Jubilee 2025 - Cautious optimism...is it misplaced?

I dont see any comfort in looking at a 2 week sporting event from 40 years ago and comparing it to a year long religious event 40 years later. LA saw less than 6 million visitors. Estimates for the Paris Olympics /Paralympics were around 11 million for their duration. A more appropriate comparison might be the number of people who made the pilgrimage to Mecca this year -30 million. Numbers for the Jubilee year are predicted to be around 35 million for Rome alone. Make of that what you will. The majority will be visiting primarily for the Jubilee, with visits to other Italian cities secondary.

I had the misfortune to arrive in Rome for my first visit the day before the Pope was to canonize 4 new saints. Or perhaps it was beatifications- i forget now. In any event, practically the whole city was gridlocked for 2 days as countless motorcades brought in foreign dignitaries and high ranking clerics. Trying to get around the city was a nightmare. I doubt Rome will see that next year, outside of a few of the more important events. But dont kid yourself- Rome will be slammed for most of the year. The rest of Italy not so much.

I was in Italy (including Rome in 2000) three times for the Jubilee (I needed to redeem a lot of sins that year), in early January, June, and around Thanksgiving. June was definitely crowded (every June is, but that year in particular), January and November not so much, compared to a normal high season. I wouldn’t worry about other cities so much, as they would have the usual number of tourists, which is still a high number during peak months in cities like Florence and Venice.

This might be once in a life time opportunity. You never know. 9 out of 10 times the problems are exaggerated as that's what sells clicks. I would maybe avoid the high season .... maybe not. Might just want to dive down into the heart of it and become part of it.

I do know that Rome would be no more than 3 nights, then off to find cities and smaller religious centers that might be doing something to honor the event.

This is an opportunity to be a smart traveler and prove you can experience something unique and special and find enjoyment and personal enrichment in doing so. Very, very possible I think.

Why did I post? Very good chance I will take my own advice. The rest of Europe will be the same this year, next year and the year after.

Does anyone remember the effects on tourism numbers in '16?

There were any number of articles written about expected visitation numbers for Jubilee 2016 failing to materialize, including these:

https://www.thelocal.it/20161118/phantom-pilgrims-fail-to-boost-rome-tourism-in-jubilee-year
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2016/01/02/large-decrease-in-visitors-to-papal-events-in-2015-jubilee-numbers-low-so-far/

That said, Rome has poured a vast amount of money and effort into gearing up for the 2025 Jubilee, including cleaning up of many monuments and fountains, improving parts of the transport systems, etc. I don't recall that happening last time so the expectation of higher visitation numbers for the planned events could play out. Visitation numbers to Rome in 2023 (over 35 million) were reported to exceed both previous and pre-pandemic years even without a well-advertised special event so it's a busy place in general! Still, I have to believe there are still areas to explore that the majority of visitors don't take the time for or have interest in.

Personally? I wouldn't stay home; the expectation of heavy crowds would give me a good reason to seek out more of the least-visited treasures/places, especially if one has previous acquaintance with the Eternal City (next time will be my 4th.)

Italy is visited by more than 60 million tourists a year and tourism is 12% (est.) of the Italian GDP. They know how to handle this. For planning, remember the Jubilee is not a continuous event, it's a series of events of differing size, so adjust your schedule as you would for a holiday. Look at a calendar of events for the Jubilee 2025 below. We just made Rome lodging reservations for June 3-5 and there were plenty of choices, even though June 2 is a holiday (Repubblica) and there's a Jubilee event on June 7 & 8.
https://www.iubilaeum2025.va/en/pellegrinaggio/calendario-giubileo.html

Mike, thanks for the calendar. If i were traveling from the US to anyplace in Europe this coming year i would stop in Italy on the way in or out. Even 2 or 3 nights to experience a part of this would be worth it.

I suspect the Jubilee will be self-limiting, that is: when there will be no more rooms in Rome and traffic will be completely gridlocked, the city simply will not accept more reservation and no more person will come. I believe we are a long way from that, but if the worst comes to the worst limits will be self-imposed.

I suspect that the high speed train system is already close to collapse; for the next year it was announced that there will be 100 trains per day between Milan and Rome; it means one every 10 minutes. With such a crowding, even a tiny problem triggers delay around one or two hours to a lot of trains. We are already at this stage, just check the departure board of any major station and you will see how frequent delays are at this time; they are literally reported daily on newspapers. Yes, I know that Japanese can hold such a schedule, but their high speed system runs on separate tracks and stations. The Italian system uses non-high speed tracks as backup routes and all trains converge in the same stations for their last mile; approaches to big cities get easily troublesome.

You have already been given advice to check for major sacred meetings in Rome; I would add the advice of not planning too strict travel times, and may be minimize travel (you do not need to visit 5 cities in 11 days, make 3 of them and 2 would be better).

The impact of the Jubilee isn't so strong as believed.
There will be periods when Rome will be of course much more crowded that usual, like Easter, week ends mostly during Spring and Autumn. When huge groups of Italian and international pilgrims arrived in the Capital. But in fact not a great difference overall.
Looks some graph and statistics, like this one (don't worry if you don't understand Italian): https://www.fanpage.it/roma/mai-cosi-tanti-turisti-a-roma-i-numeri-e-i-dati-che-certificano-il-boom-di-arrivi-nel-2023/ . The Fig.1 shows total arrival of foreign tourists in Rome along the years. Huge difference due to Covid, but no glitches in 2000 and 2016, the two previos Jubilees.
More overall tourists calculated as arrival: 5% more in 2016, in a year when tourism was worldwide growing 4%.
In fact in Rome there were 10% less of total touristic incomes during 2016!

To paraphrase The Simpsons: 2025 could be the most crowded year, but the less crowded year of the rest of your life!

Sometimes we try and be so smart, so much better than the others, that we miss out on the best.

Here are some other suggestions if you can't make it to Italy this year. Each will be jamb packed and you might want to ask yourself, if Cautious optimism .... is it misplaced? Or maybe just go have a once in a lifetime experinece that few can comprehend. https://www.mybucketlistevents.com/99-international-events-festivals-bucket-list-ideas/

Hi
I visied Rome in September 2000 and have since visited five more times including twice in October [2007 & 2018]. Other than seeing a lot more tourist groups of nuns, monks and priests in 2000 I can't remeber any difference in the crowds. Wasn't there for the 2015-16 Jubilee. Hope this helps.

Anyway, this night pope Francis is opening the "Porta Santa" in Sant Peter, beginning officially the Jubilee.
During next week will be opened the same doors is the other Major Basilicas in Rome and in every other Cathedral in the World.

THIS:

. . . Or maybe just go have a once in a lifetime experience that few can comprehend.

That's the way I would look at it. As long as you can get hotel rooms, why not? Crowds of people and purposeful events are part of life, not just ancient art and architecture.

Busier? Who knows. If it's your first time you'll have nothing to compare it to, so it will probably just seem "busy". It's not deterring us, that's for sure. The 5 nights we are staying in Rome in June 2025 is just part of our long vacation. I think staying several nights would be helpful so one doesn't have to rush to check things off a list and can slow down to soak it all in.

I love Rome and have been many times. I absolutely hated my visit there in 2016 due to the massive crowds. The jubilee is the reason I nixed a stay there for 2025.

I am going to visit Rome because of the Jubilee and I'm not a practicing catholic anymore but I want to see and go through the holy doors that will be open in 2025. I will always remember going through four doors then another painting or statue in a museum. I will remember how I was able to visit each site in one day or how I wasn't able to. I believe this will be something to tell friends about my trip that could be more interesting then telling them about my visit to the colosseum.
I try to vacation to areas when something is going on like this. If an area has a festival or event going on I will try to experience it instead of trying to avoid it.
We are also going to Venice on the same trip during Carnival. One of the busiest times in the off season. But everyone that has been there during it says you need to experience if you can. So do you avoid those two weeks to avoid the crowds?
Do you try to visit a city like Boston on the 4th of July to see the reading of the Declaration of Independence at the Old State House and then go see the Boston Pops for the fireworks show along with a few thousand other folks or do you go in February when the Old State House is closed and the park where the fireworks are is empty?
It all ends up what you want and enjoy.

mbosteder, we are a lot alike. To skip Italy because of the Jubilee would be like going to Paris and skipping the Eiffel Tower because it attracts tourists [also recommended by a few here]