The festive season is closing in, and across Italy the wooden chalets are about to go up. Vanity Fair Italia has picked its favourite Christmas markets for 2026, from the Dolomites down to Rome, and the list is a lovely reminder that you do not need to travel to Vienna or Strasbourg for mulled wine, fairy lights and handmade gifts.
The Alpine classics
South Tyrol and Trentino remain the heart of the tradition. Bolzano’s Christkindlmarkt, the oldest in Italy, is officially switched on in Piazza Walther at 5pm on 26 November, with the market itself running from 27 November to 6 January 2027. According to Vanity Fair Italia, its great “Wishing Tree” stands 20 metres tall with more than 1,300 lights, surrounded by over a hundred wooden stalls of crafts and local food.
Merano opens the same day, 26 November, along the promenade beside the Passer river, and runs to 6 January. Nearby, the gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle glow with light installations themed this year on Empress Sissi’s travels around the world. Trento, which likes to call itself the City of Christmas, fills Piazza Fiera and Piazza Mostra with stalls; the city’s official site gives the dates as 20 November to 6 January, and the market is known for its efforts to keep its environmental impact low. In medieval Vipiteno, a carillon at the foot of the Twelve Tower plays every day at 10.30am and 4.30pm.
Beyond the mountains
Arco, on the northern tip of Lake Garda, celebrates 30 years of its market this year, open at weekends from 13 November and every day from 18 December. Arezzo turns Piazza Grande into a large Tyrolean village from 14 November to 27 December, and in Rome the colourful stalls of Piazza Navona, also known as the Befana market, return from 1 December until Epiphany. For something smaller, the hilltop village of Candelara in the Marche hosts a market devoted entirely to candles on selected weekends between late November and mid-December.
Shopping the stalls in style
Christmas markets are made for slow wandering, so keep your hands free with one of our crossbody bags. And if you are hunting for presents, a pair of earrings, a delicate piece from our bracelets collection or one of our festive red garnet rings will travel home far more easily than a gingerbread house. Dates and opening hours can change, so check each market’s official website before you set off.
Sources: Vanity Fair Italia, “Mercatini di Natale 2026: i nostri preferiti” by Carolina Saporiti (27 October 2026); Mercatino di Natale Bolzano official site (mercatinodinatalebz.it); Merano Tourist Board (merano-suedtirol.it); Visit Trento, “Il Mercatino di Natale di Trento” (natale.visittrento.it). Featured image: AI-generated scene, not a photograph of a specific market.
