Tuesday
New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve (or vigilia di Capodanno) in Italy is all about hearty food, copious amounts of sparkling wine and games of tombola.
While people in Italy tend to spend the Christmas holidays with family members and relatives, New Year’s Eve is generally celebrated in the company of close friends, hence the popularity of the saying Natale con i tuoi, Capodanno con chi vuoi (roughly translatable as ‘Christmas with your family, New Year's Eve with whoever you want’).
Around the world, special rituals and customs mark the arrival of the New Year, and Italy is no exception. From eating lentils to wearing red underwear, you can find out about five of the most popular Italian New Year traditions here.
Wednesday
New Year’s Day
New Year’s Day (or Capodanno) is a national public holiday in Italy, which means that many around the country will start 2025 with a Wednesday off work.
READ ALSO: Calendar: Find out which days you'll get off work in Italy in 2025
There won’t be much in the way of celebrations on the day; most Italians prefer to do all of their partying on New Year’s Eve and get some rest the following day.
For those enjoying long holidays, New Year’s Day is the perfect time to travel to the mountains for a settimana bianca.
National identification code for holiday rentals
New rules requiring owners of holiday rentals in Italy to hold a national identification code, or CIN, came into force on September 1st, but penalties for those flouting the rules haven’t been enforced yet.
Sanctions were originally scheduled to kick in from November 2nd, but the date was later postponed to Wednesday, January 1st due incomplete online infrastructure.
Under the new rules, the CIN code must be displayed on a property’s front door or doorbell so as to be clearly visible from outside. Hosts will also have to include it in the accommodation’s website (if applicable) and on any online or social media listing, including on platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.
Milan bans outdoor smoking
Smoking outdoors will be almost entirely banned in Milan from Wednesday, January 1st, under efforts to clamp down on secondhand smoke and improve air quality across the city.
The ban will encompass “all public or public-use areas”, including streets, sidewalks and squares, with smoking outdoors only allowed in isolated spots where smokers can keep a distance of at least 10 metres from other people.
Local authorities said the ban will apply to all tobacco products except electronic cigarettes. Smokers caught breaking the rules will face fines ranging from €40 to €240.
Thursday
Italian football Super Cup
The 2025 edition of the Italian football Super Cup will unfold in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from Thursday, January 2nd, to Monday, January 6th.
Inter Milan will face Bergamo-based Atalanta in the first semi-final, with Juventus squaring up against AC Milan in the second.
The two semi-finals and the January 6th final will be viewable free of charge on Canale 5 (channel 5 on Italian TV) or on Mediaset’s online streaming platform Infinity.
Saturday
Winter sales
Italy’s winter sales (or saldi invernali) will begin across almost all of Italy on Saturday, January 4th.
READ ALSO: What you need to know about Italy's winter sales
The only exception is the autonomous Bolzano province, northern Italy, where the winter sales season will start on Wednesday, January 8th.
Discounts usually start at around 20-30 percent, but can climb as high as 70 percent.
Sunday
Free museum openings
People around Italy will be able to visit state-run museums and archaeological sites free of charge on Sunday, January 5th under the popular Domenica al Museo or ‘free museum Sundays’ national scheme.
The initiative applies to hundreds of sites, including world-famous attractions like the Colosseum Archaeological Park, Pompeii, Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia, the Reggia di Caserta and Trieste's Miramare Castle.
Find out more about how the scheme works in our article.
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