For the past few months, I have been immersed in a lovely project: a podcast about Christmas. Alongside my co-host, Helena, it became the reason for a journey through Italy, travelling beyond the familiar routes of festive tourism and into the quieter corners of Umbria and Tuscany.
Our route began in Florence, before boarding the so-called “Christmas train” to Arezzo, continuing on to Gubbio and eventually looping back to where we started. These were not destinations chosen for spectacle, but for what lies just out of view: small cities where traditions endure, local rhythms prevail and the season is marked more by ritual than display.
In between stops, we stayed at a vineyard, where meals were prepared by a nonna whose cooking needed no commentary. It was here, away from Christmas markets and curated experiences, that the story of our podcast truly took shape. Everything curated by a travel agency called Veyond.
Arriving in Florence.
Train station. Helena’s favourite train station in the world.
First stop was the town of Arezzo. We arrived on a Sunday and the town was full of market stands. Of course a lot of Christmas items but also plenty of vintage stands. Super lovely. These vintage figures for a nativity scene cost about 4 euro each.
Helena, my podcast partner.
Lunch. During our days in Umbria and Tuscany we could note that there isn’t a certain food for Christmas.
The town was very buys with locals. I am sure you wonder why. Of course it was a nice Christmas market and vintage fair, but it was also the day before a national holiday. December 8 is a church day associated with Maria, the mother of Jesus. Everyone in Italy is having a day off. And December 8 is the real start of Christmas. This is the day one puts up the Christmas tree.
A beautiful town that also is art of the movie Life is Beautiful.
Our journey also included a trip with the official “Christmas train”. As I understand this train goes between Rome and Munich and we travelled only a few hours on it. We got a Christmas compartment. Everyone got Italian panettone.
A bit blurry but taken from a car. We got off the train at Asissi but moved forward straight to Gubbio. This evening is the start of Christmas and of course also the opportunity when they light the Christmas tree in the town of Gubbio.
The Christmas tree is a big deal. On several levels. The outline of the tree is build on a mountain and approx 800 meters high. This makes the tree “Tallest Christmas Tree in the World”. One can climb the top of the mountain and walk in the “tree” among the lights.
Gubbio is a quaint town. For my Swedish readers – it’s like Visby but on three levels. Very medevial.
We stayed for two nights at this lovely vinyard called Semonte Winery Resort.
But since we are on a tour “off the beaten track” we also got to visit a sustainable vineyard and do a bit of wine tasting over lunch.
Back to Gubbio. This is a wonderful medevial town. It has been voted as “most beautiful medieval town” in Italy.
This is the town where Franciscus of Asissi converted a wolf, according to legend.
The town is also full of lifesize mannequins. Around 200 figures are put out in the town.
Before the sun really set we decided to take a skilift up to the mountain where the tree lights were.
Standing skilifts.
And back for some mulled wine before dinner.
Dinner with Italians at a Nonna’s home.
Day three we got up and took the car to Florence. I had one mandatory stop on my list. Officina Profumo Santa Maria Novella. I love that perfume and soap store.
And of course we went to see the official Christmas trees outside of the dome.
And lastly. My dear Swedes, you will not believe this… Earlier in this text I mentioned that I learned that December 8 is important for Italians. But another thing we learnt was about “befana”. Read about her on Wikipedia here. She is a bit of a witch that comes to clean out Christmas on January 6th. And for us Swedes she looks exactly like an “Easter witch”, doesn’t she?
Anyway. Christmas in Italy was amazing. I was of course glad to see a bit of the “off the beaten track”. I want to go back to the vintage market at Arezzo, and see more of the beautiful town of Gubbio. And we didn’t have time for Assisi. More of that next time.
And of course, it was great to have our Italian guides with us all the time so we could ask and explore.