Millions of lights on the streets, evocative music in the air, lively local markets, decorated trees everywhere … It’s almost Christmas, the favorite holiday of children and adults, and every town in Italy has its own way to celebrate.
Here are the most beautiful cities in Italy to spend the Christmas holiday season through events, local markets, traditions and more.
Rome – Local Markets and presepi
What’s better than spending Christmas in the heart of Italy, in the beautiful Rome? The enlightened monumental buildings of the capital create a unique atmosphere, and visitors cannot help but get lost among lights and presepi (the Italian Nativity scenes). Christmas in Rome begins with the tree lighting in Piazza San Pietro, on December 14th, inaugurated by Pope Francis, and continues on November 24th with the Festival of the 100 Presepi, in the halls of the Basilica of Santa Bramante in Piazza del Popolo. The exposition will host 100 nativity scenes of all sizes, from 25 foreign countries and from all regions of Italy. As for the local markets, for all tastes, the most important every year is the one in Piazza Navona, with more than 50 little houses that sell local products and crafts; for retro lovers, we recommend the Circle of Artists Vintage market. For a less obvious route, go to the Rome Tiburtina station on December 18th: an historic train ride along the first Italian high speed rail line will bring you to Ceprano. From there, you could reach the ancient village of Arce, a village completely dedicated to Christmas, full of folk groups in traditional costumes, local markets selling typical dishes, and much more.
Ferrara – A city dedicated to Christmas
Ferrara rhymes with Christmas: every year, people prepare for this festival for months. In Piazza Trento, on November 19th, at 16.30 the Christmas lights will be turned on, and there will be set up the Christmas Village, which will house artisans at work creating glass and ceramics works, exhibitions curated by charities, lotteries and children and adults entertainments. Here, also the majestic Christmas tree of Solidarity will dominate the square, with lighting effects and 1000 Murano glass decorations, which will then be sold by donating the proceeds to charity.
Piazza Verdi will be provided with a skating rink too, and Piazza Castello on December 10 will host the traditional dancing fountains light show, on the background of the Estense Castle. Finally, on December 24th Piazza Castello will host a Swing, Pop and Jazz concert, to greet the arrival of Christmas night.
Napoli – 40 meters Trees and 60 Christmas fairs
Everyone knows that the traditional “Nativity scene” was born in the city of Naples, in fact Christmas is warmly celebrated by Neapolitans. In the heart of Spaccanapoli, the traditional market of San Gregorio Armeno, will exhibit from November 12th all the particular nativity figurines made by Neapolitan artisans, not only traditional such as Joseph and Mary, but also reproductions of singers, footballers, politicians and actors. This year the tradition will embrace modernity with the project “N’Albero”, which will see, on the 8th of December, the construction of a 40 meters tree on the Naples waterfront, with a rooftop terrace, illuminated by more than one million of lights and visible from all the islands of the gulf. Concerts, exhibitions, installations and much more will come with the majestic project. In Piazza Municipio then, will be placed a Christmas Village from December 4th to 11th, with local markets and a toy factory with a lot of magical elves. In addition, in all the districts of the city there will be 60 Christmas fairs.
Bari – Santa Claus moved to South
This Christmas, Bari’s theme will be the most beloved icon of this festival: Santa Claus. His house will be set up in Corso Cavour, hosting games and workshops for children, who can also have fun in Largo San Sabino, where the Christmas village will host shows and entertainment for the whole family, including a snow cannon. The magnificent Christmas tree in Piazza del Ferrarese will turn on all its lights on December 6th, the day of St. Nicholas, accompanied by a gospel choir that will help to create a magical atmosphere. Local markets will be found in the Bari Vecchia quarter, and there will be also a “Christmas Social” area, dedicated to charity activities. There will be many concerts too – in the Cathedral on December 22nd – light shows and video mapping, a huge living nativity scene (Castello Svevo), street performers and marching bands that will cross the entire city.
Florence – Winter sports and European countries
The large Christmas tree in Piazza del Duomo, that will shine with a thousand lights, will be turned on on December 8th with an official ceremony, accompanied by a big presepe in Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral. In addition to the traditional Christmas markets spread around the city, in Piazza Santa Croce there will be the Weihnachtsmarkt from November 30th to December 18th, a German market with specialties such as sausages, sauerkraut, pretzels, strudels, but also gifts and products, not only from Germany but also from Poland, the Netherlands, Austria and Greece.
Lovers of snow sports have to visit to Florence Winter Park, in the South of Florence, near Obihall, a theme park with local markets and a huge ice rink where there are real shaking classes. And if the cold made you hungry, a restaurant with typical menu mountaineer is the best solution. Available until February 16th, 2017.
Ideas about where to sleep? Save 25% with code on C-UNAPROMO1 on www.unahotels.it. Take advantage of the best winter promo: you can book until November 30th, for stays until February 28th. All the info here.