This winter season, Let the Wonder Begin is the operating theme at elegant Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria in Sorrento, Italy. Festive holiday programming includes unique decorations, seasonal scents, traditional melodies and illuminated paths throughout the property’s gardens that have been lined with thousands of tiny lights. In the lobby, guests will be met with a soaring Christmas tree adorned in twinkling baubles.

© Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria

This holiday season also sees Caruso-De Curtis Sorrento International Festival getting underway Dec. 12. A glorious meld of memorable culinary experiences, operatic music and song, the event also includes a charitable Zeppola Tasting Dec. 21 with live caroling — and the delicious aroma of freshly fried Italian donuts known as zeppole. The event will open with the Concerto Lirico Crossover, featuring soprano Tatiana Previati and baritone-pianist Raffaello Bellavista.

© Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria

Guests can book tasting experiences including servings of handmade panettone crafted by Executive Chef Antonino Montefusco, paired with prized Louis XIII Jeroboam cognac from the Rémy Martin house. Offered in the frescoed space of Bar Vittoria and the more contemporary La Pergola Bar à Champagne, Executive Chef Montefusco’s planned panettone variations will be Arancio e Cioccolato (orange and chocolate) and Albicocca Pellecchiella del Vesuvio (apricot from Vesuvius). A third surprise flavor will also be served, with panettoni available for sale at the property and exclusively through the hotel’s boutique online.

It all leads up to Christmas Eve dinner in magnificent Sala Vittoria, where authentic local Neapolitan recipes will be featured. The next day, Christmas Day lunch will be served in Michelin-starred Terrazza Bosquet.

Seasonal events will reach a crescendo Dec. 31 with the multisensory Wonderland New Year’s Eve gala. An exquisite dinner of Italian dishes imagined by Executive Chef Montefusco will be followed by music and midnight fireworks over the sea. Festivities wrap up with a traditional New Year’s brunch the next day, served in the opulent Vittoria Ballroom, with a meal accompanied by the soothing harmonies of Maestro Francesco Nastro.