Christmas and New Year's Eve in Rome

The traditional Christmas market of Rome fills Piazza Navona with stalls of sweets, toys, nativity figures and decorations. In the 2025–26 season it ran from 1 December to 6 January, Epiphany, when the Befana, the kind witch of Italian tradition, brings sweets to children. The 2026 dates are set by the city and usually announced shortly before: check before you go. Our Pantheon apartment is a nine-minute walk from Piazza Navona.

Each year a large Christmas tree and a nativity scene are set up in St Peter's Square, usually unveiled in the first half of December (on 15 December in 2025) and left on display until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord in January. They are free to see at any time the square is open.

The Pope celebrates the Christmas Eve Mass in St Peter's Basilica (at 22:00 in 2025), and on Christmas Day a morning Mass followed by the Urbi et Orbi blessing from the central balcony at noon. On 31 December he leads First Vespers and the Te Deum in the Basilica (17:00 in 2025), and on 1 January a Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (10:00 in 2026). Tickets for papal celebrations are always free and are requested online from the Prefecture of the Papal Household, through the Holy See's official booking page. Request them as soon as you know your dates.

Romans see in the New Year with a long dinner, often at home, then fireworks from terraces and piazze at midnight. In recent years the city has held a free open-air concert at Circo Massimo on 31 December, starting at 21:00 for the 2025 edition; the line-up for 2026 is announced by Roma Capitale in December.

If you want a restaurant dinner on 31 December, book well ahead: most places offer a set menu that evening. Or do as many Romans do and cook: all our apartments have a kitchen, and the markets and delis are full of lentils and cotechino, the dish that is said to bring money in the new year.

Christmas Day is the quietest day of the Roman year. On 25 December 2025 the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine, the Pantheon, the Capitoline Museums, Castel Sant'Angelo and the Galleria Borghese were all closed, and most shops and many restaurants close too. On 1 January 2026 the same sites reopened with shorter hours, for example the Colosseum from 8:30 to 16:30. Check each site's official page for 2026.

The Vatican Museums follow their own calendar: closed on 8, 25 and 26 December and on 1 and 6 January, as well as on Sundays, except the last Sunday of the month. Plan your visit for the days in between and book on the official site only.

Our favourite route in the evening: start at the Spanish Steps, walk down Via Condotti with its lights, cross Via del Corso into the lanes towards the Pantheon, and end in Piazza Navona at the market. From our Piazza di Spagna and Fontana di Trevi apartments the Steps are five minutes away; from Pantheon, the Pantheon itself is four.

Christmas and New Year are among our busiest weeks, and on some peak dates our minimum stay is three nights or more: each apartment's calendar shows the minimum for every arrival date. All our apartments have heating; in historic palazzi like Via Francesco Crispi it runs on the building's winter schedule. When you book directly, a 30% deposit confirms the stay and cancellation is free up to 14 days before arrival.