Seasonal travelBy Clever Tourists · Published
Of these three cities, only Bologna has published its 2026 dates: the Antica Fiera di Santa Lucia runs 6 November to 27 December 2026, according to Bologna Welcome, the city's tourism foundation. Verona's official market site still showed the 2025 edition (21 November to 28 December 2025), and Venice had no 2026 programme when we checked. So we give Bologna's dates as fact and the Verona and Venice dates as last year's pattern, clearly labelled. National holidays are fixed: Tuesday 8 December, Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December, Friday 1 January and Wednesday 6 January. We were in Verona, Bologna and Venice from 25 July to 3 August 2023, so this page relies on organisers and tourism offices, not on a December visit.
Bologna is the safest choice of the three for fixed plans, because Bologna Welcome has listed the full season. Most of the stalls are also under the city's porticoes, so rain matters less.
| Market | Where | 2026 dates |
|---|---|---|
| Antica Fiera di Santa Lucia | Portico of Santa Maria dei Servi, Strada Maggiore | 6 Nov to 27 Dec, about 09:00 to 20:00 |
| Natale a Porta Galliera | Piazza XX Settembre, by the station | 19 Nov to 6 Jan |
| Fiera di Natale | Via Altabella, by St Peter's Cathedral | 20 Nov to 6 Jan |
| French Christmas Village | Piazza Minghetti | 5 to 8 Dec |
| Antiques Fair | Voltone del Podestà | 12 to 24 Dec |
| DecomelArt and San Giuseppe Color | Via San Giuseppe | 4 to 24 Dec |
| Kurbis | Via Righi | 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 21 and 22 Dec |
| Nadel dal Cuntaden (farmers' market) | Via Rizzoli | 12 and 13 Dec |
The Fiera di Santa Lucia is the city's oldest and most traditional Christmas market, set under a UNESCO-listed portico. It is the place for nativity figures, along with decorations, nougat and brittle. One note on the sources: Bologna Welcome's listing says the fair runs 6 November to 27 December, while its description says it starts "from mid-November". Go by the dates, but expect fewer stalls in the first days.
Idealista's 2026 calendar gives Porta Galliera as daily 08:00 to 20:00 and the other main markets as roughly 09:00 to 20:00. It warns that hours on 24, 25, 26 and 31 December and 1 January need checking nearer the time. Bologna Welcome gives approximate hours for Santa Lucia only.
An Italian guide describes Porta Galliera as mainly clothing, accessories and gifts, so treat it as a stop on your way to or from the station. For chestnuts, Bologna Welcome lists stands at Via Rizzoli on the corner of Piazza Re Enzo, and on Via Indipendenza at Via Montegrappa.
Our what to eat in Bologna guide covers what to order once the market cold sets in, and our Bologna guide covers the city.
The market's official site, nataleinpiazza.it, run by Comitato per Verona with Confcommercio and Confesercenti, still showed 2025 when we checked. Treat everything in this list as last year's pattern, not a 2026 fact:
• Dates: 21 November to 28 December 2025, over 38 days.
• Places: Piazza Bra, which was a new location that year, plus Piazza dei Signori and Piazza Sacco e Vanzetti at the Arsenale.
• Hours: Sunday to Thursday 10:00 to 21:00, Friday and Saturday 10:00 to 23:00. On 24 December 10:00 to 17:00, 25 December 16:00 to 23:00, 26 and 27 December 10:00 to 23:00, and 28 December 10:00 to 18:00.
• What's there: stalls run in collaboration with Nuremberg's Christkindlmarkt. An Italian market listing for 2025 mentions crafts and German food such as pretzels and bratwurst. The site gives 80 stalls in one place and more than 60 exhibitors in another. It reports just over 1 million visits in 2024.
2026 dates in circulation: third-party guides disagree. Holafly gives 20 November to 26 December, and WeRoad gives 21 November to 28 December, which matches last year's calendar dates exactly. Neither comes from the organiser, so don't book on either. A mid-December weekend is the safest guess, because it has fallen inside every recent edition.
Santa Lucia: Verona has its own tradition of a fair around 13 December, and third-party listings give 9 to 12 December for 2025. We found no 2026 dates. A local blog expects the steel star to return to Piazza Bra, but we could not confirm that with the city.
See what to eat in Verona and our one-day Verona guide for the rest of the visit.
Venice is the place to go for quiet and atmosphere, not for a market. The city's programme is called Venezia. It's Christmas Time, and the 2026 edition had not been announced when we checked. The following comes from the city's 2025 press release, not a 2026 source:
• Friday 21 November 2025, 18:00: tree lighting, market opening and ice rink at Piazza Ferretto in Mestre, on the mainland.
• Saturday 22 November 2025, 18:30: tree lighting at Piazza San Marco, after the opening of Murano illumina il mondo at 17:30, with Murano glass chandeliers in the Procuratie Vecchie.
• Saturday 29 November 2025: ice rink opening in Campo San Polo.
• Trees: both main trees were 15 m tall.
Third-party guides also describe wooden chalets selling Venetian crafts in Campo Santo Stefano in December, and one gives 23 November 2025 to 6 January 2026 for the Venice markets. We found no official date for that market in 2026 or 2025, so treat the stalls as likely, not confirmed.
Access fee: Venice's day-visitor fee does not apply in December 2026. Our Venice access fee guide has the 2027 dates, which start at Easter.
After Christmas: the Regata delle Befane on 6 January is covered in our Epiphany in Italy guide, and February brings Carnival. Our best time to visit Venice guide puts November, early December and January outside Carnival among the least crowded periods, and covers acqua alta. See what to eat in Venice for food.
Italy has five national holidays across the season, all on fixed dates. Plan your museum days around these.
• Tuesday 8 December (Immaculate Conception): a public holiday, and in practice the start of the Christmas season. Monday 7 December becomes a bridge day for many Italians, so expect a busy long weekend from Saturday 5 December.
• Thursday 24 December: not a public holiday, but many shops close early and families eat at home in the evening.
• Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December: public holidays. Expect many shops and some restaurants and museums to close, with Sunday 27 December following straight after.
• Friday 1 January: a public holiday.
• Wednesday 6 January: Epiphany, a public holiday.
We could not confirm 2026 holiday hours for individual museums in Venice, Verona or Bologna, so check each one directly. If you want a restaurant on the 24th or 25th, book ahead. Our guide to the coperto charge explains the extra line on your bill.
Our Venice, Verona and Bologna itinerary has the order and timing for all three. For a market trip, we would start with Bologna or Verona, end in Venice, and aim for the middle two weeks of December, when Bologna's markets are certainly open and Verona's are very likely to be.
Italy's other famous Christmas tradition is in the south: see our Naples nativity scenes guide.
• Venice: sleep on the islands, not in Mestre, because evenings are the point of a winter visit. Cannaregio is flat and close to the station; San Marco is the closest to the tree. Mestre is cheaper and has last year's main market. See where to stay in Venice and how many days in Venice.
• Verona: stay inside the bend of the Adige in the Città Antica, within walking distance of both Piazza Bra and Piazza dei Signori. We don't have a Verona stay guide yet, but how many days in Verona helps you plan the visit.
• Bologna: stay in the centro storico around Piazza Maggiore, or towards Strada Maggiore for the Santa Lucia fair. Staying near the station puts you by Porta Galliera and makes day trips easier. See how many days in Bologna and day trips from Bologna.
6 November to 27 December 2026 under the portico of Santa Maria dei Servi on Strada Maggiore, roughly 09:00 to 20:00, according to Bologna Welcome.
The official 2026 dates were not published when we checked. The 2025 market ran 21 November to 28 December. Third-party 2026 dates disagree.
It has smaller events rather than one big market. Last year's programme centred on trees at San Marco and in Mestre, with stalls and skating in Piazza Ferretto. The 2026 programme was not out when we checked.
No. The day-visitor fee does not apply in December 2026. The 2027 season starts at Easter.
Tuesday 8 December, Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December, Friday 1 January and Wednesday 6 January.
Get our new Italy guides and practical tips by email: where to stay, what to eat, what things cost and the rules that catch travelers out.
Free. No spam, only new guides and tips.
Entry rules change, and they depend on your nationality — always confirm the current requirements on the official government site before you book or apply. Only use official government (.gov) portals; ignore look-alike agency sites.
Search verified local fleets with low security deposits and exact model delivery on Localrent.
Get the best deals on flights to Italy with Kiwi.com.
