Verona Christmas Market 2026: Dates, Opening Hours and Christmas Events

Verona Christmas market 2026: dates and where it is

The official site of Verona's Christmas markets, run by the Comitato per Verona with the traders' associations Confcommercio and Confesercenti Verona, gives the dates of the 18th edition as 20 November to 27 December 2026 (Natale in Piazza, 2026a). The official opening is at 17:00 on Saturday 21 November in Piazza Bra, when the Christmas lights are switched on.

The market spreads over three squares. Piazza Bra, beside the Liston and facing the Arena, is the main one, with wooden chalets selling crafts, decorations and food and drink. Piazza dei Signori, under the statue of Dante, hosts the Villaggio di Natale Flover, a Christmas village of decorations and gifts. Piazza Sacco e Vanzetti, at the former Arsenale across the river from Castelvecchio, has the ice-skating rink (Natale in Piazza, 2026a).

The organisers count 1,030,512 visits in 2025 (Natale in Piazza, 2026a), so expect crowds at weekends. The site's own logistics page still gives the dates as 21 November to 28 December, which appear to belong to the previous edition (Natale in Piazza, 2026b); the home page dates are the ones to plan with. The organisers' event calendar and brochure were marked as being updated on 15 November 2026.

Opening hours, including Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

The ordinary hours are 10:00 to 21:00 from Sunday to Thursday and 10:00 to 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. Several days have their own times (Natale in Piazza, 2026a):

9 December, when the stalls are set up for Santa Lucia: 10:00 to 15:30.

24 December, Christmas Eve: 10:00 to 17:00.

25 December, Christmas Day: 16:00 to 23:00.

26 December, Santo Stefano: 10:00 to 23:00.

27 December, closing day: 10:00 to 18:00.

The Christmas Day evening opening matters because most of the city's sights are shut that day (see below). If you are in Verona for a long weekend, the Friday and Saturday late openings to 23:00 give the most time to see the lit squares after dark.

The market itself is free to enter and needs no booking. A guided walk of the centre is one way to combine the market with the sights. Our pages on the Arena and Juliet's House give the ticketed sights' own December hours.

Presepi dal Mondo: the nativity exhibition

The Rassegna internazionale del Presepio nell'arte e nella tradizione, known as Presepi dal Mondo, is organised by the Fondazione Verona per l'Arena and shows nativity scenes and works of art from museums, collectors, nativity makers and enthusiasts around the world (Fondazione Verona per l'Arena, 2026a).

The 2026 to 2027 edition runs from 19 November 2026 to 17 January 2027, open from 9:00 to 20:00 every day, holidays included. A full ticket costs 10 EUR. The reduced ticket at 9 EUR applies to groups of at least 20, children aged 6 to 12 and adults over 60; school tickets cost 6 EUR, and children under 6 enter free. The ticket office is in Piazza Bra (Fondazione Verona per l'Arena, 2026b).

Prices have risen since the last edition, which the Comune listed at 8 EUR full and 7 EUR reduced, held from 16 November 2025 to 18 January 2026 in the Palazzo del Capitano, entered from Piazza delle Erbe or Piazza dei Signori (Comune di Verona, 2026a). The exhibition's site did not name the 2026 venue when Visit Verona checked it, so confirm the address on presepiarenaverona.it before you go. Groups can book visits and guided tours through the exhibition's office on +39 045 592 544 or [email protected] (Fondazione Verona per l'Arena, 2026b).

What is open and closed over the holidays

On Sunday 6 December 2026, the first Sunday of the month, the civic museums and monuments charge 1 EUR, including the Arena, the Archaeological Museum at the Roman Theatre and the Lamberti Tower; Juliet's House is excluded (Destination Verona & Garda Foundation, 2026a). The Roman Theatre also opens on Monday 7 December, outside its usual Tuesday to Sunday week (Destination Verona & Garda Foundation, 2026b).

On 25 December most sights close. The Arena closes on 25 December and 1 January (Destination Verona & Garda Foundation, 2026c), as does the Roman Theatre (Destination Verona & Garda Foundation, 2026b). The Lamberti Tower closes on 25 December (Torre dei Lamberti, 2026), and the Giardino Giusti is closed on 25 December only (Giardino Giusti, 2026). ATV suspends the whole urban bus service on 25 December and 1 January (ATV, 2026a), so plan to walk or take a taxi on those days.

At the churches, the Cathedral is open to visitors only from 13:30 to 14:30 on Sunday 13 December 2026, and Sunday visits to all four churches begin only in the afternoon (Fondazione Chiese Vive, 2026). Details are on our churches ticket, Lamberti Tower and Roman Theatre pages.

Getting there: train, bus and parking

The organisers recommend the train. From Verona Porta Nuova station it is about a 15-minute walk along Corso Porta Nuova to Piazza Bra (Natale in Piazza, 2026b). By bus, ATV lines 11, 12, 13, 51, 52 and 53 run from the station to Piazza Bra (ATV, 2026a), for 1.50 EUR for 90 minutes or a 2.00 EUR tap of a contactless card (ATV, 2026d, 2026b); see our bus tickets page.

Do not drive into the centre. Piazza Bra is one of the streets that bound the historic centre's ZTL, whose camera gates fine unauthorised cars (Comune di Verona, 2026c), and since September 2026 cameras also watch the bus lanes on Corso Porta Nuova and Via degli Alpini towards Piazza Bra (Comune di Verona, 2026b). Park Genovesa near the Verona Sud exit is free, with a free line 51 bus to Piazza Bra on working days from 06:00 to 20:00 (ATV, 2026c). In the centre, AMT3's Parking Centro in Via Campo Marzo charges 1.20 EUR an hour from 1 November 2026 (AMT3, 2026).

The organisers' logistics page describes free weekend and holiday shuttles, lines 78 and 79, from Park Genovesa, the Fiera and the stadium car parks (Natale in Piazza, 2026b), but ATV had not published its 2026 shuttle page by 15 November 2026. Check ATV's news before relying on them. Our parking and ZTL page has the full rules and car park prices.