Bolzano opened the first Italian Christmas market in 1991, importing the form from across the Alps — which in South Tyrol is not an import at all, since the province was Austrian until 1919 and German remains its majority language. The market fills Piazza Walther below the cathedral with wooden chalets selling carved wood, glass, loden, strudel and Zelten, the local fruit bread.
No attendance figure is recorded here in this pass.
The window runs from late November to Epiphany, which is longer than most and spreads the pressure, though the weekends before Christmas are solid.
The South Tyrolean markets operate as a circuit — Bolzano, Merano, Bressanone, Brunico and Vipiteno — connected by a valley rail line, and visitors generally do several rather than one.
PlanningA six-week window from late November, running past Christmas to Epiphany.