Make the 2025 Jubilee your unforgettable Roman adventure!

The Rome Jubilee 2025 is a once-in-a-generation event that adds another dimension to your time in the Eternal City. Known as a Holy Year, the Jubilee is celebrated every 25 years and starts 24th December 2024 through to 24th December 2025. Pope Francis has chosen the theme ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, emphasising unity, compassion and renewal.

Some travellers may believe that it is best to wait until 2026 when things get back to normal. However, Rome is always crowded now, Jubilee or no Jubilee.

This is a chance to walk the streets at their liveliest; experience a sensory overload; rejoice in fountains and building facades freed from barricades and scaffolding, now sparkling in the sun after a year of painstaking maintenance and cleaning. In fact, the historic centre has been preparing all year to look its best! Rome will be bustling with activity, moreso than ever before. If you’re Catholic, it’s a deeply meaningful time to visit. For non-Catholics, Rome during the Jubilee offers a vibrant atmosphere and a chance to witness history in the making.

How did the Jubilee begin?

The origins of the Jubilee date back to ancient Jewish customs, where every 50th year was a time of rest, debt forgiveness and renewal. The Catholic Church adopted this concept in 1300 when Pope Boniface VIII declared the first Christian Jubilee. Pilgrims were encouraged to travel to Rome to seek forgiveness and join in religious ceremonies.

Be street smart

As I often say, Rome is the most magical city to walk. This is how we escape the crowds and find our unforgettable hidden gems and treasured moments. Everyone is going to the same places at the same time. Visiting the Trevi Fountain after 8:00am is the best way to ruin the experience; navigating the Spanish Steps in the middle of the day is challenging and I find queuing for hours to visit the Pantheon ridiculous. As I’m writing this, I’m mapping out my early morning walk before breakfast and already feeling SO excited!

We are swamped and overwhelmed with too much information, especially on social media. This year I was bewildered by an incredibly long snaking line behind Piazza della Rotonda where the Pantheon is. These people were not queuing to visit the Pantheon, but to buy a panino from a small cafe that has been promoted on Instagram.

The panini may be good, but a five minute walk away is my go to cafe that makes the most delicious panini and there’s not a tourist in sight. The same can be said for long queues outside a gelateria, simply because it has been promoted as having the best gelato. There are two kinds of people, those that wait in line and those that don’t.

More people are travelling than ever before, but that doesn’t mean immersive, respectful travellers. If you want transformational travel, create experiences as a temporary local. Sit on the stone bench in the piazza and engage with a group of old men carrying out their daily ritual; shop at the local market; explore further afield in really cool neighbourhoods like Testaccio on the left bank of the Tiber river. This is the foodie district where Romans go to eat.

Go against the traffic, walk the streets at sunrise, step out of your comfort zone, get lost on purpose, support the tiny artisan owned shops, be spontaneous, let the little moments happen and open yourself up to having the time of your life, despite the crowds.

Have a wonderful Christmas as you celebrate with family and friends. A huge thank you to all of my travellers this year who made 2024 a truly special year as we shared countless experiences and made unforgettable memories in beautiful Italy.

Ci vediamo la prossima settimana.

Deb