rome at Christmas
 

We finally booked our airline tickets -using miles and a lot of creative routing, and now I wonder if anyone has tips on what to do in and around Rome during Christmas and Epiphany. This is our 2nd trip to Rome, so while we certainly hope to see some of the usual sites, we are hoping that there are some seasonal activities or events we can join. I am familiar with the Christmas markets but wonder if there are concerts or other special events that aren't widely promoted. If anyone has been to Rome during this period, I would love to hear about it. (We also hope to go south toward Naples - if anyone has suggestions for that part of the country.) Thank you all.

What dates are you there?

Dec 20-Jan9th. We are thinking of staying in Rome from Dec 20-Jan 1 and then heading down toward Naples. Of course,we also hadn't realized that there was a 20-25% premium on apts in Rome at Christmas, and that they would be scarce. So now that we have the airline tickets JJ is searching for an apt and I am putting together the itinerary. All suggestions are appreciated. Thank you

Be sure to see the beautiful creche scene in the Pantheon and over in St. Peter's square.

There is another thread going about Christmas in Rome, so you might want to check it out...as I said there, regardless of your faith, consider attending a midnight mass on Christmas eve and/or the pope's blessing in St. Peter's Square on Christmas day.

Christmas eve at either the Pantheon or Maria Aracoeli are both pretty cool.

Watch the fireworks on New Years Eve from the top of the Capitoline, behind Palazzo Senatorio.

While your time is getting close, I suspect there are still many apartments available. Check out Sleep in Italy, use their neighborhood finder. Campo dei Fiori, Navonna, Pantheon are the three most central. Not sure how many people are in your group, but I did an "across the board" search for the dates you specified and about 40 apartments came up, with about 13 in the central area, priced between 100 and 200 euros per night.

www.sleepinitaly.com

dave