The Italy Travel Podcast - An Only A Bag Podcast

Why is Christmas celebrated on December 25th and is it because of a Roman Emperor? Did Romans take off work and celebrate the winter holidays like we do? We'll tell you all about that as well as how Christmas is celebrated in Italy today. We'll answer questions like who brings gifts to Italian children on Christmas eve and do Italians have Christmas trees?

With the Jubilee coming up we highly recommend booking hotels in Rome as soon as possible, if you're planning on visiting in 2025. If you're visiting other parts of Italy in the coming year and want to know when to book hotels and flights, check out our episode ⁠When to Book: Hotels and Flights ⁠ and even ⁠When to Book: Trains and Buses⁠.

If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

For hotels, we tend to use ⁠Booking⁠* since we’re already a part of their member program, but ⁠Expedia⁠* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out ⁠Agoda⁠*. 

If you're looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking ⁠⁠Expedia⁠⁠* or ⁠⁠Booking⁠⁠* before purchasing. 

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use ⁠Trusted Housesitters⁠* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find more at ⁠⁠onlyabag.com⁠⁠ and contact us via email at [email protected] or on Instagram at ⁠⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠⁠. 

Which Christmas market is the most popular? Which is the oldest? We'll answer those questions and more in this episode!

Edit, and this is a big one: In this episode Darcy is super excited about the "biggest Christmas tree in the world." Upon further fact checking, it is not in fact a living tree, but Christmas lights arranged along the side of Mount Ingino in the shape of a Christmas tree.

We do our best to deliver only accurate information, but sometimes things slip through the cracks, like "the biggest Christmas tree in the world." We also do our best to tell you when we're wrong and we appreciate your understanding.

That said, there is tons more in the episode that is correct, so we hope you give it a listen!

With the Jubilee coming up we highly recommend booking hotels in Rome as soon as possible, if you're planning on visiting in 2025. If you're visiting other parts of Italy in the coming year and want to know when to book hotels and flights, check out our episode When to Book: Hotels and Flights and even When to Book: Trains and Buses.

If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

For hotels, we tend to use Booking* since we’re already a part of their member program, but Expedia* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out Agoda*. 

If you're looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking ⁠Expedia⁠* or ⁠Booking⁠* before purchasing. 

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use Trusted Housesitters* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find more at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and contact us via email at [email protected] or on Instagram at ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

In this episode, we teach you how to order coffee in Italy like a natural. Some of you might see that this is a quasi-repeat of a previous episode. Part of that is due to us learning more about the coffee culture in Italy, and part of that is due to us watching Lidia Poet on Netflix and wondering why they were drinking tea.

So in this episode we delve into the history of coffee in Italy, and teach you how to order your favorite drinks.

If you’re planning on going to Rome in 2025, we highly recommend booking your hotels (and potentially even your flights) as soon as possible. If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

For hotels, we tend to use Booking* since we’re already a part of their member program, but Expedia* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out Agoda*. 

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use Trusted Housesitters* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

Lastly, if you’re already looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking Expedia* or Booking* before purchasing. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

Can I go to Italy as a medical tourist? What if I want to get some dental work done, or visit a health clinic? In this episode, we try and explore the idea of medical tourism (visiting Italy solely for health-related needs) and what kind of basic healthcare you might have access to in Italy.

If you’re planning on going to Rome in 2025, we highly recommend booking your hotels (and potentially even your flights) as soon as possible. If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

For hotels, we tend to use ⁠Booking⁠* since we’re already a part of their member program, but ⁠Expedia⁠* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out ⁠Agoda⁠*. 

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use ⁠Trusted Housesitters⁠* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

Lastly, if you’re already looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking ⁠Expedia⁠* or ⁠Booking⁠* before purchasing. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠⁠onlyabag.com⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠⁠.

We’ve heard opinions from Italians and western tourists about Venice. We’ve seen questions like “What time does Venice close?” and “Does anyone actually live in Venice?” Nathaniel had been to Venice before, but two weeks ago I visited for time. We stayed for just one night and in this episode we address these questions and share our first impressions. 

Shout out to the Enoteca (wine bar) mentioned in this episode called "Stappo." You can check them out here stappovenezia.com .

As always thank you for listening! 

Happy Halloween, witches! In this episode we talk about the history of witchcraft in Italy. From herbs and invocations to hallucinogenic oils and riding animals following Herodias. And who is Herodias? Who is the queen of witches? We'll tell you. We also talk about the far too unknown Italian witch trials as well as how witchcraft exists in modern life in Italy. Welcome to our special Halloween Episode!

As always thank you for listening!

Darcy is still under the weather so it's just Nathaniel in today's episode! If you'll forgive the random tangents and the "um"s scattered throughout, I will try to help you understand the difference between travel insurance, travel health insurance, and at the end, I'll quickly discuss how to bring prescriptions with you on the plane. (Spoiler: you will need the .pdf from this website, or your own note.  

If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

If you're looking for a simple travel healthcare that's become the gold standard, you can check out World Nomads*. They offer affordable rates, a wide range of options, and plenty of trip cancellation coverage.

If you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use Trusted Housesitters* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

xDarcy and Nathaniel

Hello everyone!

Darcy caught a bit of a cold/flu situation so she's been in bed recovering for the past few days.

Instead of listening to an hour long monologue by yours truly, we thought it would be better to push the episode to next week, where we'll either double-publish on Wednesday or publish Monday and Wednesday.

As always, thank you all so much for your support!

Don't wear a weeding ring, don't take out your phone, cover up any expensive labels. There are countless tips out there to avoid looking like a target, so is getting pickpocketed a real fear?

Likewise, what are some scams you might run into while traveling in Italy?

And is it safe to walk around at night?

In this episode, we talk about crime, safety, and everything around it.

If you’re planning on going to Rome in 2025, we highly recommend booking your hotels (and potentially even your flights) as soon as possible. If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

For hotels, we tend to use Booking* since we’re already a part of their member program, but Expedia* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out Agoda*. 

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use Trusted Housesitters* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. It's free to make an account and look through ads, but you have to pay to send a message.

Lastly, if you’re already looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking Expedia* or Booking* before purchasing. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

Did you know?

The Rome Jubilee is based on Jewish tradition.

The Holy Door is walled up and must be broken down so that the Pope can unlock it with a hidden key.

Your sins can be absolved (according to the Catholic church)!

In this episode we get into the history and details of the Rome Jubilee. Plus, go check out our previous episode for all of the modern-day practicalities of visiting Rome during the Jubilee, just as many fun facts but in the 21st century not the 14th. 

If you’re planning on going to Rome in 2025, we highly recommend booking your hotels (and potentially even your flights) as soon as possible. If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

For hotels, we tend to use Booking* since we’re already a part of their member program, but Expedia* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out Agoda*. 

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use Trusted Housesitters* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

Lastly, if you’re already looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking Expedia* or Booking* before purchasing. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠.