Rome Christmas 2019

Welcome to this forum, sarahlee! And how exciting to be planning your first trip to Europe! I find Italy in December chilly yet wonderful! It's really impossible, though, to list "must sees" for you when other folks on this forum don't have a clue what you enjoy. For some people, "must sees" are every Caravaggio painting possible. For others, it's every possible food market. For yet others, it's archeological museums and sites. Have you purchased a travel guide yet - the "Rick Steves Italy" book comes to mind!! - and looked at possible itineraries in and around Rome? That book in particular, gives a great 2-page list of Rick's "must sees" and might be a great resource for you. Give us some ideas what you hope to see and do, and it would be easier to give you suggestions.

there are Christmas day tours too which look great

Area foods. Transportation for day trips to other places. That would be helpful to us. We are a an early sixties couple.

Hi Sarahlee and welcome to the forum -
The previous suggestion to get yourself a guidebook and spend some SERIOUS time with it is an excellent one. As mauldinuu wisely noted, no one here knows you so we don't know what sorts of things will be a "must" for you. It's best to make notes in your book of the attractions which you think you'll find to your liking.

LOL, I can send you to old, glorious and/or interesting Italian churches and art museums all day. I've typed fingers bloody on lists of those very things for some undecided folks... who've then let me know that, well, they're really not all that interested in art, church architecture or museums so it was effort for naught. Yep, best to shop your "must-see" attractions from the book first. :O)

Any Italy must sees?

"Italy" is a very big country with oodles of cities, towns and regions, and many have their own unique histories and cultures. Those differences extend to wine and food as well. There is more Italy than can be deeply explored in a lifetime, and the hardest part of visiting is limiting sightseeing to a reasonable amount for the numbers days you have to work with! I could easily spend all 16 days in Rome without boredom but with that amount of time, I'd chose more than one base if you want to explore a bit more of the country. During short winter days, you can only day trip short distances so you'd be fairly limited if trying to do that from Rome. Florence, IMHO, is a better base for some day trips that could be accomplished during daylight hours in mid/late December. You could even choose a 3rd base and split your time almost equally but two would give you the luxury of long, non-rushed stays and flexibility to sightsee according to whim and weather.

There will be some attractions which benefit from - or even require - advance tickets so once you've gotten a rough list of locations and attractions together, we can help with best ways to do that. :O)

I would like to know where to eat Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day dinner without breaking the bank. We are on a budget and happen to be traveling through Rome on the 24th through the 27th on the way to Portugal. Spending the holidays away from home is not my first choice but we are doing it so we're trying to make it special without going into debt. Any inexpensive but nice places to eat on those days in Rome? Traveling as a couple with our 9 year old and mother in law. Thanks for any advice!

Welcome to the forums, jenchispas -
It's best to start a new thread with your question versus hitchhike on the OP's. It's not going to be seen by anyone who isn't already on this thread and Sarah probably doesn't want to get notices for responses that aren't for her own question. Make sense?

How do I get tickets/admission to Christmas Eve mass at the Vatican?

Christmas Eve Mass is a hot ticket if you want to be inside, with a seat! Start with a request to your diocese in the US. Otherwise, one can stand outside in Piazza San Pietro and watch on the giant screens. Recognize it is an event that will take up your entire evening if you get tickets. The mass was at 10pm last I knew (I believe Papa Francesco moved it forward for the traditional 11pm) but you have to arrive and get in line for the mad dash to seating by about 7pm.