Lake Orta does Christmas on a small scale, and that is most of its charm. There is no Alpine-style market filling the village, no queues for mulled wine, no coach parties. What there is: a lit-up island floating in the dark, children taking the boat to visit Santa on it, carols and vin brûlé in Piazza Motta, fireworks over the water at midnight on New Year's Eve — and, within an hour's drive, some of the best Christmas markets in northern Italy. This guide covers all of it, with the 2026 dates we can already confirm.
A note on dates. In mid-October the villages around the lake had not yet published their 2026 Christmas programmes. Where we give last year's dates, we say so; they are a good guide to when things usually happen, but check the local listings on distrettolaghi.it nearer the time. Dates marked 2026 are confirmed by the organisers.
Orta San Giulio at Christmas
Orta San Giulio has no Christmas market of its own — worth knowing before you plan a trip around one. What the village does instead is light up. In 2025 the lights went on in the lanes on 7 December, and the same evening Isola San Giulio was illuminated, staying lit every night until Epiphany on 6 January. Seen from the lakefront in the cold, still air, the island's basilica and convent glowing on black water is the image of a Lake Orta winter.
The rest of the programme is village-sized and very pleasant:
- Santa's island. For the past three years, on a Sunday in mid-December, children have taken the boat from Piazza Motta to Isola San Giulio to deliver their letters to Father Christmas. In 2025 it was on 14 December, from 11am to 5pm, and €5 per child covered the boat and a short show in a dome cinema.
- Carols and mulled wine. On the Sunday before Christmas the Alpini, Italy's mountain-troop veterans, serve vin brûlé in Piazza Motta, followed by a choir concert (21 December in 2025). In 2025 there was also a choir concert in the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta on 7 December, the evening the lights went on.
- Christmas Eve. At 10pm on 24 December the village gathers in Piazza Motta for mulled wine and panettone. The island boats run an evening service so that you can cross for Christmas Mass on the island — about as atmospheric a Christmas Eve as you will find anywhere.
On Christmas Day itself the island boats do not run, and the village is at its quietest. It is a day for a long lunch — book it well ahead — and a walk along the shore.
Around the lake
The liveliest Christmas on the lake is at Omegna, the small town at the northern tip, twenty minutes from Orta. In 2025 its programme ran from 29 November to 6 January: lights along the lakefront from the end of November, an ice rink in the lakeside gardens from 8 December to mid-January, Christmas markets on the Saturdays before Christmas, a Christmas tree powered by people pedalling bicycles beneath it, a living nativity procession in mid-December and, for the brave, a Christmas cold-water swimming race in the bay.
Smaller villages hold their own markets, usually on a single weekend: Ameno, in the hills above the eastern shore, opens the season in late November, and its tree-top adventure park puts Father Christmas on a throne high in the trees. Gozzano, at the southern end of the lake, and San Maurizio d'Opaglio, on the western shore, hold markets and Santa afternoons in the first half of December.
The big Christmas markets within reach
If what you want is a proper market — wooden stalls, crafts, cheese and speck, the smell of roasting chestnuts — Lake Orta is a very good base, because the best ones in this corner of Italy are an easy day out.
- Santa Maria Maggiore, Val Vigezzo — 6 to 8 December 2026. The big one: more than two hundred stalls filling a mountain village, now in its 27th year, open from 9.30am to 6.30pm. It is about 70 minutes by car. The only road in is the SS337 up the valley from Domodossola, winter tyres or chains are compulsory, most parking is free, and stallholders often prefer cash. The prettier way in is the Vigezzina–Centovalli railway from Domodossola, but its Christmas-market seats sell out, so book online as soon as they are released.
- Candelo, "Il Borgo di Babbo Natale" — weekends from 21 November to 13 December 2026 (21–22 and 28–29 November, 5–8 and 12–13 December, 10am to 6pm). More than 150 exhibitors in the Ricetto, a perfectly preserved medieval village near Biella, about an hour away. It is ticketed (€8 in 2025) and very popular with families.
- Lake Maggiore. Stresa and Arona are about half an hour away. In 2025 Arona's AroNatale market brought more than 130 stalls to the lakefront in mid-December, the town ran a large ice rink, and Isola dei Pescatori was illuminated from early December to Epiphany. Verbania runs a long Christmas season with ice rinks too.
- Domodossola, under an hour north, fills its medieval centre with around 160 stalls for a weekend in mid-December. Beyond it, in the Valle Antigorio, the village of Crodo stages Presepi sull'acqua: more than seventy nativity scenes set in and around water, visible day and night from early December to mid-January.
- Milan. Oh Bej! Oh Bej!, the city's historic Saint Ambrose fair, fills the streets around the Castello Sforzesco for a few days around 7 December. Allow about an hour and a quarter by car, more in traffic.
- Switzerland. Lugano's Christmas market in the centre runs from 26 November 2026 to 6 January 2027, and Locarno's Winterland, with an ice rink in Piazza Grande, from 19 November 2026 to 6 January 2027. Both are about an hour and a half away.
The 8 December weekend
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December is a public holiday in Italy and the unofficial start of Christmas. In 2026 it falls on a Tuesday, so many Italians will take the Monday off and make a four-day weekend from Saturday 5 to Tuesday 8 December. That weekend you can combine Santa Maria Maggiore and Candelo, both open, and Milan's Saint Ambrose celebrations on Monday 7 December. For something different, on 8 December 2026 a historic steam train runs from Novara to Varallo, home of the oldest Sacro Monte of all, leaving at 9.10am and returning at 5pm.
Expect the big markets to be at their busiest on these days. If you can, go to Santa Maria Maggiore on the Sunday morning or arrive early.
New Year's Eve on Lake Orta
New Year's Eve is when Orta San Giulio is at its liveliest in winter. In 2025 Piazza Motta hosted a concert from 11pm, fireworks over the lake at midnight, and a DJ set afterwards; there were fireworks in 2024 and 2022 too, so they have become a tradition. Watching them burst over the water in front of the island, with a glass of something in your hand, is hard to beat. Omegna holds a free party in the town centre with live music from 11pm.
For the cenone, the long New Year's Eve dinner, book weeks in advance: the restaurants that open that night fill early, and many set a fixed menu. On New Year's Day the island boats run on special hours (10am to midday and 2pm to 5pm). And if you want to start the year properly, the town of Baveno on Lake Maggiore holds a New Year's Day swim, Un tuffo nel nuovo anno, at noon on 1 January.
Epiphany: the Befana
Christmas in Italy ends on 6 January with the Befana, the old woman who flies on a broomstick and fills children's stockings with sweets — or coal. On Lake Orta the most entertaining version is at Ameno, where in January 2026 a whole flock of costumed Befane came down the adventure park's zip-line from 2pm, followed by music. On Lake Maggiore the Befana arrives by boat: at Feriolo, near Baveno, she landed at 6pm on 6 January 2026.
What is open in winter
- Boats to Isola San Giulio run all year from Piazza Motta, roughly every fifteen minutes, with the exceptions above (an evening service on Christmas Eve, none on Christmas Day, reduced hours on 1 January). The public ferry line that tours the whole lake, on the other hand, only runs from March to October.
- The Sacro Monte stays open all winter. From 25 October 2026 to 27 March 2027 the chapels are open from 9.30am to 4pm on weekdays and until 4.30pm at weekends and on public holidays. Go in the late morning, when the low sun comes through the trees. Our guide to the Sacro Monte has the details.
- The Basilica di San Giulio can be visited all winter, but not during services; opening hours change with the season, so check them at the door.
- Restaurants. Some close for a few weeks between November and February. Over Christmas and New Year most are open but busy: book everything. Our guide to Villa Crespi covers the lake's grandest table.
- Weather. December on the lake is cold and often clear, with mist on the water in the morning. Snow on the shore is unusual, but the mountains behind are white. Bring layers and proper shoes for wet cobbles; if you are heading to Val Vigezzo, check the forecast and your tyres.
For more on the quiet season in general, read our guide to Lake Orta in autumn and winter.
A winter base on the water
Villa Volpe is a single-storey house on the sunny eastern shore, just outside Orta San Giulio, with heating in every room, a living room facing the lake and a garden that runs down to its own beach. In winter it is a wonderfully peaceful place to come back to after a day at the markets. The Christmas and New Year weeks are always the first to go, but winter is long and the quieter weeks are some of the most beautiful of the year. If you are thinking about a longer stay, we also rent the house by the month from October to May.
Questions people ask
Is there a Christmas market in Orta San Giulio?
Not a dedicated one. Orta San Giulio celebrates Christmas with lights, an illuminated island, concerts and events in Piazza Motta. The nearest markets are at Omegna, at the northern end of the lake, and in the smaller villages around it; the big ones are at Santa Maria Maggiore, Candelo and on Lake Maggiore.
When is the Santa Maria Maggiore Christmas market in 2026?
From Sunday 6 to Tuesday 8 December 2026, from 9.30am to 6.30pm. It is about 70 minutes by car from Lake Orta; winter tyres or chains are compulsory on the road up the valley.
Are there fireworks on Lake Orta on New Year's Eve?
Yes. Orta San Giulio has held fireworks over the lake at midnight in recent years, with a concert in Piazza Motta beforehand. Check the 2026 programme in December.
Can you visit Isola San Giulio at Christmas?
Yes. The boats from Piazza Motta run all winter, about every fifteen minutes, including an evening service for Christmas Mass on 24 December. There is no service on Christmas Day, and reduced hours on 1 January.
Is the Sacro Monte di Orta open in winter?
Yes. From 25 October 2026 to 27 March 2027 the chapels open from 9.30am to 4pm on weekdays and from 9.30am to 4.30pm at weekends and on public holidays. The church of San Nicolao is open daily from 9am to 6pm.
Cover photo: Piazza Motta, Cipsyna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
