As we come up to the festive season in Italy, you will need to know the best and worst of Italian Christmas traditions, places to go for New Year in Italy, and what to avoid.
Over the next few weeks we’ll be bringing you a guide to all things Christmas in Italy and the festive season.
The first thing to note is that going to church at some stage is likely to be involved.
If you’re clever, you’ll find a church for Midnight mass in Italy that doesn’t conduct a three hour long service.
I recommend getting yourself invited to private parties or Italian family celebrations over the Christmas period – they’re normally the best in terms of food served.
Coming up to Christmas there is plenty of evening shopping in Italy, both for gift-buying but also to promenade.
In Italy’s city centres, plenty of lights and decorations are to be enjoyed (the Milan city council even has a document detailing the aim and procedures of setting up Christmas lights).
I recommend smaller towns for real Christmas feel, Verona is particularly lovely at this time of year.
Stay tuned for our next posts on Christmas in Italy, and Italian New Year celebrations.