Table of contents:
- TRENTO - Until January 6th
- BOLZANO - Until January 6th
- MERANO - Until January 6th
- BRESSANONE - Until 6 January
- BRUNICO - Until January 6th
- VIPITENO - Until January 6th
- TURIN - Until December 23rd
- VERONA - Until December 27th
- FLORENCE - Until December 21st
- NAPLES - All year round
Video: Christmas markets that Scrooge would also like
2024 Author: Cody Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 12:26
Say the Christmas spirit is starting to circulate in your veins like Prosecco. Tell them that you are already pondering which gifts from last year to recycle and whether you should trust those who eat pandoro or those who eat panettone.
After all, even Scrooge had to surrender: impossible to row against Christmas lights and radio jingles.
Rather, we begin to think about how to use the Immaculate Conception. Maybe, who knows, with a Christmas market? One of those for which they are famous in Trentino-Alto Adige: the tradition of the Christkindlmarkt, not surprisingly, comes from Germany, where in the fourteenth century there were already the markets of San Nicola.
At the time they were the only opportunity of the year to buy Christmas decorations: now things have changed and the markets have conquered the peninsula. But where to start?
Let's do it like this: we tell you the essentials here in Italy.
There is enough time to put aside the Scrooge in you: the markets all last at least until 27 December, many until Epiphany.
TRENTO - Until January 6th
It is the largest in the region and certainly the most important in Italy, as well as one of the most consolidated: 20 years of stalls and mulled wine, so to speak.
Among the best for local crafts, you will find beeswax candles, wooden nativity scenes, felt lanterns and slippers, but also apple fritters, mountain pine schnapps and rhubarb tarts.
Don't leave without: having tasted the strudel, the mochèna braid and the brustolada polenta.
BOLZANO - Until January 6th
First market born in Alto-Adige, it is the destination of traditionalists: typical wooden houses, glass and ceramic decorations, bands and popular music.
Inside the beautiful Piazza Walther the scent of mulled wine will blend with that of homemade biscuits and the warmth of boiled wool and decorated candles.
Green Event certified together with the other four main South Tyrolean markets: seasonal and zero-kilometer foods, recyclable waste, energy saving and sustainable mobility.
Don't leave without: taking the family on a snowshoe hike along the mountain trails.
MERANO - Until January 6th
Here too a lot of local crafts, speck, mountain cheese and dumplings. Do not miss the winter lights, which transform the surfaces of the Prince's Castle every day.
For the little ones, a beautiful skating rink in Piazza Terme and workshops (from angels with pine cones to Christmas wreaths). Lots of music.
Don't leave without: having made a leap to the thermal baths, which turn 10 in this period.
BRESSANONE - Until 6 January
Among the most evocative, in the medieval city that lights up and is filled with the scent of krapfen, traditional Tirtlan stuffed sheets and strauben, sweet snail-shaped pancakes.
Large collection of nativity scenes in the Diocesan Museum and a huge Advent wreath in Piazza Duomo: we get it, at Christmas things are done big.
Don't leave without: having seen the life-size reproductions of crib figures scattered through the streets of the center.
BRUNICO - Until January 6th
In Val Pusteria, the Brunico market is where you can eat in four palmenti, walking among the stalls.
Protagonists are craftsmanship and food and wine, as always, and the musicians singing in front of the bonfire.
Don't leave without: having participated in one of the workshops for adults and children. You learn how to prepare the Advent wreath, how to cook Zelten, a fruit bread, and Niggilan, high-calorie fried sweets.
VIPITENO - Until January 6th
The city, with its imposing Tower of the Twelve, is one of the most beautiful villages in Italy.
During Advent, the entire old town is brightly decorated and awaits true romantics, who cannot miss it. Other than yogurt.
Don't leave without: having seen the parade of San Nicolò, on December 5, with the famous devils with their faces painted in coal.
TURIN - Until December 23rd
Very young, however, it already has 14 editions. The Borgo Dora market, in the most multiethnic district of the city, invades Piazza Borgo Dora and the Cortile del Maglio, where there are shops and ateliers of artisans and artists all year round.
Accordion players invade the square and the smell of sausages rages. In addition to the Italian regions, the exhibitors come from Palestine, Poland, Chile, France, India, Spain, Peru and Belarus.
Don't leave without: having taken a ride on the Turin Eye, the hot air balloon that flies over the square.
VERONA - Until December 27th
Piazza dei Signori is transformed, the entrance to the city is illuminated by hundreds of lights (Champs-Elysées style, so to speak) and the Comet Star awaits you in Piazza Bra.
Don't worry, you can't miss it: it weighs about 80 tons and is almost 70 meters long. Not really a star, here.
Don't leave without: being immersed in the arena, where the 32nd International Exhibition of the Nativity scene is held with nativity scenes from all over the world. Admission 7 euros, children will never let you go away.
FLORENCE - Until December 21st
The frame is Piazza Santa Croce, and we start off on the right foot. Mind you: the market is not a simple imitation of those of Central European origin: it boasts 500 years of history and comes directly from Heidelberg, with which the city is twinned.
You will find above all Christmas decorations and home furnishings, but also spiced wines, roasted chestnuts and pretzels.
Don't leave without: sipping Gluh Wein in front of the Basilica.
NAPLES - All year round
Here the Nativity scene is there all year round and among the statuettes we find not only the Magi and the Baby Jesus, but also the caricatures of Maradona and the most talked about politicians.
The Naples market, to be clear, is a real area of the city dedicated to Christmas. Not to be missed.
Don't leave without: having walked along Via San Gregorio Armeno in search of statuettes.
And you, what do you say? What are the markets that melt your inner Scrooge?
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