Visit the most beautiful Christmas markets in Italy
Visit the most beautiful Christmas markets in Italy
Find the best Christmas gifts at these holiday markets

This year the unmissable Christmas markets are back in Italy.

It would not be Christmas without the wooden houses that peep out in the squares and along the streets of Italian cities. Whether you're looking for original Christmas gifts for friends and family, decorations to embellish your home or just looking for an excuse to organize a weekend out of town, the 2019 Italian Christmas markets are a must!

For those of you who want to enjoy the magic of this holiday and at the same time admire how cities transform for this occasion, we have selected 5 destinations to discover some of the most original Christmas markets in Italy in 2019:

Aosta: markets in the background of the Roman Theatre

Iluminated Roman Theatre / Wikimedia Commons
Iluminated Roman Theatre / Wikimedia Commons

From the 23rd of November 2019 to the 6th of January 2020 you can visit the Marché Vert Noël, the Christmas market set up in the historical centre of Aosta, in the evocative archaeological area of the Roman Theatre.

Among the remains of this imposing Roman building, whose facade reaches 22 meters high, you can find the characteristic wooden houses with wonderful local handicrafts and typical food and wine products of Valle d'Aosta.

If you are a fan of winter sports, from the city of Aosta you can reach some of the most beautiful ski resorts in Italy: take advantage of this and have some fun on the slopes of the great giants of the Alps.

Perugia: Christmas markets in a fortress

Views of the city of Perugia / Pixabay
Views of the city of Perugia / Pixabay

The Christmas period is a very special time to visit the city of Perugia. The lights illuminate the old town, the wooden houses of the Christmas markets occupy Piazza Italia and Piazza Matteotti hosts a traditional ice-skating rink.

To live a unique experience, do not miss "Natale alla Rocca", the usual exhibition of handicrafts that takes place every year in the picturesque setting of the Rocca Paolina, in Perugia. Inside this fortress, until the 6th of January, there is an underground market where visitors can discover the rooms of this building and buy Christmas gifts. Thanks to the creative workshops, organized in the room Cannoniera, young and old will have fun testing their creativity.

Salerno: Christmas markets on the seafront

Christmas light installations / Flickr
Christmas light installations / Flickr

As if by magic, during this time of the year, Salerno transforms itself into an enchanted landscape. Until the 21st of January the event "Luci d'artista" will make the streets, squares and monuments of the city shine. Since 2006, real sculptures of lights, lights and light installations have left visitors breathless and have given them a wonderful and unique image of these places.

On the seafront, 110 stands from all over Italy offer a wide selection of food and wine products and handicrafts, creating a lively Christmas market in a picturesque location.

Live a unique experience and let yourself be enchanted by the Christmas atmosphere that combines here with the Mediterranean scents and the spectacular view of the Amalfi Coast.

Erice: holiday markets in the village

Music concerts at the Internacional Review of Music and Popular Instruments / ericenatale.it
Music concerts at the Internacional Review of Music and Popular Instruments / ericenatale.it

From the 7th of December until the 6th January, "EricèNatale" will take place in Erice, an event that will turn this charming village into a Christmas town. This town in the province of Trapani, is also one of the most beautiful villages in Italy.

The calendar is filled with events and appointments and opens with the International Review of Music and Popular Instruments "Zampogne dal Mondo" a traditional event that will resonate through the streets of Erice with the notes of bagpipes, muses and gaite.

Throughout the village, the Christmas markets stands will exhibit the products of local crafts and delicacies of the territory.

Walking through narrow streets where time seems to stand still, you can admire numerous Nativity scenes, built with all kinds of materials, from terracotta to fabrics, from wax to cork, from recycled materials to a precious eighteenth-century nativity scene made of alabaster and seashells.