Christkindlmarkt Time is Here… © dustpuppy
The holiday season has hit Europe full swing and there is no better place to start than in the land of eternal Christmas; the Alps. Located in South Tyrol, Bolzano (also going by the name of Bozen) is one of Italy’s best-kept secrets. Akin to walking in a snow globe, the town is naturally perfect in the summer with crisp weather and green hills, and buckets of snow in the winter (a welcome respite when I was living in Rome and desperate to see some white on the ground that wasn’t paint or pigeon droppings). Since it is so close to Austria (a country that dominated much of northern Italy before the Risorgimento), German is just as prevalent here as Italian and you’ll generally see bilingual signs.
Each November, Bolzano hosts its Annual Christkindlmarkt (Mercantino di Natale, or Christmas Market) in Piazza Walther (Walthersquare). Like many traditional European Christmas markets, you’ll see crafts here for decorating, gift-giving, and general merrymaking as well as some dangerously good sweets (dolci) and beverages with which to keep warm. Additionally, there are weekly outdoor concerts in December Grab some mulled wine and bundle up.
While you’re in Bolzano, however, take advantage of their cheap theatre at the Teatro Stabile Bolzano. For as little as 5 Euro (and no more than 24 Euro for the best seats), you can have a seat indoors for both warhorses and contemporary works. Check out the website’s biglitteria to purchase in advance online. For those of you who don’t parlate Italiano, scroll down to the header “Acquisti on-line” and click on the link there.
Bolzano/Bozen Christmas Market
Piazza Walther
+39 0471 307000
www.mercatinodinatale.bz
Teatro Stabile Bolzano
Piazza Verdi
+39 0471 301566
www.teatro-bolzano.it