Jubilee year Italy 2025 thoughts

[Vineyard View]

We met with some friends who just completed a lovely land trip in Italy. They hired several private guides including in Rome, Amalfi Coast, and Florence. When they mentioned that they might return next year, each and every one encouraged them to wait until 2026 unless they want to experience the mass influx of visitors next year due to it being a Jubilee year. 
 

We have been looking at a 10 day cruise ending in Rome, with thoughts that we would take a train up to Florence out of Civitavecchia, rent a car, and explore for another week or so. I research the expected crowd surge, and it is anticipated to be an additional 30-35 million (61 million visited in all of 2023). While most will be heading to Rome, they likely won’t be staying exclusively in that area. This has us wondering if we should re-think this itinerary. 
A second itinerary has our attention, however it sails mid-late June, and we always avoid summer travel due crowds when schools are out. 
 

Has anyone considering travel next year that could include Italy, (ports, or pre/post cruise), been concerned about the impact this could have on your time there? 

[MEFIowa]

Am I missing it, but what is the MONTH for the "We have been looking at a 10 day cruise ending in Rome"? You rightly want to avoid June, to miss the crowds.

 

We were in Rome of Riviera 11/2023. The Athens to Barcelona cruise. We paid a pretty penny for our private driver and guide for Rome but it was worth it for we got right in to the Colosseum & Vatican and also saw ALL we could in the time we had.

 

During weekdays in school months the locals aren't really out in the places. Only the tourists. And tourists struggle to travel much if their own home country is also still in school. Mostly adults travelling then.

 

We had fantastic weather the entire cruise. I was wearing shorts in Athens, Istanbul, Rome and Barcelona (where we ended 11/19/23). And the hordes of tourists are down. BUT as always, you have to get to the tourist site early to avoid the crowds that will be there. Getting to the Acropolis or entrance to the St. John's Fortress (Montenegr

 

Our B2B included days in Bari, Messina (Taormina), Naples, Rome and La Spezia (diverted from Livorno due to weather). And we started in Venice, 3 nights there before the 1st part started in Trieste on 10/30/23.

[Vineyard View]

The cruise ending in Rome is in May. We’ve been to Rome several times and will likely skip if we take this one, taking a train elsewhere from the port. 
June is an itinerary that does not include Italy at all. 
I apologize for not being clear on that. 
The Jubilee starts 12/24/24 and goes throughout 2025. It only occurs every 25 years. It is very important in the Catholic religion. It is expected to attract 30-35 million Pilgrims to Rome (and throughout) over and above the normal number of visitors, which was 60 million to Italy in 2023. 

[MEFIowa]

We took the train from Venice to Trieste on 10/30/23. E15.50 per person. Easy to board and use. On time.

 

BUT beware, when we were in La Spezia I was able to join the Communist Party of Italy in a half-day Friday national walk out transportation strike. Of course, on a Friday. Had a big march down the main street. Lots of flags. Their hammer & sickle brought back my Cold War memories in my USAF intelligence analyst days. And he was lonely, I thought, since I think I only saw one of their flags. Those were the days, the once powerful CPI brought low today.

[Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin]

We had already booked a Rome to Istanbul cruise next November before the Jubilee was announced (or at least, before I heard about it!)  When checking, the weekend we plan to be in Rome is not one of the weekends with planned celebrations.  I have already booked a room in Rome.  Haven't booked transportation from Rome to port yet, but worst case, would take the train.  (Assuming MEFLowa's experience is not repeated!)  Fingers crossed that the crowds will be less in November!

[Vineyard View]

2 hours ago, Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin said:

We had already booked a Rome to Istanbul cruise next November before the Jubilee was announced (or at least, before I heard about it!)  When checking, the weekend we plan to be in Rome is not one of the weekends with planned celebrations.  I have already booked a room in Rome.  Haven't booked transportation from Rome to port yet, but worst case, would take the train.  (Assuming MEFLowa's experience is not repeated!)  Fingers crossed that the crowds will be less in November!

Thank you for your update. I am not sure what to expect, as the reports I am reading suggest large crowds in particularly Rome all of next year, but also major cities and outlying areas. 

We took a train years ago from Florence to Zurich….in the middle of nowhere countryside, the train just stopped. For a couple hours. Yet another strike. We’ve experienced air traffic controllers, trains, busses, water taxis….all strike during our visits to Italy. It can be pretty disruptive, but usually temporary. 
 

A 50% surge in tourists expected in Italy over the course of next year catches my attention even more. One of the Jubilee events is two days prior to the conclusion of the cruise, so I have to think it will be impacted. 

[Vineyard View]

11 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

We took the train from Venice to Trieste on 10/30/23. E15.50 per person. Easy to board and use. On time.

 

BUT beware, when we were in La Spezia I was able to join the Communist Party of Italy in a half-day Friday national walk out transportation strike. Of course, on a Friday. Had a big march down the main street. Lots of flags. Their hammer & sickle brought back my Cold War memories in my USAF intelligence analyst days. And he was lonely, I thought, since I think I only saw one of their flags. Those were the days, the once powerful CPI brought low today.

Wow. That must have been quite an experience. 

[mauibabes]

This is an “Easy One”, just don’t go to Italy 😇👍 15 years ago we made the mistake of going there in the dead of summer and will never do it again. It was exactly like the weather we get that time of year here in Northern California, HOT!!! But we at least have AC. Actually it gave me a better understanding of why my Italian Aunts and Uncles ended up here, weather and countryside so similar and of course the grapes 🤪👍🙏
After that mistake, we have always made our trips in the Spring or Fall, so much more comfortable and the mass of travelers is greatly reduced. We are back again in Rome in November with family doing a church sponsored pilgrimage but certainly doing other itineraries in the world for 2025. I can not imagine what it is going to be like in and around France in the next few months. 

Enjoy,

Mauibabes

[Vineyard View]

We don’t travel in the summer months. For a lot of reasons including heat. Tuscany reminds us a lot of where we live geographically, but without the magic of walled cities and ancient history, culture, the food….etc. we love it here, but it’s pretty over the top special there.
We were planning on Italy because we took a land trip for our honeymoon there for three weeks. This is a special anniversary next May, and we were looking to cruise, and revisit/expand to see more of Italy afterwards.
Original idea may just need tweaking to create new memories elsewhere. Thank you for the thoughts and responses

 

[edinburgher]

12 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

to cruise, and revisit/expand to see more of Italy afterwards.

There are many really attractive and/or interesting areas to visit in Italy, and as you know, there is a good public transport system to move you around, which means the entire country can in theory be considered.

 

Have you thought about visiting areas such as Puglia, or Lake Como (close to the Swiss border for day trips by train,  also Milan ) or Lake Garda, (beautiful lakeside towns and villages also close to the Dolomites and Verona)although there are many others, even historical Sicily were you  to consider a ferry journey or a short flight. Lake Como and Lake Garda would be more of a base with side trips, and no car would really be needed as boats have regular routes and there are also  trains and public buses depending on the area..  Puglia you would likely want a car rental to visit many of the towns and villages and with that you could also venture to Matera, (where many scenes in big movies have been shot. and where you could stay in a cave hotel)   Look up Matera for info and images if not already familiar with it.

 

You could look at interesting towns or cities anywhere in italy you could use as a base and from where you could find attractive day trips.  Having a base from which to venture out means no trailing luggage with you as you won't need to move from place to place.

 

We stayed in both Lake Como and Lake Garda areas but if pushed would put Lake Garda and Verona slightly ahead of Lake Como and Milan, the latter probably our least favourite European city so far.

 

Have fun researching.😀

Edited June 2 by edinburgher

[cruisemom42]

I think those estimates of 35 million people (some of them don't say 'additional' btw) for the Jubilee year are inflated. Looking at the past Jubilee years, the numbers were lower than expected.

 

Other than that I can't offer much help. If you want to explore for a week by car, consider Provence or Perigord areas of France maybe for similar feeling -- good food and wine, pretty towns, lots of history....

 

[Vineyard View]

On 6/2/2024 at 6:23 AM, edinburgher said:

There are many really attractive and/or interesting areas to visit in Italy, and as you know, there is a good public transport system to move you around, which means the entire country can in theory be considered.

 

Have you thought about visiting areas such as Puglia, or Lake Como (close to the Swiss border for day trips by train,  also Milan ) or Lake Garda, (beautiful lakeside towns and villages also close to the Dolomites and Verona)although there are many others, even historical Sicily were you  to consider a ferry journey or a short flight. Lake Como and Lake Garda would be more of a base with side trips, and no car would really be needed as boats have regular routes and there are also  trains and public buses depending on the area..  Puglia you would likely want a car rental to visit many of the towns and villages and with that you could also venture to Matera, (where many scenes in big movies have been shot. and where you could stay in a cave hotel)   Look up Matera for info and images if not already familiar with it.

 

You could look at interesting towns or cities anywhere in italy you could use as a base and from where you could find attractive day trips.  Having a base from which to venture out means no trailing luggage with you as you won't need to move from place to place.

 

We stayed in both Lake Como and Lake Garda areas but if pushed would put Lake Garda and Verona slightly ahead of Lake Como and Milan, the latter probably our least favourite European city so far.

 

Have fun researching.😀

Hi there edinburgher!  We actually have talked about spending more time in Northern Italy including the lake Region. We are absolutely home base focused when we take land trips - min 3-5 nights to explore the surrounding areas. Milan isn’t really on our radar. DH has roots in Piedmonte and that was a possibility in combination. 
 

At the end of the day, the itinerary we were interested in ends in Rome two days post Jubilee event. I am fairly certain we are going to pivot. Thank you for your input. I will save it for another time if we do. I always appreciate your insight 

[Vineyard View]

9 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

I think those estimates of 35 million people (some of them don't say 'additional' btw) for the Jubilee year are inflated. Looking at the past Jubilee years, the numbers were lower than expected.

 

Other than that I can't offer much help. If you want to explore for a week by car, consider Provence or Perigord areas of France maybe for similar feeling -- good food and wine, pretty towns, lots of history....

 

Hi cruisemom42. I think it’s hard to predict what next year will bring in terms of numbers of additional visitors. Given the explosion of tourism in Europe these past two years, and the crazy numbers of tourists in Italy alone during that time, adding significantly to that feels less that attractive. 
 

Funny you should mention Province and Perigord….those are two of the areas DH and I pivoted to in conversation since I originally posted this. Once I started researching, I discovered several places of interest. I kind of went down the rabbit hole including L’Isle sur la Sorgue, Vezelay, Colmar, Avignon, Aix-en, Carcassone Citadel, etc. Good food, good wine, pretty towns, lots of history….boxes that we like to check for sure! 
 

Thank you for posting this. You also have always provided me with great insight, so this might be a nudge that I am heading in a good direction with this thought track. 

Edited June 3 by Vineyard View

[edinburgher]

16 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

Hi there edinburgher!

and hi back at you too.😀

 

Your biggest issue will be that you are spoiled for choice, not only in Italy, but also in the towns and cities in Provence mentioned by cruisemom42  Provence actually merits a stay of at least a couple of weeks and a lot of driving to move from place to place.

On the other hand, finding a base in IIaly from where you can venture out on full or half day trips is more relaxing. 

 

Piedmont is not as famous as other areas, but has a central location which would offer up a number of possibilities in different directions.  And of course you could fly to most countries  in Europe on short flights from Rome which will make your decision even more difficult, alhough it would be an opportunity to visit somewhere you could not visit when cruising, such as Vienna, Budapest or Prague, even Krakow, Poland.😁

Edited June 4 by edinburgher

[Vineyard View]

Thank you Edinburgher for this further information. It’s all a bit confusing after thinking I had it fairly well figured out…..until the Jubilee discovery. We’ve spent time in most of the areas(not Krakow) you point out and agree, they are such lovely places to land travel. We have not spent time in France outside of Paris on land, so the idea was attractive. Wherever we go, we will want to stay with the home base concept for several nights at least at each. 
We might very well be influenced later this month when I start looking for options where we can use mileage for the flights. That is becoming much more difficult than I have ever experienced over the years. In the meantime, I will keep researching different ideas, but the dialogue on this thread has been very helpful. 

Edited June 6 by Vineyard View

[edinburgher]

8 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

I will keep researching different ideas

Decisions decisions, and the greater the choice the more difficult the decision.

[Vineyard View]

So so true.  But so lucky to be contemplating them! 

This likely isn’t the last of my threads for guidance on next year!

Edited June 7 by Vineyard View

[edinburgher]

On 6/7/2024 at 4:24 AM, Vineyard View said:

This likely isn’t the last of my threads for guidance on next year

Feel free to ask .😀

[carlmm]

Just stumbled across the title, I can share my experience with the jubilee 2000. 

Yes, there certainly were more people than in other years but everything was very all organized. There were more buses and public transportation offered than usually, eg. special ones to cover the seven pilgrimage churches. Opening times were often extended.

For many of the special events free tickets could be ordered online. 

 

[Vineyard View]

Thank you Carlmm. I was not aware of the seven pilgrimage churches. 
‘we have decided to pivot Italy into 2026. This was only part of the decision, but it was a factor. 

[Ithikan]

This topic is quite compelling for us - we've booked a cruise ending in Rome on April 11, 2025, and had intended to spend an extra week.   A few days in Rome, then south for the archeological treasures:  Pompeii and Herculaneum, perhaps Paestum.

We haven't an interest in the Jubilee 2025 activities and wonder, now, about the expected crowds. Our timing would bring us to Rome just 9 days prior to Easter Sunday.

We'd selected our cruise based on both the itinerary and our preference to travel outside Europe's "busy" season.  Will it be possible to slip away from Civitavecchia and avoid most crowds, or should we plan to extend the trip farther from Rome, say, Sicily?

I truly appreciate any and all opinions here, and thank you in advance for yours!

[euro cruiser]

The week before Easter is always a busy time in Rome, starting with Palm Sunday (April 13th next year), so I would expect the crowds to start arriving around the same time you do, unfortunately.

 

Have you tried looking at hotel room prices yet?  If you look at the dates just prior to your arrival and for a few days after you may get a sense of how booked up they already are, an indication of what will be.

[Vineyard View]

Ithikan, we had decided that if we were to take the itinerary that ended in Rome that we would catch the train at port and head North. I didn’t check southbound directions. I am no expert, but I would imagine that close to Easter will mean more crowds in Rome in any year. Added to that Jubilee. 
That said, carlmm actually experienced Jubilee 24 years ago. That is the most recent Jubilee before next year. So maybe the extra organization because of it could be a bonus. I hope it works out for your plans. Others on here have a whole lot more experience that I so I hope this thread becomes useful for you. 

[Ithikan]

Thank you, euro cruiser and Vineyard View.

A few years ago we broke up a pair of cruises that stopped/started in Venice, with a week at a villa north of Turin.  The RT train Venice/Torino was easy and pleasant and we very much enjoyed our taste of Italy's Piedmont region.

Next year may not be as smooth, given increased post-Covid travel and the expected pilgrims for the Jubilee. 

We have much to think about.  And a need for speed with those decisions if we're to snag decent airfare...

Again, many thanks.

[Hlitner]

This thread got me thinking about next year.  The reality is that Italy is so full of tourists (Overtourism) that a few more probably will not make much difference.  Go this year, next year, or any year, and if you go to popular tourist places you are going be shocked at the crowds.  We were recently in Milan, and spent a pre-flight night at a hotel near MXP.  Walked over to a nearby restaurant/bar, in the middle of nowhere, only to find the place absolutely packed, no tables available for nearly 2 hours, etc.  We are used to Italy, but this was a big surprise as this was only a local bar/restaurant!

 

Hank