The Year in Review: 2024

Issue #117

Happy holidays!

This is the last issue of 2024, so I’m just popping into your inbox to say thank you for reading the New Roman Times. 2024 marks the second full year for this newsletter and, my, how it has grown. Since I launched this weekly newsletter in October 2022, readership has grown tenfold—and in more than two years, I’ve never missed a single issue.

This year, I published 52 issues on topics ranging from finding Roman ruins in Córdoba, Spain to a behind the scenes peek at a family trip retracing my grandfather’s steps in Italy during the Second World War. For paid subscribers, I launched a series of neighborhood guides, starting with Monti and Piazza del Popolo & Flaminio in Rome, and continued my ‘72 Hours’ series with guides to 72 Hours in Rome, Venice, and Perugia.

For all subscribers, I interviewed 12 entrepreneurs and creatives doing incredible things in Italy, including two sisters who represent the next generation of Venetian glassmakers, the fifth-generation hotelier at the helm of Sorrento’s grand dame, a visionary winemaker in Puglia, the founder of a tour company bringing people to a little village in Umbria to show them an authentic side of Italy, and even famed chef Massimo Bottura. I also shined a spotlight on under-the-radar destinations like Tropea, Ostia Antica, Abruzzo, and Urbino.

Tropea is one of my favorite under-the-radar destinations in Italy

In addition to my 72 Hours guides, some of my most popular issues this year were my curated lists and a detailed explainer on how to navigate Italy’s trains like a pro. In ascending order, these were the most popular new issues of 2024:

10. Why You Should Take a Day Trip to Ostia Antica

9. 24 Places in Italy to Inspire Your 2024 Travels

8. So You Want to Move to Italy? These Are the Visas You Can Apply For

7. A Very Subjective List of the Best Tour Guides and Companies in Rome

6. 72 Hours in Venice

5. 72 Hours in Rome

4. Rome Neighborhood Guide: Monti

3. Why You Should Plan a Trip to Abruzzo

2. How to Navigate Italy’s Trains Like a Pro

1. A Very Subjective List of the Best Places to Eat in Rome (2024 Update)

Though Substack shows me the most-viewed issues, I’d love to know what resonated most with you this year. Leave a comment here or feel free to reply to this email and let me know.

For me, the most rewarding aspect of this endeavor is interacting with readers like you. I’ve noticed an uptick in the comments this year and I want to thank everyone who took the time to comment, like and share issues, or email me directly. My popular issue about how to make the most of a week in Tuscany was written in response to a question from a reader who was planning a trip to the region. And when a reader asked if Palazzo Doria Pamphilj is worth visiting, I dedicated an issue to this fascinating museum in a noble palace.

Please keep the questions coming in 2025! Email me at newromantimes@substack.com, message me in the Substack app, or leave a comment and I might dedicate an issue to answering your question. And as a reminder, super subscribers who opt for the highest tier subscription get a free 40-minute consultation with me to help them plan a trip to Italy.

Speaking of paid subscriptions, I want to thank everyone who upgraded this year. Your generous support enables me to continue writing this newsletter and keep the majority of the issues free for everyone.

I visited Porto Ercole for the first time this year and loved it

On a personal note, I’m thankful for all the fantastic opportunities I’ve had this year to travel around Italy and report stories from my adopted home. This year, I took 22 trips in Italy, 16 of which brought me to new-to-me places. I revisited favorite places like the Amalfi Coast, Lake Como, Venice, Florence, Umbria, Emilia Romagna, and Sicily and visited new ones like Porto Ercole and Forte dei Marmi on the Tuscan coast, Maratea, Lake Garda, Le Marche, and Pantelleria. You can find some of my coverage from these places below in the Further Reading section.

As I plan the New Roman Times’ editorial calendar for 2025, I’m excited about what’s coming down the pipeline, including a list of 25 places in Italy to inspire your 2025 travels, more neighborhood guides, a detailed explainer about public transportation in Rome, and an issue dedicated to why you need to plan a trip to Sicily.

I also want to know what you would like to read about in 2025. Do you want more postcards spotlighting under-the-radar villages, like this one about Civita di Bagnoregio, Lazio’s dying town? Do you want practical advice about living in or traveling in Italy? Is there a place you’d like to see featured in a 72 hours guide?

Aside from this newsletter, I’ve got some exciting projects in the works, including commissions from Travel + Leisure, AFAR, Food & Wine, and Condé Nast Traveller. I’m also in the midst of updating the 2026 edition of Fodor’s Rome guidebook. The 2025 edition, which I updated last year, came out this fall and the brand new Pocket Rome guidebook that I worked on this year will be released in February 2025. I also contributed to a soon-to-be announced book that will be published by Phaidon and Monacelli next year.

Do you have any exciting plans for 2025? Travel plans, personal or professional projects—I’d love to hear about them.

I know that Christmas is over, but in keeping with the holiday spirit, I would be so grateful if you would upgrade your subscription. Paid subscriptions help me keep this newsletter going and keep the majority of the issues available to everyone for free. The New Roman Times does not have any ads or sponsored content. I only write about places that I genuinely love and people who are worth getting to know.

Thanks for reading! For more updates on where I’m going and what I’m doing, follow me on Instagram @lauraitzkowitz.

Further Reading

• The most ambitious story I wrote and photographed this year was a lengthy personal feature for Hemispheres about my family’s quest to retrace my grandfather’s steps through Italy during WWII. Unfortunately, it’s not currently available online, but if you’re interested in reading it, I’ll send you a PDF.

• I wrote 24 articles for Travel + Leisure this year, including a narrative feature about Maratea, a list of the 11 best cities to visit in Italy, and a guide to Palermo with tips from a couple of plugged-in locals.

• My favorite assignment for AFAR this year was this piece about how to enjoy Italy without the crowds.

• In my first year as Contributing Editor at Italy Magazine, I reviewed 17 hotels and resorts in Italy, from the resort that put Puglia on the luxury travel map to a new contemporary design hotel on the Tuscan coast.

• My debut for British Airways’ High Life came out this year: the Original Guide to Rome.

• I also started writing for Chase Travel this year. My debut article is this First Timer’s Guide to Tuscany and I have a dozen more articles for them coming down the pipeline.