiet. No big work-up, no going crazy.

That sounds like heaven!

I used to say that I could never be away for Christmas - last year when we were in New York I was proven to be wrong. I wasn't homesick once. I discovered that for us Christmas wasn't in family/friends, entertaining, the decorations, the traditions, but rests in spending time together - it is who you are with.

I also dream of Christmas in Italy - I have seen the most beautiful pictures of Florence at Christmas which just tugged at me.

I love the idea of making new memories.

You've asked some really good questions, Palma. I've spent a month-6 weeks Dec-Jan in Italy for the past 18 or 19 years, so that is my Christmas tradition now. But I've wondered, when I've read people's posts about going to Italy for Christmas, what it's like during that time for travelers who do not have friends or family there.

One thing that I really like is that the holiday season is extended. It used to make me sad here in Boston to see Christmas trees already in the trash on Dec 26. The holiday season goes until Jan 6, so I feel it gives some time to appreciate it post-Christmas day, after the pre-Christmas rush of present buying, kids' Christmas concerts, shopping and cooking, etc.

One thing I would often do, when I rented an apartment or stayed at Il Cestello, was buy a small live tree, and decorate it with Pan di Stelle cookies. At Christmas they come in holiday shapes and you can put a ribbon through the hole and hang them on the tree. Our family's place in Corchiano(VT) now has some of my old trees growing, as does a friend in Florence who has a big yard.

How funny Palma!

My first Italian Christmas dinner I threw up!
way too much food.
So now, although I am married to an Italian, we avoid the large meals and his family is small so a phone call is all we do as they are now grandparents and the family has grown on that side.

I adore travelling around the country going to the Christmas Festivals, this year we went to Torino. Italy is beautiful.
there are life size creche scenes, in clay and live, villages celabrating all sorts of thing.

But for the food.. it is family!
going out to a restaurant wouldn't be the same.
So don't know what to advise.
unless you created a "Palma's Christmas Week" in italy and rented a villa where you could cook and have friends celebrate with you!

My husband and I just returned from our first Christmas in Italy (Lucca) and I say "go"! It was just magical! My husband as many cousins there so we were with extended family a lot, which I'm sure made some difference. To me though, it was more about seeing how a different culture celebrates in a much less commercial way. And the lack of crowds of tourists only helped.

Palma, I have resisted this thread as I really am not sure what to say. You and Brad manage to take fully from whatever you do and so could probably do so at Christmas in Italy. With that said,I think that unless you connected up with friends (and you have many), Christmas could be lonely for "people" persons like the two of you.

Last year we enjoyed Florence and its lights, even spent a night there a few days before Christmas so that we could appreciate the ambience.

But we had a home with a tree and packages and stockings and then friends to spend Christmas with. Christmas Eve we went out to dinner and did feel a little alone then. Fortunately one of our favorites was open that night.

If you are going to "experience" Christmas in Italy, you may be disappointed. If you are going to experience Italy at a different time, in a different way then you will be fine.

Would I do it? Of course! As long as I developed realistic expectations, I would go to Italy at any time.

I was referred to this thread when I put out my own question on where to go, following five nights in Rome over Christmas. My husband and I see this as a special opportunity to be with our young adult children, ages 22 and 18, during the one school break when we're guaranteed to have them together...maybe for the last time since my son will graduate from college, and hopefully be working this time next year!

I'm looking for advice on where to go for the long weekend, following Christmas in Rome. We plan to leave Rome on the 26th and stay for three nights. I'm thinking of using Sorrento as a home base mainly to visit Pompeii. But should we consider a different location/direction? We'd like to experience the small village atmosphere and relax after zipping around Rome. Any advice is welcome!

Also, any advice on where to have Christmas dinner in Rome would be great.

Tim Parks im "Italian Neighbours" has a chapter Viva, Viva, Natale arriva!

This is in line with other posters comments

quote:

Christmas is not quite the spree it is in England. This is partly because, at least in the Veneto, the children have already had their presents. Santa Lucia, 13 December, was the day. So the pavements are no longer choked with grandmothers determined to gratify excited infants. Decorations are everywhere evident, but fairly modest in the end:

Things may have changed since 1988, but the chapter is worth reading as a preparation.

quote:

Originally posted by JohnFromAus:
Tim Parks im "Italian Neighbours" has a chapter Viva, Viva, Natale arriva!

This is in line with other posters comments

quote:

Christmas is not quite the spree it is in England. This is partly because, at least in the Veneto, the children have already had their presents. Santa Lucia, 13 December, was the day. So the pavements are no longer choked with grandmothers determined to gratify excited infants. Decorations are everywhere evident, but fairly modest in the end:

Things may have changed since 1988, but the chapter is worth reading as a preparation.

Well, at least here the Christmas presents have been always much "bigger" than the Santa Lucia's or Befana's ones.
On december 13th, the childrens find usually just some sweets, bon-bons and some small toys, while on Christmas they have bigger toys, clothes etc.
The Befana brings just some sweets and small toys (in a sock/stocking), just like Santa Lucia.

What a lovely thread! Palma, I would totally do the Christmatas thing in Italy. We were in Rome the week before Xmas in 2006 and it was magical, hardly any tourists, bars were lively and food was unbelievable...

I will also give a shout out to being in England at CHristmas as well. I have spent many Christmas's there and love the atmosphere, its a little more commercial than say Italy but, get in the countryside and go to some lovely country pubs, with a fire burning in the hearth. They are so cozy and everybody is happy and wearing there new jumpers (sweaters). Savory pies and ales and christmas pudding and turkey dinner...love it!

Palma,
I wouldn't worry about being lonely or not having company for the holidays. One of the greatest things about Italians is their penchant for social contact, and even though Christmas is spent in compagnia della famiglia, there is still a full-on passeggiata on Christmas evening. Pasticcerie and bars are open on Christmas morning (can't start the day without your usual coffee, after all!). Christmas Eve (and usually a few days before, too) brings out bancarelli stalls for a Christmas mercato, everyone packs the caffes for aperitivi.

Decorations can vary depending on locale - from elaborate to plain. Here in Ascoli they light the place up. There is a skating rink in Piazza Arringo and a carousel in Piazza del Popolo. Christmas concerts, usually classical music or American southern gospel choirs, perform throughout the weeks leading up to Christmas. There is a lot going on, though the emphasis is definitely much less commercialized and so we love spending the holidays here.

I don't think it is a depressing or solitary feeling to be here away from our families for Christmas. But then, we spent many years in New Mexico, just the two of us, since we didn't like to travel during the holiday season and our families had similiar sentiments. I'd say "go for it"! Nothing to lose, and you may just love it.