In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Christmas shuts Rome’s biggest sights on different days, so book around them. The Vatican Museums are closed on 8, 25 and 26 December 2026 and on 1 and 6 January 2027, and close at 15:00 on 24 and 31 December. The Colosseum is closed on 25 December and 1 January, and last admission is 15:30 all winter. The Borghese Gallery is closed on 25 December, 1 January and every Monday. St Peter’s Basilica is open every day. Tickets for the Pope’s Christmas Masses are free, requested from the Prefecture of the Papal Household. Or book a tour: a guided tour with entry, such as the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel tourad (from £54.85), is the fallback when the official slots for the last open days before Christmas have gone.
What is closed, day by day
From each operator’s own calendar, read on 29 and 30 September 2026. Days not listed follow the normal winter hours.
| Date | Shorter hours | Closed |
|---|---|---|
| Tue 8 December | Vatican Museums | |
| Thu 24 December | Vatican Museums 8:00 to 15:00, last entry 13:00 | |
| Fri 25 December | Vatican Museums, Colosseum, Borghese Gallery, Pantheon, Castel Sant’Angelo, Pompeii, Ostia Antica, Villa d’Este and Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli | |
| Sat 26 December | Vatican Museums | |
| Sun 27 December | Vatican Museums free, 9:00 to 14:00, last entry 12:30 | |
| Mon 28 December | Borghese Gallery, Castel Sant’Angelo and Ostia Antica (every Monday) | |
| Thu 31 December | Vatican Museums 8:00 to 15:00, last entry 13:00 | |
| Fri 1 January 2027 | Vatican Museums, Colosseum, Borghese Gallery, Pantheon, Castel Sant’Angelo, Pompeii, Ostia Antica, the Tivoli villas, Orvieto’s Duomo | |
| Wed 6 January 2027 | Vatican Museums |
- The Colosseum’s winter hours: it opens at 8:30, and from 25 October 2026 to 28 February 2027 last admission is 15:30 and it closes at 16:30 (colosseo.it). Tickets go on sale 30 days ahead, so Christmas week goes on sale in late November.
- Pompeii is on winter hours too: last entry 15:30, closing at 17:00 (pompeiisites.org).
- St Peter’s Basilica is open every day from 7:00 to 20:00, with last entry by 19:15 (basilicasanpietro.va).
- Free first Sundays: the Colosseum, the Borghese and the Pantheon are free on 6 December 2026 and 3 January 2027. The Colosseum’s and the Pantheon’s free tickets are collected on the day; the Borghese’s must still be booked, with a €2 fee, 10 days ahead.
The Vatican shuts for three of the ten days from 24 December to 2 January and closes early on two more, so the last full days to see the Museums before Christmas are 21, 22 and 23 December. The Vatican Museums tickets guide has every closing day to the end of 2027.
Christmas with the Pope
Tickets for the Pope’s Masses and audiences are free. Lay visitors request them from the Prefecture of the Papal Household at eventi.pontificalisdomus.va; priests and bishops apply through the Office for Liturgical Celebrations instead (vatican.va, 30 September 2026). The Vatican publishes each month’s papal celebrations in its calendar of celebrations.
The Christmas tree and crib in St Peter’s Square. Photo: Alberto-g-rovi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Pope Leo XIV’s first Christmas, in 2025, had this programme (Vatican News, 24 December 2025):
| Date | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 24 December, 22:00 | Christmas Eve Mass, the “Midnight Mass” | St Peter’s Basilica |
| 25 December, 10:00 | Christmas Day Mass | St Peter’s Basilica |
| 25 December, 12:00 | Urbi et Orbi (“to the city and the world”) blessing | The central balcony of St Peter’s, facing the square |
| 31 December, 17:00 | Vespers and the Te Deum, the year’s thanksgiving | St Peter’s Basilica |
| 1 January, 10:00 | New Year’s Day Mass | St Peter’s Basilica |
| 6 January, 9:30 | Epiphany Mass | St Peter’s Basilica |
The nativity scene in St Peter’s Square. Photo: Dguendel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
The Piazza Navona fair
Piazza Navona, the long Baroque square built on the track of Domitian’s stadium, holds Rome’s traditional Christmas fair, the Festa di Piazza Navona. It runs through December to Epiphany on 6 January, when the Befana, the old woman who brings Italian children their presents, arrives. Its stalls sell toys, nativity figures and decorations, sweets, regional food and handmade gifts, and the square has a programme of evening events (turismoroma.it). In 2025 it ran until 6 January 2026; Roma Capitale sets each season’s dates.
The Christmas fair stalls in Piazza Navona, with Sant’Agnese in Agone on the right. Photo: Mitravabanerjee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Rome’s other Christmas villages, with how long each ran in the 2025–26 season:
- Christmas World in the Villa Borghese park, light installations, performances and Christmas market stalls; it ran to 11 January.
- Natale all’EUR, a Christmas village round the lake in the EUR district, south of the centre, with a Ferris wheel and an ice rink; it ran to Epiphany, 6 January.
- The Christmas village in Piazza Mazzini, in Prati; it ran to 6 January.
A December visit, planned round the closures
- Book the Vatican first. With the Museums shut on 8, 25 and 26 December and closing at 15:00 on the 24th, book the days either side as soon as your dates are fixed. Official tickets are €25 online at tickets.museivaticani.va.
- Put the Colosseum on 24 or 26 December, not the 25th, and book the day sales open, 30 days ahead, at ticketing.colosseo.it. The Colosseum tickets guide explains the named tickets. A guided Colosseum, Forum and Palatine tourad (from £59.14) is the fallback if the official slots go.
- Christmas Day: go to St Peter’s Square at noon for the blessing, then walk between the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon (closed on 25 December; a €7 ticket on other days) and Piazza Navona, which are within 15 minutes of each other on foot. The Trevi Fountain charges €2 to go down to the basin, card only at the entrance.
- Short winter days: last admissions fall at 15:30 at the Colosseum and Pompeii, so start sightseeing early.
- An evening concert: the Christmas opera concert with an Italian aperitivoad (from £36.00, 4.7 stars from 58 reviews) features opera arias and Christmas songs from a singer and pianist, and a drink with the performers afterwards.
For the other big holiday, see Easter in Rome 2027. For the rest of what to book before you fly, and which day each sight closes year-round, see what to book before you go in Rome. The 3-day Rome itinerary shows how to fit the Colosseum, the Vatican Museums and the Borghese round a closed day.
Common questions
Are the Vatican Museums open at Christmas?
Not on 25 or 26 December 2026, or on 8 December. On 24 and 31 December they open 8:00 to 15:00, with last entry at 13:00. Sunday 27 December is the last Sunday of the month, so entry is free from 9:00 to 14:00 (last entry 12:30). They also close on 1 and 6 January 2027.
Is the Colosseum open on Christmas Day?
No. The Colosseum is closed on 25 December 2026 and 1 January 2027. On other winter days it opens at 8:30 and last admission is 15:30, until 28 February 2027.
How do you get tickets for Christmas Mass with the Pope?
Tickets for papal Masses are free. Lay visitors request them from the Prefecture of the Papal Household at eventi.pontificalisdomus.va. In 2025 the Pope's Christmas Eve Mass in St Peter's was at 22:00, the Christmas Day Mass at 10:00 and the Urbi et Orbi blessing at 12:00; the 2026 times appear in the Vatican's calendar of celebrations.
When is the Christmas market in Piazza Navona?
The Piazza Navona fair runs through December to Epiphany on 6 January, when the Befana, the old woman who brings Italian children their presents, arrives. In 2025 it ran until 6 January 2026.
