Italy in December is two countries. In the north it is Christmas-market season and the opening of the ski year; in Rome and the south it is a mild, wet, low-season month with the cities at their emptiest. The switch is thrown on 8 December, the Immacolata, when Italy collectively puts up its decorations – and in 2027 that falls on a Wednesday, with Christmas Day and Santo Stefano both landing on the weekend.
8 December: the day the season starts
The Immacolata Concezione on Wednesday 8 December 2027 is a national public holiday and, in practice, the starting gun. Trees go up, the Christmas markets open in earnest, the presepi (nativity scenes) appear, and the Vatican and Rome hold ceremonies at Piazza di Spagna. Before that date, December in Italy looks like November. After it, it does not.
Because the 8th falls mid-week in 2027, expect a domestic travel bump around it rather than a long weekend, and expect museums and shops to be open but busy.
Christmas markets: where they actually are
Italy’s proper Christmas markets are a northern, Alpine, German-speaking tradition, concentrated in Trentino-Alto Adige. The five best known are at Bolzano (the biggest and the original), Merano, Trento, Bressanone/Brixen and Vipiteno/Sterzing, and they typically run from late November to 6 January.
Elsewhere the tradition is different and it is worth knowing before you book a flight to Rome expecting Nuremberg. Rome has a market on Piazza Navona of variable quality, Naples has Via San Gregorio Armeno – the street of year-round nativity-figure workshops, which in December is one of the great spectacles in Italy – and most southern cities do lights, concerts and food rather than wooden huts.
Free museums on the first Sunday
The Ministry of Culture’s Domenica al Museo gives free entry to more than 480 state museums, monuments, archaeological parks and gardens on the first Sunday of the month, from October to March. In 2027 the December date is Sunday 5 December.
Free does not always mean walk-in – some sites, the Colosseum among them, still require a timed reservation at zero cost – and temporary exhibitions inside a museum are usually excluded.
Weather: mild and wet in the middle, cold and clear in the north
Italy runs 1,200 kilometres from the Alps to Sicily and December shows it more than any other month.
- Rome – highs near 13°C, lows near 5°C, and around 100 mm of rain across nine or ten days. The second-wettest month of the Roman year after November. Not cold; genuinely wet.
- Milan and the Po valley – colder, greyer and famously foggy, with highs around 7°C and days that never fully brighten.
- The Alps and Dolomites – ski season, with most resorts opening from late November or early December depending on snow.
- Sicily and the far south – highs in the mid-teens, the mildest winter in Europe, and the reason Palermo and Catania are underrated December cities.
Christmas and Santo Stefano fall on the weekend in 2027
Saturday 25 December and Sunday 26 December – Christmas Day and Santo Stefano – both land on the weekend in 2027, which has a specific consequence: Italians get no extra weekday off, so the holiday period is shorter and more compressed than in a year when they fall midweek.
What is closed on the 25th and 26th: almost all shops, most restaurants outside hotels, many museums, and public transport on a reduced holiday timetable. What is open: churches, obviously, and a proportion of restaurants that take bookings weeks ahead for a long Christmas lunch. Do not plan a museum day on 25 December. The Vatican Museums close; the Colosseum and most state museums close; individual sites differ on the 26th, so check each one.
The last week, and Capodanno
From about 27 December Italy fills up again as families travel and the ski resorts hit their most expensive week of the season. Friday 31 December is Capodanno: free outdoor concerts and fireworks in most city centres, Rome’s along the Via dei Fori Imperiali and at the Circus Maximus, and restaurant cenone set menus at fixed and high prices, booked well in advance.
Two practical notes. Fireworks in Naples and parts of the south are enthusiastic, loud and not confined to official displays. And on 1 January almost nothing opens before midday.
What is closed for the season
December is the month to check opening hours rather than assume them. Much of Italy’s coastal and island tourism is seasonal and simply shuts:
- The Amalfi Coast – many hotels and restaurants in Positano and Amalfi close from November to around Easter.
- Capri, Ischia and the smaller islands – ferry services are reduced and a large share of businesses are shut.
- Cinque Terre – open and walkable, but with reduced services and some trail sections closed after winter weather.
- Lake Como and Lake Garda – largely seasonal; some towns are close to dormant.
The cities are the opposite: Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples, Bologna and Turin all run at full strength, and they are emptier than at any other time of year.
What December is genuinely good for
Queues. Or rather, the absence of them. The Uffizi, the Vatican Museums, the Accademia and the Doge’s Palace in December are a different experience from the same rooms in July – you still book ahead, but you are not shuffling. Add Alpine markets, the best food season of the year (truffles into early December, artichokes, citrus arriving from Sicily, panettone everywhere), and city hotel rates well below the spring.
For the broader picture across all twelve months, see the best time to visit Italy, and how much a trip to Italy costs for the numbers.
What to wear
A waterproof layer matters more than a thick coat in Rome and the south; the problem is rain and damp, not hard cold. In Milan, Turin and the Veneto you want the thick coat as well. Churches enforce covered shoulders and knees year-round, and stone floors in unheated basilicas are colder than the street. Shoes that cope with wet cobbles are the single most useful item.
The December 2027 calendar
- Late November onwards – Christmas markets open in Bolzano, Merano, Trento, Bressanone and Vipiteno; ski resorts begin opening.
- Sunday 5 December – free entry at state museums and archaeological sites (first Sunday, October to March).
- Wednesday 8 December – Immacolata, a public holiday, and the start of the Christmas season nationwide.
- Through December – Via San Gregorio Armeno in Naples at its peak; nativity scenes in every church.
- Saturday 25 December – Christmas Day. Shops, most restaurants and most museums closed.
- Sunday 26 December – Santo Stefano, a public holiday.
- Friday 31 December – Capodanno: free concerts and fireworks; restaurant cenone menus booked far ahead.
- 6 January – Epiphany closes the season; markets end.
Read alongside
- Italy in November – the wettest month, and the truffle season.
- Italy in January – the cheapest and emptiest month of the year.
- Best time to visit Italy – all twelve months compared.
- How much a trip to Italy costs – low-season daily numbers.
- Italy travel guide – regions, routes and how to combine them.
- What to pack for Italy – the winter list.
- Things to know before visiting Italy – the practical rules.
Frequently asked
Is December a good time to visit Italy?
For cities, Christmas markets and skiing, yes – it is the emptiest month at the major museums and among the cheapest for city hotels. For the coast, the lakes and the islands, no: much of that Italy closes from November until around Easter.
Where are the Christmas markets in Italy?
Mainly in Trentino-Alto Adige: Bolzano, Merano, Trento, Bressanone and Vipiteno, typically running from late November to 6 January. Elsewhere the tradition is lights, concerts and nativity scenes rather than wooden huts – Naples’s Via San Gregorio Armeno is the outstanding southern example.
What is closed in Italy on 25 and 26 December?
Almost all shops, most restaurants outside hotels, and most state museums including the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum. Public transport runs a reduced holiday timetable. Sites differ on the 26th, so check each one individually.
Are museums free in Italy in December?
On the first Sunday – 5 December in 2027 – more than 480 state museums and archaeological sites are free under the Domenica al Museo scheme, which runs October to March. Some sites still require a free timed booking.
Is 8 December a holiday in Italy?
Yes – the Immacolata, a national public holiday, and the day the Christmas season formally begins. In 2027 it falls on a Wednesday.
How cold is Italy in December?
It depends where. Rome averages about 13°C by day and 5°C at night with roughly 100 mm of rain; Milan is colder, greyer and foggy; Sicily stays in the mid-teens; the Alps are in ski season.
Is the Amalfi Coast open in December?
Only partly. Many hotels and restaurants in Positano and Amalfi close from November until around Easter, and ferry services are reduced. The cities are the better December choice.
Is Italy cheap in December?
City hotels are, up to about the 20th. After that, Christmas and New Year lift rates everywhere and the ski resorts reach their most expensive week of the season.
What happens in Italy on New Year’s Eve?
Free outdoor concerts and fireworks in most city centres, and cenone set menus in restaurants at fixed prices booked weeks ahead. On 1 January very little opens before midday.
You Might Also Love
Written by
John Morrison is the founder and lead travel writer at Packzup. Over the past decade he has explored destinations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania — always self-funded, never on a press trip.
