Christmas in Italy
 

My husband and I will be taking our two boys, one a 20 year old college student and the other a 15 year old to Italy for Christmas. Both are seasoned travelers. We arrive in Venice Dec. 20 and depart from Rome Dec. 31. We were thinking of traveling to Florence by train then onto Rome by train. We would also like to spend some time in Tuscany. Do you think we would have time for Tuscany and how should we divide our days? Lastly, has anyone got suggestions for Christmas eve? Thanks!!

I have spent a couple Christmases & New Year's Eves in Italy. The holidays are lovely in Italy because they are not as "over the top" and commercialized as they are here in the U.S. Simple white lights strung through the trees, white lights in shop windows, hot caffe or espresso to warm you up during the brisk, cool days is what you can expect during that time of year. Very little Santas and elves around like in the States! Be warned that Venice will be very cold in December - I was there last November and it was freezing riding on the #84 vaporetto going up the Grand Canal. Make sure you bring extra scarves and gloves to bundle up; and while there may not be snow, there will be rain so bring an umbrella!

Each region celebrates the holidays in its own way. In Genoa and the Liguria area, for example, they eat polenta (corn meal mixture) served in a bowl with like a beef stew accompanying it for Christmas Eve. For New Year's Eve, it is a constant food fest that starts around 8:30 pm and goes til beyond 12 midnight with dish after dish of fish being served; and always a dish of "good luck" beans - fagiole - usually lentils. I am not sure how the holiday is celebrated in Rome but I am certain they will have some fish dishes as well as that dish is synonomous with New Year's.

In terms of your itinerary, you could fly into Venice, spend Dec 20-22 there, then onto to Florence via train for Dec 23-25, then perhaps to Lucca (another favorite Tuscan city) for Dec 26-27, then finally on to Rome for Dec 28-31. If you'd rather not add another Tuscan city as an overnight destination, you can make Florence your base to explore the other towns from there.

Thanks for the great suggestions! Do you think we should have all of our hotel reservations made befoe we go?

I would if I were you, I always book my hotels before I go anyway. And often hoteliers close their properties down in Dec-Jan, then reopen in February. Rome is highly unlikely anything would close since it is a big city, but I would definitely try to book places in each of the towns you are going to. It will be wonderful then, I am going next month, then again for Christmas too! I just love it there.

We have spent christmas there and it was a blast. Christmas eve is the big evening. We got bread, cheese etc. and ate on the rooftop of our hotel. If you want a rest. be sure to get a reservation. Be sure to go to the vatican for the papal blessing on christmas day. get there around 10:00 am. The blessing starts around noon it is very moving even if you don't subscribe.