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CHRISTMAS

TRAVEL: Italy’s most popular Christmas holiday destinations in 2022

With tourism back in full swing this winter holiday season, which parts of Italy will be welcoming the biggest crowds?

Published: 19 December 2022 16:13 CET
TRAVEL: Italy’s most popular Christmas holiday destinations in 2022
Naples is a favourite destination for both Italian and international tourists over the festive season. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)

Italy is looking forward to a 2022-23 Christmas and New Year period with very few Covid rules in place after celebrations were limited in the past two years.

As well as family gatherings and events, this means the return of restriction-free holiday travel, and Italian residents as well as international visitors are planning to return to the country’s best-loved tourist hotspots for a break over this festive season.

Rome was named Italy’s most sought-after destination for a Christmas break among tourists from the US, France, Spain, Brazil and Germany in a survey by rental platform Airbnb.

The Italian cities of Florence, Milan, Venice and Naples also scored highly among international tourists in the Airbnb survey, which ranked destinations searched for (not bookings made) in the December 18th-January 2nd period, reported Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.

Christmas light in a street in Rome

Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP

The Italian capital was also the top European city break destination among British visitors planning to travel over the Christmas season, according to a survey by UK low-cost airline easyJet, which ranked Rome ahead of Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin.

Reasons given for Rome’s particular appeal at Christmas included the city’s light displays, religious ceremonies, and an “air of seasonal romance”, according to a report in the UK’s Daily Mirror.

READ ALSO: How to make the most of a Christmas break in Rome

Italians meanwhile favoured the country’s ski resorts and national parks in their Airbnb searches for winter break accommodation.

The northern province of Trentino-Alto Adige was named the most popular part of Italy among Italians travelling this winter, with four entries in the top ten: the popular ski destinations of Merano and Andalo, and the cities of Trento and Bolzano.

The top ten also included Breuil-Cervinia in Valle d’Aosta, Roccaraso in Abruzzo, Verona in Aosta in Valle d’Aosta and Aprica in Lombardy, all of which are popular for winter sports and mountain scenery.

The city of Verona in Veneto, known for its Christmas markets and romantic atmosphere as well as being a short distance from popular ski resorts, was also a favourite among Italian holidaymakers.

READ ALSO: Where to see Italy’s most magical Christmas displays in 2022

Photo by Vincenzo PINTO / AFP

Meanwhile, the most searched-for destinations for a break in 2023 among Italians included New York, Barcelona, ​​Paris, Amsterdam and Naples, according to Airbnb.

For New Year’s Eve celebrations, Rome, Milan, Venice, Naples and Bologna are the top Italian destinations for foreign visitors, according to a report by the Dire news agency, using booking data from the Edreams travel website.

Most international visitors at New Year will come from Spain (24 percent), followed by France (17 percent) and Germany (14 percent), the report found.

For Italians, the top three European destinations for New Year’s Eve were Paris, Barcelona and London.

The top ten featured Milan and the southern Italian cities of Naples, Catania and Palermo.

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ITALIAN TRADITIONS

Five Italian New Year traditions to bring luck for 2024

Celebrating San Silvestro in Italy? There are a few customs to follow to make sure you start 2024 with as much good fortune as possible.

Published: 30 December 2023 14:47 CET
Five Italian New Year traditions to bring luck for 2024

Eating lentils

At many an Italian New Years Eve party, small dishes of lentils are handed out to guests just before the countdown.

Lentils, or lenticchie, are believed to bring good luck, as they’re said to represent small coins and therefore bring wealth and prosperity in the year ahead.

The tradition of eating them at New Year – shortly after midnight – is said to date back to Ancient Rome. The more you eat, the luckier you’ll be in the coming year.

Wearing red underwear

If you’re hoping for an Italian romance, the only way to make sure Cupid shoots an arrow in your direction during 2024 is to deck yourself out in red underwear on New Year’s Eve. 

Some say that the charm only works if the undies are a gift, while others firmly believe you have to give them away before daybreak.

Either way, the majority of Italians firmly believe that the custom is linked to fertility or good luck in your sexual endeavours (60 percent agree with this statement, at least according to a survey carried out by drinks company San Pellegrino).

More generally, red underwear will apparently help to fend off evil spirits and negativity, bringing you happiness in the coming year: the colour red has been used for centuries by superstitious Italians to ward off disaster.

Throwing things out of the window

Watch out for falling objects – in some southern parts of the country, it’s traditional to throw possessions, particularly crockery, out of your window to show that you are ready for a new start in the new year.

As national treasure Totò says in New Year’s Eve comedy The Passionate Thief:

– San Silvestro, roba vecchia, defenestro!
– On New Year’s Eve, out of the window old stuff must leave!

If you’d rather that new start didn’t involve arguments with the neighbours about why you threw a plate at their head in the middle of the night, an alternative tradition is crashing pots and pans together at your front door, to frighten away evil spirits (see below).

People set off firecrackers by the Colosseum. (Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE / AFP)

Making noise

One thing we can guarantee is that, unless you’re in the middle of the deepest Italian countryside, New Year’s Eve is going to be a noisy affair. And the further south you get, the more incredible the noise levels.

Fireworks, music, the beeping of horns, and perhaps a few smashing plates all add to the cacophony in the streets of towns and cities as the clock strikes midnight. Fireworks in particular are likely to be going off all evening ahead of the start of the new year, and even during the day.

Few people are likely to be thinking about the festivities in these terms nowadays, but if you ask an older Italian you might be told that, according to superstition, demons and evil spirits don’t like loud noises, so all this ensures they’ve been well and truly scared off before the new year begins. 

Making a racket at your front door in particular is to be encouraged, as this deters evil spirits from entering the house along with the new year.

A swim in the sea (or the River Tiber)

If you still have any energy left the next morning, one surefire way to zap your Prosecco hangover is with a freezing-cold dip in the sea.

Along Italy’s warmer southern coasts, and occasionally further north, you’ll see groups of hardy swimmers braving the water early on the morning of January 1st in a longstanding tradition that’s said to bring health and prosperity in the new year (or at least a clear head on the first day of it).

If you’re in Rome, you could instead join in with the more questionable tradition of jumping into the River Tiber on New Year’s Day, which has been increasingly popular since it began in 1946.

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