Christmas in Turin 2026

Follow the Light Trail From Piazza San Carlo to the Po

It starts at dusk, when the baroque facades of Piazza San Carlo begin to glow and the arcades fill with people walking slowly, phones in hand, following a map of light. Since 1998 Turin has replaced conventional Christmas fairy lights with Luci d'Artista — light artworks commissioned from contemporary artists for specific sites across the city. The 29th edition runs from 22 October 2026 to 10 January 2027, confirmed by the tourist office, and it is free, walked on foot, and best experienced in the late afternoon as the sky darkens.

Pick up the full list and map from Turismo Torino, then build an evening around the works themselves. Riccardo Previdi's Bouncing the Ball sits in Piazza San Carlo; Nicola De Maria's Regno dei fiori is in Piazza Carlo Emanuele II; Mario Merz's Il volo dei numeri climbs the Mole Antonelliana. Cross the river for Joseph Kosuth's Doppio Passaggio (Torino) on the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele I, then climb to Monte dei Cappuccini for Rebecca Horn's Piccoli spiriti blu and the city viewpoint. A suggested route runs Piazza San Carlo → Piazza Carlo Emanuele II → Mole → Piazza Vittorio Veneto → Ponte Vittorio Emanuele I → Monte dei Cappuccini.

• Andreas Angelidakis, VR Man — Piazza Vittorio Veneto
• Marco Gastini, L'energia che unisce si espande nel blu — Galleria Umberto I
• Tracey Emin, Sex and Solitude — Giardini Reali Bassi
• Luigi Ontani, Scia'Mano — Giardini Sambuy
• Michelangelo Pistoletto, Amare le differenze — Piazza della Repubblica / Porta Palazzo
• Jeppe Hein, Illuminated Benches — Piazza Risorgimento
• Soundwalk Collective, Mummer Love — OGR Torino
• Chiara Camoni, Swarms (Sciami) — Grattacielo della Regione Piemonte
• New for 2026: Vittoria Caldera, Decodificare la luce — a balcony sending light signals in Morse code

Further installations appear at Piazza Polonia, Piazzetta Mollino, Laghetto Italia '61, the roof of Ospedale Sant'Anna and the Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali. A 2026 addition, the Boschetto di Natale, lines the pedestrianised via Roma from piazza Castello to piazza Carlo Felice with an illuminated fir grove, Piazza San Carlo midway.

Shop the Christmas Village at Piazza Solferino

The city's main Christmas market, the Villaggio di Natale, occupies Piazza Solferino, between the Angelica fountain and the equestrian statue of Ferdinand of Savoy — about a ten-minute walk from Porta Nuova station. The site is confirmed for 2026, though exact dates were still to be announced as of 1 October 2026. For reference, the 2025 edition ran from 5 December to 6 January, opening noon to 9pm on weekdays and 10am to 11pm on weekends, 8 December, 26 December and 6 January.

Inside you'll find a real-ice rink at the centre, wooden chalets, a Casa di Babbo Natale and a Borgo degli Elfi. Stalls sell Piedmont food products — cheeses, cured meats, honey, biscuits, wines, hot chocolate and vin brulé — some run by charities. Entry is free; the ice rink is charged, with 2026 pricing to be confirmed.

Beyond the city, the Il Magico Paese di Natale runs from 14 November to 20 December 2026 across three sites southeast of Turin: Asti for the Christmas market, Govone for a market and programme around the Savoy castle, and San Damiano d'Asti for a living nativity scene. Details and tickets are at magicopaesedinatale.com. Turismo Torino also lists traditional markets in Susa, Pinerolo and Ivrea.

• Villaggio di Natale — Piazza Solferino, site confirmed for 2026, dates TBC; free entry, ice rink charged
• Il Magico Paese di Natale — 14 November–20 December 2026, Asti, Govone and San Damiano d'Asti
• Una Mole di Panettoni — 27–29 November 2026, Hotel Principi di Piemonte, Via Piero Gobetti 15 (confirmed)
• Traditional markets — Susa, Pinerolo and Ivrea, province of Turin

Find the Nativity, the Advent Calendar and the City Tree

In the Giardini Sambuy on Piazza Carlo Felice, opposite Porta Nuova station, the Emanuele Luzzati nativity scene returns — painted wooden silhouette figures, designed by Luzzati in 1997, mixing the Christmas story with fairy-tale characters and lit in the evening. For reference, the 2025 edition ran from 8 December to 6 January; the same gardens hold Luigi Ontani's Luci d'Artista work Scia'Mano, so you can see both in one stop.

A giant Advent calendar is mounted on piazza San Giovanni, where in 2025 firefighters opened a window daily at 5.30pm, and a tree stands at Palazzo Civico. The Boschetto di Natale — potted trees lit in white LED, in 2025 placed in Piazzetta Reale in front of the Musei Reali — has for 2026 been described as an illuminated fir grove along via Roma. Treat the precise placement and timings as last year's pattern until the official 2026 programme from Turismo Torino is published.

Plan Your Evenings Around Concerts and Capodanno

Two dates are already fixed in the 2026–27 calendar. On 31 December 2026 a concert takes place at the Inalpi Arena, Corso Sebastopoli 123. For 2025/26 this was "Capodanno Torino Time", beginning at 21:00 with free admission and online reservation against a €5 deposit refunded on attendance — a model worth watching for when 2026 details appear. On 1 January 2027 a classical and operatic concert is scheduled at Teatro Regio.

Getting home afterwards is straightforward: GTT Night Buster night buses run on Fridays, Saturdays and the nights before public holidays, including New Year's Eve, and normal tickets are valid.

Note the Italian public holidays that shape the season: 8 December (Immaculate Conception), 25–26 December, 1 January and 6 January (Epiphany). The 24th and 31st are normal working days, but many museums close earlier.

• 31 December 2026 — concert at Inalpi Arena, Corso Sebastopoli 123
• 1 January 2027 — classical/operatic concert at Teatro Regio
• Night buses — GTT Night Buster on Fridays, Saturdays and pre-holiday nights

Eat Chocolate, Drink Bicerin, and Time Your Museum Visits

Turin markets itself as Italy's chocolate capital, and Christmas is when the centre's confectioners sell gianduiotto by weight, gold-wrapped. The boat-shaped chocolate was created in 1865 in the workshop of Prochet Gay e C. on Piazza San Carlo, made from cocoa, sugar and Piedmontese Tonda Gentile hazelnuts. Order a bicerin — layered espresso, hot chocolate and cream — served seated in the historic stuccoed cafés on piazza San Carlo and piazza Castello. At the market stalls, drink vin brulé hot with spices; in pastry shops you'll find panettone and pandoro alongside local specialities.

Museum hours over the holidays are published in part. The National Cinema Museum in the Mole Antonelliana opens 24 December 9:00–18:00, 25 December 14:00–19:00, 26 December 9:00–19:00, 31 December 9:00–18:00, 1 January 14:00–19:00 and 6 January 9:00–19:00, and also opens 8 and 29 December (it is otherwise closed Tuesdays). Palazzo Madama closes at 14:00 on 24 December, is closed 25 December, opens until 14:00 on 26 December, and opens Tuesday 8 December. GAM follows a similar pattern: until 14:00 on 24 December, closed 25 December, until 14:00 on 26 December. The Juventus Museum opens until 14:30 on 24 December, is closed 25 December, opens from 14:00 on 26 December and 1 January, and keeps regular hours on 6 January. Holiday hours for the Egyptian Museum, Musei Reali, MAUTO and La Venaria Reale were not yet published as of 1 October 2026.

Outside the holidays, the Egyptian Museum has no closing day; the Musei Reali are closed Wednesdays; MAUTO and GAM keep their own weekly closing days. The Torino + Piemonte Card, valid 24, 48, 72 or 120 hours, gives free admission to the Egyptian Museum, Musei Reali, National Cinema Museum, Palazzo Madama, MAUTO and La Venaria Reale — but on public holidays and weekends, booking is mandatory for the Egyptian Museum with the card, so book via Turismo Torino. That applies to 26 December 2026, a Saturday, and 6 January 2027.

Turin's season begins earlier than most: the lights switch on 22 October 2026 and stay until 10 January 2027, so you can plan a visit well before December and still catch the city at its most illuminated. Book the Egyptian Museum and any Inalpi Arena or Teatro Regio tickets as soon as the official programme appears on turismotorino.org, reserve your Paris–Turin train early — direct services run again via the Maurienne valley and Mont Cenis tunnel, with tickets from around €35–39 booked in advance — and remember that the centre is flat, grid-plan and walkable, with trams and metro linking Porta Nuova and Porta Susa. Choose your dates, and the city does the rest.