- BY ISSIMO
- January 27, 2023
An Italian Valentine’s
Four ways to celebrate V-Day like an Italian (and Travel While You’re at It)
Call us hopeless romantics, but we love Valentine’s Day. Perhaps it’s because it’s a holiday centred around love – and what’s more charming than that? – or the fact it falls just after Christmas and Lunar New Year, giving us another excuse to celebrate and be merry in the middle of winter.
It might be for the heart-shaped decorations everywhere, or because chocolate is such a big part of it.
Or, maybe, we like it so much because over the years the traditional day solely dedicated to lovers has turned into an occasion to make everyone we hold dear feel special: Mothers, fathers, sisters and best friends. In our books, they all get a little something on Valentine’s Day, be it perfumes and delectable treats or fancy socks, jewellery and candles.
There are countless ways to mark February 14, of course, but in Italy, a few particularly stand out from the crowd. Curious to know more?
A Valentine's Day Festival at Vico del Gargano, Puglia
For the past 400 years – since 1618, to be exact – the residents of Vico del Gargano, a tiny town near Foggia, Puglia, have been making San Valentino (the patron saint of this festivity) and Valentine’s Day an essential part of their identity. Every year, the entire borgo comes in fact alive for lovers’ day with a series of rituals, traditions and events that start in early February and continue all the way to the 14th of the month, and span theatre performances, religious celebrations and musical revelries on Vico’s streets. The village itself turns into one big romantic destination, with a “Lovers’ Path” that takes couples through alleyways, arches, squares and churches festooned with decorative hearts, a “Vicolo del Bacio” (the alley of the kiss) and a “Pozzo delle Promesse” (well of promises), where those in love can renew their commitments to each other or, why not, declare their feelings for the first time. Add to that a farmers’ market serving local specialties to keep everyone’s belly full, and you’ve got one of the most accomplished Valentine’s Day festivals you’ll ever come across.
A Restaurant for Two (and Two Only) in Vacone, Lazio
Food can be a great way to express love – as any Italian will tell you – and an intimate dinner on Valentine’s Day is a sure way to impress your other half. For the most intimate of them all, look no further than Vacone, a town 70 km from Rome where you’ll find the smallest restaurant in the world, Solo Per Due (Only for Two).
Set in a 19th century building that overlooks the vestiges of an ancient Roman villa (how’s that for ambience), the exclusive dining spot serves only two guests per service, offering a four-course meal with wine, romantic vibes aplenty, and a sense of place and history you’ll be hard pressed to find in other restaurants (those Roman ruins allegedly belonged to the country villa of Latin poet Oratio). Sounds charming enough for you? Get booking, as reservations run out fast.
A Whole Love-Themed Street in Naples, Campania
For a stroll with a romantic twist, Naples’ Vico Santa Maria delle Grazie is hard to beat. Known as the Vicolo dell’Amore (the alley of love), the winding street in the city’s Spanish Quarters is ultimate ode to romance, sweet declarations and soppy (but well-meaning) gestures, adorned as it is with a riot of phrases, flowers and fluttering hearts. It’s a little tacky, sure, but we like it exactly because of that. Loud and unapologetically cheesy, this is an ideal place for a zero-cost dedication to the person you love: all you have to do is look up under the hanging clothes and find the perfect sentence to swoon your partner with.
A Hunt for the Most Romantic Benches in the Novese District, Piedmont
Visiting Piedmont is always a good idea but go during the month of February and you’ll be met with a Valentines-themed project that will turn even the most cynical of partners into a hopeless romantic. Starting last year, the Novese District in the region’s lower part – essentially, the territory between Piedmont and Liguria – launched in fact the “Panchine di San Valentino” (“benches of San Valentino”) – an initiative that sees a series of picturesque benches characterised by hearts of all shapes and sizes being placed across hiking paths and borghi’s piazze, to create a ‘circuit of love’ that locals and travellers alike are called to discover with their better half. The exact coordinates of the benches aren’t disclosed until closer to February 14, making this a love hunt of sorts, and the perfect opportunity to explore this little-known side of Italy.
Set in a 19th century building that overlooks the vestiges of an ancient Roman villa (how’s that for ambience), the exclusive dining spot serves only two guests per service, offering a four-course meal with wine, romantic vibes aplenty, and a sense of place and history you’ll be hard pressed to find in other restaurants (those Roman ruins allegedly belonged to the country villa of Latin poet Oratio). Sounds charming enough for you? Get booking, as reservations run out fast.
