Christmas markets · Italy
Christmas Markets in Italy: Rome and Milan, Dates and Guide
Italy's Christmas markets covered here are in Rome and Milan. Rome's classic is the Christmas and Befana Market in Piazza Navona (1 December 2025 - 6 January 2026, free entry), and the Befana on 6 January is its most heartfelt celebration. Milan's Piazza Duomo market was open 1 December 2025 to 6 January 2026, and the Fiera degli Oh Bej! Oh Bej! around Sforza Castle is held for four days around 7 December. Dates shown are the latest confirmed editions (2025); for an alpine-style market, many people head to Trento instead.
10 markets · checked October 2026
- Florence Christmas Market (Weihnachtsmarkt) in Piazza Santa CroceLast season: 15 Nov - 21 Dec 2025Free entry; prices above average.
- Christmas Market in Piazza DuomoLast season: 1 Dec 2025 - 6 Jan 2026Free entry.
- Fiera degli Oh Bej! Oh Bej!Last season: 5-8 Dec 2025Free entry.
- Christmas WorldLast season: 29 Nov 2025 - 11 Jan 2026In 2025 about EUR 50 for entry alone for two adults and one girl, according to visitors; attractions and food extra.
- Christmas and Befana Market in Piazza NavonaLast season: 1 Dec 2025 - 6 Jan 2026Free entry.
- Christmas Market at Campo Santo StefanoLast season: 23 Nov - 24 Dec 2025Free entry.
- Christmas Markets in Mestre (Piazza Ferretto)Last season: 21 Nov - 28 Dec 2025Free entry; the ice rink is paid.
- Il Fantastico Castello di Babbo Natale (Santa's Fantastic Castle)Last season: 16 Nov 2025 - 6 Jan 2026Ticket payable (2022: about EUR 48 for two adults and one reduced) plus parking.
- Borgo di Babbo Natale (Santa's Village)Last season: 15 Nov - 6 Jan 2026Ticket payable; photos and some activities extra.
- Eur Christmas Rome - Il Villaggio (The Village)Last season: 22 Nov 2025 - 6 Jan 2026Free entry; rink and rides payable.
🧒 With kids
✨ Date night
🎉 With friends
Florence
IllustrationGerman market · Florence
Florence Christmas Market (Weihnachtsmarkt) in Piazza Santa Croce
German-style Christmas market in front of the Santa Croce basilica: wooden chalets, German and Austrian specialities, Tuscan crafts.
🎉 With friends✨ Date nightWhat's there
- Wooden chalets in front of the Basilica of Santa Croce
- Food from northern and eastern Europe (Polish, Hungarian)
- Spices, decorations and minerals
- Lights and Christmas music
What visitors say
The Santa Croce setting is wonderful and for many Florentine families it is a yearly tradition, with food from various countries. Critics find little real craftsmanship, wholesale goods, above-average prices and a market that never changes.
Lovely for the atmosphere and a standing dinner - not for craft shopping.
- Dates
- 15 Nov - 21 Dec 2025
- Cost
- Free entry; prices above average.
Getting there and parking
- 10 minutes on foot from the Duomo; 20 minutes from Santa Maria Novella.
Worth knowing
- Bring cash for some stalls.
Milan
IllustrationHoliday market · Milan
Christmas Market in Piazza Duomo
The chalets beside the Duomo, next to the square's big tree. For a bigger market in Milan there is also the traditional Oh Bej! Oh Bej! fair around Sforza Castle (7-8 December).
🎉 With friendsWhat's there
- Chalets beside the Duomo
- The big tree of Piazza Duomo
- Close to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele
A stop during a walk in the centre; for a traditional market, go to Oh Bej! Oh Bej! (7-8 December) or take a trip to Trento.
- Dates
- 1 Dec 2025 - 6 Jan 2026
- Cost
- Free entry.
Getting there and parking
- Metro M1/M3 Duomo. By car, on weekdays from 7:30 to 19:30 entry to the centre (Area C) is charged.
Worth knowing
- Medium and large dogs must be on a lead and muzzled, including on public transport.
IllustrationWeekend market · Milan
Fiera degli Oh Bej! Oh Bej!
Milan's oldest fair, held on the days of Sant'Ambrogio: hundreds of stalls around Sforza Castle.
🎉 With friends🧒 With kidsWhat's there
- Stalls around Sforza Castle and Parco Sempione
- Sweets and roast chestnuts, street food
- Antiques, toys, clothing
- Milanese Sant'Ambrogio tradition (7 December)
Not to be missed if you are in Milan for the Sant'Ambrogio long weekend; it is a popular fair, not a Tyrolean-style market.
- Dates
- 5-8 Dec 2025
- Cost
- Free entry.
Getting there and parking
- Metro M1 Cairoli or M2 Lanza, a stone's throw from the Castle.
Worth knowing
- It lasts only 4 days around 7 December.
- Very crowded in the afternoon: go in the morning.
Rome
IllustrationChristmas village · Rome
Christmas World
🧒 With kidsWhat's there
- Christmas village in Villa Borghese
- Themed areas on the European capitals
- Shows and musicals
- Santa Claus, the Befana and elves
What visitors sayGoogle 3.3 ★ · 758 reviews
Carefully made sets, lights and shows win over the children, but almost everyone talks about the costs: you pay for entry and then for almost every attraction, and on peak days there are long queues. Better value with the online offers.
A Christmas theme park, not a Christmas market: budget for it as a paid outing with children.
- Dates
- 29 Nov 2025 - 11 Jan 2026
- Cost
- In 2025 about EUR 50 for entry alone for two adults and one girl, according to visitors; attractions and food extra.
Getting there and parking
- Metro A Flaminio or Spagna; buses 61, 89, 119, 160, 490, 495. Entrance from Piazzale delle Canestre (viale del Galoppatoio).
- With the ticket, 20% off at the Saba car park at Villa Borghese.
Worth knowing
- Wheelchair accessible; there is no pushchair storage.
- Dogs allowed on a lead (large ones muzzled).
- Illustration
Holiday market · Rome
Christmas and Befana Market in Piazza Navona
Rome's historic market: stalls of sweets, toys, nativity scenes and Befana stockings around Bernini's fountains.
🧒 With kids✨ Date nightWhat's there
- Stalls among Bernini's fountains
- Sweets, sweet coal and Befana stockings
- Nativity figurines and toys
- The square's vintage carousel
Rome's Christmas market par excellence: more tradition than craft, to see in the evening and on 5-6 January.
- Dates
- 1 Dec 2025 - 6 Jan 2026
- Cost
- Free entry.
Getting there and parking
- On foot from the Pantheon (5 minutes) or from Campo de' Fiori; buses to corso Rinascimento.
- There is no parking in the historic centre: better to use public transport.
Worth knowing
- The most heartfelt celebration is the Befana, on 6 January.
- Open until late at night (until 1 am, public holidays until 2 am).
- Illustration
Christmas village · Rome
Il Fantastico Castello di Babbo Natale (Santa's Fantastic Castle)
🧒 With kidsWhat's there
- Castello di Lunghezza on the edge of Rome
- Santa's rooms, post office, elves' workshop
- The Befana's house and the Grinch's hideout
- Shows (Frozen and others)
What visitors sayGoogle 4.0 ★ · 243 reviews
For many families the biggest Santa village they have ever seen, with an extensive park and shows that enchant the children. The criticism: too many people on peak days, a high cost for two adults and a child, parking far away and little to do in the rain.
A magical day for small children in Rome - on a weekday and in good weather.
- Dates
- 16 Nov 2025 - 6 Jan 2026
- Cost
- Ticket payable (2022: about EUR 48 for two adults and one reduced) plus parking.
Getting there and parking
- By car: Castello di Lunghezza, via Collatina; paid parking.
- FL2 train to Lunghezza, then on foot.
Worth knowing
- Avoid crowded weekends.
- Check the weather: much of the event is outdoors.
IllustrationChristmas village · Rome
Borgo di Babbo Natale (Santa's Village)
🧒 With kidsWhat's there
- Tenuta dei Papaveri on the edge of Rome
- Shows all day (Frozen, Grinch, Wednesday)
- Kinder Circus and baby dance
- Grotto with musical bears
What visitors sayGoogle 4.0 ★ · 90 reviews
Families who love it praise the performers, the many shows and the village atmosphere with warm lights. Others find the ticket unjustified: little to do apart from the shows, paid photos with Santa, limited food trucks and a programme that changes.
Fun for small children if you stay all day for the shows - not for a short visit.
- Dates
- 15 Nov - 6 Jan 2026
- Cost
- Ticket payable; photos and some activities extra.
Getting there and parking
- By car, large car park at the Tenuta dei Papaveri.
Worth knowing
- Check the programme via the QR code at the entrance.
- Illustration
Christmas village · Rome
Eur Christmas Rome - Il Villaggio (The Village)
🧒 With kids🎉 With friendsWhat's there
- Ice-skating rink
- Rides for children
- Street food with tables and mulled wine
- Stalls of sweets, gifts and crafts
What visitors say
Some have a nice evening among the rink, rides and food. Many, however, expected a big village and find a square with a rink and a few stalls; big-city prices (rides EUR 5, sandwiches EUR 12).
Good for skating and grabbing something to eat in the EUR district; not a real Christmas market.
- Dates
- 22 Nov 2025 - 6 Jan 2026
- Cost
- Free entry; rink and rides payable.
Getting there and parking
- In the EUR district, near the lake (viale America); metro B stops EUR Palasport / EUR Fermi.
Worth knowing
- On Sundays combine it with the outdoor market on viale della Civiltà del Lavoro, not far away.
Venice
IllustrationHoliday market · Venice
Christmas Market at Campo Santo Stefano
Wooden chalets with art crafts and food and wine in the square between Rialto and the Accademia.
✨ Date nightWhat's there
- Chalets in one of the most beautiful squares in Venice
- Art crafts and glass
- Frittelle and mulled wine
Small but romantic: a stop along the Rialto-Accademia walk.
- Dates
- 23 Nov - 24 Dec 2025
- Cost
- Free entry.
Getting there and parking
- Vaporetto line 1 to Accademia or San Samuele, then a 5-minute walk.
Worth knowing
- Go at dusk, when the square lights up.
- Illustration
Holiday market · Venice
Christmas Markets in Mestre (Piazza Ferretto)
The biggest market in the Venice area: chalets, a tree and an ice rink in Mestre's central square.
🧒 With kids🎉 With friendsWhat's there
- Chalets on Piazza Ferretto and Via Poerio
- Big tree and lights
- Ice rink
- Weekend shows
More convenient and bigger than the markets in central Venice; combine it with an evening in Mestre.
- Dates
- 21 Nov - 28 Dec 2025
- Cost
- Free entry; the ice rink is paid.
Getting there and parking
- From Venezia Mestre station take a tram or bus to Piazza Ferretto (10 minutes).
Worth knowing
- In the historic centre of Venice there is the Campo Santo Stefano market.
Christmas markets near you
More Christmas market cities
- Germany
- Cologne
- Quebec City
- Amsterdam
- Tokyo
- Valkenburg
- Nuremberg
- Zurich
- Brussels
- Colmar
- Paris
- France
- Berlin
- Prague
- Strasbourg
- Krakow
- Munich
- Maastricht
- Montreux
- Frankfurt
- Switzerland
- Bruges
- Valencia
- Salzburg
- Dresden
- Barcelona
- Basel
- Bucharest
- Copenhagen
- Stockholm
- Montreal
- Geneva
- Ghent
- Amsterdam Light Festival
- Gdansk
- Rome
- Tallinn
- Belgium
- Lisbon
- Oslo
- Poland
- Hamburg
- Lille
- Madrid
- Austria
- Netherlands
- Wroclaw
- Dusseldorf
- Milan
- Vienna
- Rothenburg ob der Tauber
- Innsbruck
- Riga
- Stuttgart
- Aachen
- Bratislava
- Helsinki
- Warsaw
- Heidelberg
- Budapest
- Venice
- Spain
- Malaga
- Florence
- Vilnius
- Lithuania
- Croatia
- Seville
- Nice
- Greece
- Bremen
- Ljubljana
- Slovenia
- Lyon
- Turkey
- Leipzig