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What You Need To Know About Jubilee Year In Rome

You may have heard that this year (2025) is Jubilee Year in Rome, but maybe you don’t know what that means, what it entails, or how it will impact your travel plans. Let’s look at some essential tips for anyone traveling to Rome this year.

Rome colosseum with Glam Italia Photo Presets

What Is Jubilee?

The Jubilee Year in Rome is a special event in the Catholic Church, occurring every 25 years (with occasional extraordinary jubilees), and drawing millions of pilgrims to the Eternal City. The 2025 Jubilee emphasizes spiritual renewal, forgiveness, and acts of mercy. Pilgrims visiting Rome during this sacred year can participate in religious celebrations, special Masses, and the tradition of walking through the Holy Doors of Rome’s four major basilicas—St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls—which are opened exclusively for the occasion. These doors symbolize a passage to salvation, making the Jubilee an extraordinary spiritual experience.

Jubilee crowds outside St Peter's in Rome, January 2025

How Does Jubilee Year Impact Travelers?

The first thing to know is that Rome is expecting an influx of 35 million pilgrims this year for the Jubilee, on top of the regular 35+ million tourists. This is the first Jubilee since the onslaught of massive tourism in Italy – the last Jubilee was in the year 2000, so to a degree there is a lot of speculation. Will the city get 70 million visitors this year? Possibly. Will it get more than the 37 million who came in 2023? Probably. For travelers planning to visit Rome during the Jubilee 2025, preparation is key.

Jubilee started December 24th 2024 and runs through the epiphany on January 6th 2026. From when Jubilee started until I left Rome on January 9th half a million people had already been through St Peters.

You can expect all the big tourist attractions to be packed this year, especially the main religious sites, such as The Vatican, St Peters, Santa Maria Maggiore, San Giovanni in Laterano and San Paolo Fuori Le Mura.

How To Prepare For Rome During Jubilee

Here are some tips to help you travel to Rome in 2025

Even in peak tourist season it’s easy to escape the crowds in Rome. Check out Glam Italia! 101 Fabulous Things To Do In Rome for details.

1. Book Accommodation ASAP

You may have trouble getting accommodation close to the historic center or the Vatican during the high season, but you could get lucky and find cancellations. Regardless of when you are planning on being in Rome get your accommodation booked now. You can expect prices to be inflated due to the overwhelming demand. Looking outside the main areas, even one neighborhood back can improve your chances.

2. Transport May Be Tricky

The Vatican and the local government have implemented extensive improvements, including better transportation and enhanced infrastructure, to accommodate the surge of visitors. However, expect delays when trying to get taxis, especially during the high season. If you are planning on using a private NCC driver for day trips outside the city, book them now.

The historic center of Rome. Rome is one of the most magnificent cities in the world.

3. Tickets May Be Harder To Come By

The past couple of years have been challenging when it comes to ticketed entry for the big attractions, particularly the Colosseum. If something is really important to you – such as the colosseum, which I absolutely recommend seeing if at all possible, book tickets as soon as you can. I like to use a private guided small group tour for the colosseum as there is far too much detail you otherwise miss out on. There are plenty of sketchy tour providers (including the really big names) so I refer everyone to Liv Tours. Liv Tours offers several different options for Colosseum tours, you can check them out here.

Unless it’s massively important to you, I would be inclined to skip the Vatican, as it will be crowded. Tickets may be much harder to get this year too. If you do go, again I recommend a private tour. Try for either very first thing in the morning, or on a Friday night if available. Again, Liv Tours offer multiple different choices, so check them out here.

RELATED POST: How To Get From The Airport Into Rome

4. Expect Increased Security

Due to the sketchy behavior of multiple tour providers, tickets are now not only timed but also in your name. You need to show photo ID that matches your name as you go in. For many sites you also need to pass through an x-ray security. Factor this in and arrive early. Many sites won’t let you in if you arrive late, regardless of how much money you spent on your tickets. Colosseum tickets will specify which gate you need to go to. Vatican entry is not at St Peter’s basilica, but a ways around the block. Check all the details on your tickets or with your tour provider and be sure to arrive early.

Churches and religious sites require you to be dressed appropriately. Thighs and shoulders must be covered. (Unless you are Kim Kardashian) Most tour providers will not take you in and will not refund you if you arrive inappropriately dressed. You may be asked to leave regular churches if you walk inside with shoulder and/or thighs out. ** it doesn’t matter how much your tickets cost and you will not be refunded.

A short walk from Rome’s historic center you find beautiful Roman streets without the crowds.

5. Avoid The Tourist Traps

I’m going to let you in on a secret here: 95% of tourists to Rome only go to 5% of the cool sites. Which means 5% of tourists to Rome (I’m including you here) get to enjoy 95% of what Rome has to offer, without the crowds! Skip the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, both of which are pickpocket paradises full to bursting with tourists, and instead visit some of the other truly astounding attractions in Rome..

My best-seller Glam Italia! 101 Fabulous Things To Do In Rome is full of amazing things to see and do in Rome. If ever you have needed this book for planning a trip to Rome, 2025 is the year. You will find all kinds of fantastic things to see and do that are just down the street from the big attractions yet have almost no one there. The best kept secrets are generally really close to the big tourist sites, so you don’t have to travel across town to get to them.

Baths of Caracalla in high tourist season. Almost no one is here. Find out about this and other less visited Roman sites in the book Glam Italia! 101 Fabulous Things To Do In Rome
Rome’s Baths of Caracalla during peak tourist season. A 10 minute walk from the colosseum, you never see crowds at this amazing site.

RELATED POST: 5 Fabulous Places In Rome The Tourist Crowds Don’t Know About

6. Take A Day Trip

Rome is the central hub for trains to everywhere in Italy.

Procida Cultural Capital 2022
Procida Island off the coast of Naples is a fabulous day trip from Rome.

You can easily and inexpensively take a train to multiple cool places that make tremendous day trips or partial day trips from Rome.

Some of my favorites include:

  • Ostia Antica, a mind bending former port city archaeological park, just 30 mins and €2 by train. Check out this tour.
  • Naples and Pompeii. Naples is an hour and 15 mins by train from Rome. You can easily visit Pompeii and Naples in a single day and be back in Rome in time for dinner. Unless you want to stick around for the world’s most famous pizza! Get 101 ideas for fund things to do on a day trip to Naples here.
  • Procida. If you’re in the mood for something beautiful and beauty without the crowds, a day trip to Procida (pictured above) built around an amazing seafood lunch is incredible.
  • Viterbo. This largely overlooked town in the middle of Lazio is a charming, medieval gem. There’s tons to see and do, but it is also a wonderful town to just stroll and enjoy.
  • Orvieto. Escape the crowds in Rome with a 90 minute train ride to one of the coolest old Etruscan cities in Italy. Orvieto is beautiful, atmospheric, and easy to negotiate. It also has one of the most famous and outstanding cathedrals in all of Italy!
  • Arezzo to experience a gorgeous, almost tourist free medieval and renaissance Tuscan town that is well off the mainstream tourism radar.
  • See this blog post for more of the best day trips from Rome

Rome is my favorite city in the world. it is beautiful, exciting, both modern and historical – it has something for everyone. I sincerely hope you pick up a copy of Amazon’s top rated Rome Travel Guide (my book!) Glam Italia! 101 Fabulous Things To Do In Rome. This extraordinarily popular travel guide shows you more than 101 cool things to see and do in the Eternal City, most of which the tourist crowds don’t know about, even though they are just down the street! This book will change your entire trip and experience in Rome. Just read through the more than 400 reviews on Amazon and you will see why.

If you don’t yet belong to my monthly newsletter, you can join the tens of thousands of members from all over the world here. Each month you will receive new information about fascinating things to see and do in Italy.

All the photos in this post have been edited with the Glam Italia Photo Presets. These presets will be released to the public soon! You can get on the waiting list for information when they release and for early bird discounts here.

Tuscany

Flat Out Fabulous: Discover Exciting New Books At The Glam Italia Bookclub

Are you planning or dreaming about a trip to Italy? or to anywhere? I always am. Whether I’m in the U.S dreaming about my home in Tuscany, or whether I’m here in my little Tuscan town, I tend to read loads of books set here in Italy. I also read thrillers and mysteries voraciously.

My Glam Italia Tour travelers and I invariably talk about creating a list of books set in places we’ve traveled to, or a list of books set in places we’ve talked about. So I’ve decided to create a Glam Italia Book Club. Every month I will give you a list of books I’ve enjoyed, and let you know which formats they’re available in. (Paperback/kindle/audiobook.) The books won’t necessarily be new releases – I read everything, so want to share it all.

Amazon is the world’s biggest bookstore, with the largest selection in the world, along with all 5 of my books, so I’m going to provide links for the U.S Amazon.com where appropriate. If you’re not in the U.S you will be able to check your own country’s Amazon store.

This blog post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something through an affiliate link the blog may receive a small commission.

Kindle and Kindle Unlimited

read ebooks on a kindle

If you’ve been around here for a while, or if you belong to my monthly newsletter you’ll already know that I consume books on a Kindle Paperwhite. There are newer models of Kindles and there are more tricked out ones, but I started with the basic Kindle Paperwhite and years on it’s still going strong, so I’ve never felt the need to upgrade.

Before getting my Kindle I read digital books using the Kindle App on my iPad. I prefer the Kindle Paperwhite as it doesn’t have light flare, I can be on the beach or in the pool and not have light bouncing off the page. I don’t need blue blocker glasses and don’t get sore eyes the way you do after endless hours in front of a screen. It’s slimline, fits in my handbag easily, and is the greatest thing ever for travel.

You will also hear me talk about KU or Kindle Unlimited. This is a monthly/6 monthly/annual membership that lets you download as many Kindle eBooks as you want, for free. All 5 of my books are in Kindle Unlimited. Although the books are free, Amazon still pays the authors. So don’t worry about authors not benefitting from your Kindle Unlimited membership.

Libraries and the Libby App

The Libby App connects your Kindle to your regular library and lets you borrow eBooks the same way as you would borrow a regular book. I read books from my hometown library on my Kindle, wherever I am in the world. It’s fantastic! If you read on a Kindle be sure to get the Libby App and connect to your local library. Many of the books in the bookclub will be available via your library, so you don’t always need to buy books.

RELATED POST: 10 Fabulous Books Set In Venice

BookBub

If you read on a Kindle or e-Reader I recommend signing up for BookBub. It’s free. During the sign up process it surveys what books you’ve read and loved, who your favorite authors are etc. Then you start receiving daily emails with books you would be interested in that are having a BookBub promotion. Typically books are free/$0.99/$1.99.

The BookBub algorithm will also send you emails periodically with other authors you may enjoy. I have discovered so many authors I now love through these recommendation emails.

Paperbacks & Hardcovers

Of course all these books are available in paperback and hardcover too.

Audible Audiobooks

Where possible I will also provide links to Amazon’s Audible. Audible is Amazon’s audiobook server. There are various options for Audible subscriptions including basic memberships and annual memberships. I also have a link for a free trial of Audible so you can see if it’s right for you.

I consume loads of audiobooks, especially when I’m exercising or doing repetitive things like driving, housework etc – things that don’t allow me to read. Some of my friends only consume audiobooks.

The Libby App has loads of books available in Audiobook form, and there are also other ways to get audiobooks, from Spotify to Apple Books to Google books and more. No one seems to have everything on audiobook, so I often click around looking for specific books.

Books I’ve Read This Month

I consume an enormous number of books each month both as e-Books and as audiobooks. I mostly read books set in Italy or thrillers.

A Refiner’s Fire by Donna Leon.

A Refiner’s Fire by Donna Leon

I’m a huge fan of the Commissario Brunetti series, of which this is book #33. If you’ve not read any of them yet, start with the first in series, Death At La Fenice, especially if you have any plans or dreams of visiting Venice. Commissario/Inspector Brunetti solves murder mysteries in his hometown of Venice. Along the way he introduces you to Venetian foods, culture, and all kinds of cool places to visit in the city. In A Refiner’s Fire Brunetti links a twenty year old mystery with a current crime wave in Venice, taking the reader on a fascinating adventure along the way.

Available on Amazon in Kindle e-Book, Paperback and Hardcover. See it on Amazon here.

The Venetian Sanctuary by Phillip Gwynne Jones

This is book 8 of a series of 8 books, so I have to wait at least a year for the next installment. Again set in Venice, this series is fantastic. Nathan Sutherland is a Brit living in Venice, working as a translator of boring lawn mower manuals and the such like, but also acting as the Honorary British Consul, an unpaid job with great cocktail party benefits. Nathan stumbles his way into murder mysteries, which he helps solve along with his friend Dario. Frequently hilarious but at the same time gripping, this series is just fantastic. More fun for readers of my book Glam Italia! 101 Fabulous Things To Do In Venice, Nathan lives on a street I talk about in my book, the street of the Assassins, and he hangs out at a bar I talk about too (on his street). This mystery takes place on one of the lagoon islands I talk about in my book, San Francesco del Deserto, an almost deserted island with a small monastery. My readers have lots of fun messaging me about things from my book that they discover in this series too. Start with book one in the series – they’re a fast but fabulous read!

The Venetian Sanctuary by Phillip Gwynne Jones is available in Kindle e-Book, Paperback and Hardcover. See here on Amazon.

The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins

The propulsive and powerful new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl on the Train

Welcome to Eris: an island with only one house, one inhabitant, one way out. Unreachable from the Scottish mainland for twelve hours each day. Once home to Vanessa: A famous artist whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared twenty years ago. Now home to Grace: A solitary creature of the tides, content in her own isolation.

But when a shocking discovery is made in an art gallery far away in London, a visitor comes calling.And the secrets of Eris threaten to emerge….

A masterful novel that is as page-turning as it is unsettling, The Blue Hour recalls the sophisticated suspense of Shirley Jackson and Patricia Highsmith and cements Hawkins’s place among the very best of our most nuanced and stylish storytellers.

Don’t be surprised if you stay up all night reading this one!

Find The Blue Hour here on Amazon, in Paperback, Hardcover, Kindle e-Book and Audible Audiobook.

RELATED POST: 21 Travel Books To Inspire Your Wanderlust

AUDIOBOOKS

As much as I love to read I also consume audiobooks, normally while I’m out walking, driving and when I’m on planes. This month I have two audiobooks I want to tell you about.

Righteous Prey by John Sandford

I started reading the Prey books back in the 90’s. It is one of my all time favorite series, set in Minnesota and featuring Lucas Davenport, a brilliant cop who became a BCA officer and is now a U.S Marshall. If you enjoy fast moving, cleverly written thrillers you’ll love this series, and it’s spinoff Virgil Flowers series. I have consumed all the Virgil Flowers books as audiobooks, and am currently listening to Righteous Prey on audiobook. (Although I read the book when it came out, I am still enjoying the audiobook.)

Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are up against a powerful vigilante group with an eye on vengeance in this thrilling novel in the beloved series by the #1 New York Times bestselling author.

“We’re going to murder people who need to be murdered.” 

So begins a press release from a mysterious group known only as “The Five,” shortly after a vicious predator is murdered in San Francisco. The Five is made up of vigilante killers who are very bored…and very rich. They target the worst of society—rapists, murderers, and thieves—and then use their unlimited resources to offset the damage done by those who they’ve killed, donating untraceable Bitcoin to charities and victims via the dark net. The Five soon become popular figures in the media …though their motives may not be entirely pure.

After The Five strike again in the Twin Cities, Virgil Flowers and Lucas Davenport are sent in to investigate. And they soon have their hands full–the killings are smart and carefully choreographed, and with no apparent direct connection to the victims, the killers are virtually untraceable. But if anyone can destroy this group, it will be the dynamic team of Davenport and Flowers.

Check it out here on Amazon

Dead Watch Audiobook

Dead Watch by John Sandford

This month I also listened to another John Sandford book, Dead Watch. It seems to be a standalone – not part of a series, but still was fast paced and wickedly clever. I loved it. John Sandford writes brilliantly suspenseful, consistently surprising thrillers filled with rich characters and exceptional drama. 

Early morning, Virginia, and a woman is on the run. Her husband, a former U.S. Senator, has been missing for days. Kidnapped? Murdered? She doesn’t know, but she thinks she knows who’s involved, and why. And that she’s next.

Hours later in Washington, D.C., a cell phone rings. The White House chief of staff needs Jacob Winter now. His chief investigator and an Army Intelligence veteran, Winter knows how to move quickly and decisively, but he’s never faced a problem like this. The disappearances are bad, but when the blackened body shows up barbed-wired to a tree, Winter knows there is much worse to come. And soon enough, there is. Large forces are at work, determined to do whatever it takes to achieve their ends. Winter will have to use all his resources not only to prevail but also to survive. And so will the nation.

You can find Dead Watch here on Audible

I hope you enjoy these books! If you have books you would like to see on the list here, either books set in Europe, or mysteries and thrillers, bounce me back a reply from my monthly newsletter. I am always looking for new books to read! They don’t need to be new releases either – I don’t care how old they are!

Until next time, Ciao!

Flat Out Fabulous: the most exciting new skin care device for 2025

If you’ve been around here for a while you’ll already know that once I’ve found a good skin care product or device, I stick with it. I’m not interested in switching up to every new thing. All I care about is seeing fantastic skin care results.

So today I’m not telling you about any new skin care products – I still use all the same ones, which I will share below. Instead I want to tell you about a surprisingly brilliant new device I’ve added to my morning ritual, and the incredible results I’m seeing with it.

It’s All Over Social Media

I was starting to get alarmed about how puffy my face and under eyes were getting. My normally crisp jawline was getting bumpy and my cheekbones were becoming less and less pronounced. I even reached out to an aesthetician friend about lymphatic drainage facials and a lymphatic drainage tea she swears by. Around the same time – late December, my social media feeds overloaded with ads featuring girls in their twenties using a new de-puffing skin care device.

The device in question is a 7 in 1 LED Facial Sculptor. Essentially it is like 3 devices in one: an LED light therapy for your skin, a massager that feels like micro current (although as far as I know it isn’t) and a gua sha, the famous traditional Chinese medicine device used for improving circulation and draining excess lymph..

I have been a huge fan of red light therapy for the face for years. Red light therapy is great for anti-aging and muscle recovery. This device has 7 different colored lights, each serving a different purpose. So far I’ve only used the red light, but it has been brilliant. (You can see what all the different lights do below.)

Blue light helps eliminate acne and the blue light feature can also apply heat for faster results. I don’t have acne so haven’t tried it myself.

With regular use LED light therapy can reduce breakouts and pigmentation, reduce inflammation and help improve the appearance of your skin. The red light on this device also uses EMS (Electrical Muscle Stimulation) a technology that stimulates muscle contraction. I don’t know about any of the scientific parts of this 7 in 1 Sculpting Device, all I know is the results I’ve seen in my own face.

The Results

Here’s what I have seen in my own face, starting the first day:

  • Immediate reduction in inflammation and puffiness of the face.
  • Immediate lift to the brow.
  • immediate reduction in puffiness under they eyes.
  • Over the first few days the darkness under the eyes drastically diminished.
  • Immediate contouring of the cheekbone.
  • Lift and smoothing of jawline.
  • Overall lifting and smoothing of the face
  • I use a red light mask (below) so haven’t had a problem with hyper pigmentation on my face, but I do have two areas of my neck with very visible patches of pigmentation. It’s early days yet, but I swear it looks like the sun damage on my neck is going down.

I’ve been using mine at this point for about 14 days. I use it every morning, partly because it feels nice and partly because you can see a change in your face as you are doing it. I never trust anything, and always am skeptical about most claims of amazing skin improvement .

So with that in mind I do the entire left side of my face first so I can see if it looks lifted compared to the right side. Remember I’ve been a makeup artist for more than 3 decades, so I see nuances in faces and skin that other people may not. However, if you do buy one of these devices I recommend doin one side of your face first so you can compare. It’s quite astounding!

Whether this will have an ongoing, longer result remains to be seen, but I am assuming I will always have to use it daily. Reading the reviews (more than 3000 of them on Amazon) it appears that people are seeing bigger results as time goes on.

How Do You Use It?

It’s actually really simple to use. First you cleanse and moisturize your skin, and apply a serum. It’s winter as I’m writing this, I’ve been traveling, and my skin is drier than usual, so I am adding a couple of drops of facial oil after serum and moisturizer. This not only keeps my skin extra hydrated but also helps the facial sculptor to glide across and not tug the skin. I use this facial oil by Josie Maran. It says hair, skin and nails but I only use it on my face.

Next I follow gua sha style movements (you can google it) always angling the facial sculptor up and out. I start at the top arch of the eyebrow and angle out for 10 passes. Next I get under the eye and work across the upper cheekbone. (doing one side at a time you’ll be amazed and the difference under each eye!) From there I work an angle from the outer corner of the mouth up along the under-side of the cheek bone, then I work the jawline. After doing both sides of my face I work the neck, moving upwards and arcing out under the jawline to the ear.

The idea behind the gua sha type massage is to improve circulation and more excess fluids and lymph out to drainage points.

The girls on social media talk about how their faces look “snatched“. Someone my age would sound stupid saying that, but I will say the face looks streamlined, depuffed and lifted. Plus the EMS massager action seems to help skin care products to absorb better into the skin.

Which One Should I Get?

I was really skeptical of the entire concept so didn’t want to buy an expensive device and wind up not liking it or not using it, so I figured I’d start with an inexpensive one on Amazon and upgrade if it seemed worth it. I haven’t tried the expensive ones so can’t compare, but based on reviews + my own experience it seems you don’t need to buy an expensive device to get great results. I would recommend reading up on a few before purchasing one, and as always, reading through the reviews. It seems that 7 in 1 facial sculptors run from under $30 to $150

Other Red Light Therapy Devices

I have had this Dermalactives red light therapy mask for two or three years now, and I love it. When I use it several times per week consistently, I see huge results. I do tend to use it all the time for a while, then forget about it for a few months. This is partly because I travel so much and it’s too awkward to pack.

I use this one in the evenings after doing my skin care routine. It runs for 15 or 20 minutes, so you need to set aside time for it. I will eventually buy a more expensive, more high powered red light therapy mask, but until then, this one will do.

I’ve also been reading about red light therapy for hair growth. I lost a lot of hair after covid and it hasn’t been growing back. Plus as you get older it isn’t unusual to experience more hair shedding than before.

I still have a thick head of hair so it’s not urgent, but I am looking at all the hair growth option now. The iRestore Essential Red Light Therapy For Hair Growth is an LED helmet that both reduces shedding and stimulates new hair growth, both for men and for women. It’s a bit wacky looking, so is something to do when you’re home alone, but the results seem to be amazing. I probably won’t get one for a while as they’re expensive ($499, $899 and $2299. The price points reflect how many mWs of red light they’re putting out.

The Skin Care I Use Daily

This one never really changes but it seems worthwhile repeating for any new people to the blog. I am a huge advocate of Korean Skin Care so almost everything I use is K-Beauty.

I use an oil cleanser like this one from HaruHaru. Don’t be put off by the unusual names – Korean skin care is known to be the best in the world and is ridiculously inexpensive. My daily go to serum/essence is the CosRx Snail Mucin Power Serum. This cult favorite has more than 78,000 5-star reviews on Amazon, so don’t just take my word for it.

For moisturizer I use a variety depending on the time of year and how much extra boost my skin needs. Year round I like Mizon Collagen Power Lifting Emulsion as my day time moisturizer and in the evenings rotate through Mizon’s All In One Snail Repair Cream, and more recently Illiyoon Ceramide Ato Concentrate Cream. When I’m in the mood I use the Josei Maran oil and a sleeping pack. (I have too many to list here.) I like Scinic eye cream and I swear by the CosRx Snail Mucin Sheet Masks.

If you’re not sure which red light therapy device to start with I suggest figuring out your ultimate goal first. I love the mask for overall skin tone and help with pigmentation. The 7 in 1 Sculpting Tool is newer (to me anyway) and in my opinion is the one to go for if you feel puffy, want to look more contoured or want to streamline your jaw, cheekbones and under-eyes.

The most important thing seems to be consistency. With the mask I see best results when I get in the habit of using it 4 or 5 times per week. With the 7 in 1 Sculpting Device I recommend using it daily, at least to start with.

You can order the 7 in 1 Sculpting Device from Amazon here

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