Turin's December is one of the finest winter city experiences in Italy, and one of the most underestimated by international visitors who associate Piedmont with summer wine tourism and skiing rather than with the specific quality of the Sabauda (House of Savoy) baroque city in its Christmas configuration. The Luci d'Artista (Artist Lights), the city-wide contemporary art light installation that has illuminated Turin's streets, piazzas, and baroque arcades every November-January since 1998, is the most visually ambitious urban Christmas light project in Italy, where contemporary artists (Pistoletto, Merz, Arienti) design permanent light works installed annually throughout the city center. This isn't fairy lights on trees but site-specific light art in public space, and it has transformed December Turin into one of the most photographically compelling urban environments in Europe.
How do you want to see it?
Turin · PiedmontCompare the same experience on GetYourGuide and Viator, save what you like to My Trip, share it, and book when you’re sure. Nearest to this page first.
Turin Christmas Markets and Events
Luci d'Artista: Art Lights Throughout the City
The Luci d'Artista program (typically November to January, check turismotorino.org for exact 2026 dates) installs light art works at approximately 25 locations throughout the Turin city center: the famous "Venere degli Stracci" light interpretation at Piazza Palazzo di Città; the "Tappeto Volante" (Flying Carpet) in Via Roma, where a carpet of colored lights covers the entire width of the pedestrian street creating a luminous floor effect. Piazza San Carlo installation that uses the twin baroque churches as the backdrop for a light work designed to the piazza's specific architecture. The installations are free to view from the street. Guided Luci d'Artista tours depart from the Torino Piemonte box office and include the historical context of the project and the specific artists involved.
Turin: food tours & cooking classes
Compare food tours, market visits and pasta-making classes with local chefs in Turin.
See availability & prices →Compare tours on Viator →We may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.Borgo Medievale Christmas Market
The Borgo Medievale (the late 19th-century neo-medieval structure in the Parco del Valentino, built for the 1884 Turin International Exhibition as a faithful reconstruction of a Piedmontese medieval village) hosts the most atmospherically specific Turin Christmas market, the medieval village setting, with its tower and its covered walkways and its view of the Po, provides the backdrop for an artisan market focused on the traditional crafts of Piedmont: the woodcarving (the Val Chisone tradition), the hand-printed textiles, the marionette puppets of the specific Turin puppet tradition. The market typically operates through December. Check borgomediavaletorino.it for 2026 dates.
Turin Chocolate: The Christmas Capital
Turin is the Italian capital of chocolate, the city where, in 1678, the Savoy court established the first chocolate house in Italy, and where, in 1865, the gianduiotto (the hazelnut chocolate praline in its specific gold-foil wrapper) was invented as a way to extend limited cocoa supplies with Langhe hazelnuts. The Turin Christmas chocolate experience: the historic confectionery shops (Caffè Al Bicerin at Piazza della Consolata, founded 1763. Stratta at Piazza San Carlo, founded 1836. Baratti & Milano at Galleria Subalpina, founded 1858) produce their Christmas assortments of gianduiotti and pralines in specific holiday packaging. The Porta Palatina area has the chocolate artisan workshops that accept visits by appointment for the Christmas production season. The specific Turin Christmas buy: the large box of mixed gianduiotti from one of the historic houses is the most specifically Turinese and most transportable Christmas food gift available.
Q&A: Christmas Markets Turin
Is Turin worth visiting at Christmas?
Yes. Turin is consistently underrated in the Italian tourism landscape, and December specifically rewards the visit: the Luci d'Artista, the chocolate, the Baroque palace architecture (the Palazzo Reale, the Palazzo Madama, the Galleria Sabauda museum) are all at their most atmospheric in the specific winter light of the Po Valley, and the city's winter cultural program (the Teatro Regio opera season, the film festival, the contemporary art program at the Castello di Rivoli) makes December Turin competitive with any European winter city destination.
