Start with the date, then check what is actually open
Public holidays do not mean that every train, restaurant or museum closes. They do mean that an ordinary weekday plan may need checking. The calendar below covers 2026 and 2027; city celebrations are listed separately. School holidays and individual event programmes have their own dates.
Italy’s national holiday calendar
Dates follow the Italian government’s holiday list, with one important update: 4 October is a national public holiday from 2026 under Law 151/2025. Some older calendars still treat it only as a commemorative day.
| Holiday | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day Capodanno | ||
| Epiphany Epifania | ||
| Easter Sunday Pasqua | ||
| Easter Monday Pasquetta / Lunedì dell’Angelo | ||
| Liberation Day Festa della Liberazione | ||
| Labour Day Festa del Lavoro | ||
| Republic Day Festa della Repubblica | ||
| Assumption / Ferragosto Assunzione | ||
| Saint Francis of Assisi San Francesco d’Assisi | ||
| All Saints’ Day Ognissanti | ||
| Immaculate Conception Immacolata Concezione | ||
| Christmas Day Natale | ||
| Saint Stephen’s Day Santo Stefano |
Easter falls on 5 April in 2026 and 28 March in 2027; the Monday holiday follows it. Sundays are already holidays in Italy, so Easter Sunday appears here for trip planning. Read the actual date and weekday rather than moving a weekend holiday to Monday in your itinerary. Good Friday, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are not additional nationwide public holidays, although individual venues can change hours.
For the movable dates, compare Tuscany’s 2026 Easter dates and the European Medicines Agency’s 2027 calendar. The latter also includes Rome’s local patron day: that entry does not make 29 June a holiday throughout Italy.
Holiday periods worth considering before booking
Christmas through Epiphany: late December to 6 January
The national days are 25 and 26 December, 1 January and 6 January; the whole interval is not one continuous public holiday. The Befana tradition is associated with Epiphany, when children receive sweets or symbolic coal. If a market or local celebration is the reason for your trip, check its own start and end dates rather than assuming it lasts until 6 January.
Easter and the spring holidays
Plan Easter Sunday and Pasquetta together. Keep a flexible walk or a reserved meal in the plan if a museum has a special opening pattern. April 25, May 1 and June 2 are separate national holidays; they are not a continuous spring closure.
A ponte, or “bridge”, means extending a holiday into a longer break by taking an adjacent working day off. For example, 2 June 2026 is a Tuesday, but Monday 1 June is not an extra national holiday. For travel around a possible long weekend, compare train availability and room prices before committing to several fixed visits.
Ferragosto: 15 August and the surrounding summer period
Ferragosto coincides with the Assumption holiday on 15 August. It is a major point in the Italian summer holiday season, as Italia.it’s holiday guide explains. For a beach or lake stay, confirm your accommodation, outward journey and any essential reservation first. A business may take its own summer break; Italy does not close for all of August.
Autumn and the December holiday weekends
Check 4 October, 1 November and 8 December when choosing an autumn or early-winter break. In 2026, 4 October and 1 November both fall on Sunday; in 2027, both fall on Monday. In Milan, the local holiday on 7 December comes immediately before 8 December—relevant if your route starts or ends there.
City patron days along our routes
These are selected local dates, not a complete list of Italian town festivals. The linked tourism pages establish the tradition and its date; several describe past editions. Use the current year’s programme for ceremony times, fireworks, ticketing and street restrictions.
| City and holiday | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Venice San Marco | ||
| Florence San Giovanni Battista | ||
| Rome Santi Pietro e Paolo | ||
| Naples San Gennaro | ||
| Milan Sant’Ambrogio |
- Venice: The patron saint’s day shares its date with national Liberation Day. Plan your Venice visit.
- Florence: Look for the city’s current programme before arranging an evening around the celebrations. Plan your Florence visit.
- Rome: Rome’s local holiday is not a nationwide June holiday. Plan your Rome visit.
- Naples: Check access around the cathedral and the return journey if attending a celebration. Plan your Naples visit.
- Milan: Milan’s local day falls immediately before the national holiday on 8 December. Plan your Milan visit.
If you would like to attend a celebration, leave space for it instead of adding it between two timed museum tickets. Check whether attendance is open, ticketed or restricted, and how you will get back afterwards. A religious service is an act of worship; follow the venue’s rules for visiting and photography.
Match the timetable to the date of travel
Search for intercity trains on your actual date through Trenitalia or Italo. A national holiday is not, by itself, a train cancellation. Check service notices and reserve the journeys your itinerary depends on; our Italian train ticket guide explains stations, fares and boarding.
For a local bus, tram or boat, read the operator’s holiday timetable: festivo means holiday service, while feriale means working-day service. A school-day service can have another condition. Follow the timetable legend, including Saturday notes, rather than treating these labels as simply Monday–Friday and weekend. For an example of date-specific changes, see Autolinee Toscane’s spring 2026 holiday notice; use the operator’s latest notice for a later journey.
A celebration may also divert stops or restrict a street. Check your final connection after the event, not just the outward one. For Venice, start with the vaporetto guide and the operator’s current notices. For coastal trips, holiday service does not remove seasonal or weather limitations on boats.
Check the venue, the meal and the way home
There is no single opening calendar for all Italian attractions. At our September 2026 check, the Uffizi’s official opening page lists Mondays, 1 January and 25 December as closures, with special openings announced separately. That is a reason to check the museum, not to assume every museum has the same rules. See our Uffizi visit guide when arranging Florence dates.
- Open the official booking calendar for each essential attraction.
- Ask the accommodation about holiday check-in and luggage access.
- Confirm a restaurant’s opening and reserve if that meal matters to the day.
- Keep a flexible outdoor alternative, with weather and access in mind.
- Save the last useful bus, boat or train after an evening celebration.
Use holidays to shape the trip
Mark national dates and the patron day for each overnight base. Choose whether to join the celebration or spend that day elsewhere, then check accommodation, transport and the one visit you most want to make. Our Italy itineraries provide the journey between bases; this calendar helps you decide which dates suit them.
A holiday date confirms neither a concert nor a public display. Carnival, fairs, exhibitions and individual performances have separate programmes. Our autumn 2026 event calendar starts with a small set of confirmed dates; use the organiser’s page before buying travel specifically for an event.
Holiday sources checked . This calendar covers the reviewed years 2026 and 2027. Travel suggestions are editorial guidance; opening hours and event programmes must be checked for the visit date.