Christmas Season In Florence: 5 Things To Do

I've been celebrating my Christmas Holidays in the Philippines basically my whole life. This year, I got to see the Christmas season in a different city which is in Florence, Italy. Aside from the obvious change in season (it's really cold right now, around 1 degree) and architecture (everything here is just beautiful), the decorations here bring out the Christmas spirit. I try to make it a habit to go out everyday in Florence just to explore and appreciate the surroundings. 

For this post, I'll be listing 5 things that you can do in Florence during Christmas season.

1. Attend the Christmas Lighting at Piazza Del Duomo

Every 8th of December, most of the people gather at the city center to celebrate Immaculate Conception day. This is where you'll see the tree lighting and witness the parade on the streets. Make sure to go around and enjoy the city after the lighting ceremony. You get to see a lot of things on the street. I got to see a train full of Santas! It was really entertaining and, at the same time, it put a lot of smiles on the people's face.

2. Christmas Market at Santa Croce

This is the first Christmas Market I've been to besides from the ones in the Philippines. At Santa Croce Christmas Market, you can shop pastries, candies, Christmas decors, and winter clothes just to name a few. They open towards the end of November and operate from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.. Don't forget to try out their "Vino Brule", it's hot wine with apple juice. Perfect for the cold weather!

3. Firenze Winterpark

Located on the eastern side of Florence at the Obihall, enjoy winter sports at the Firenze Winterpark. This opens at the end of October an ends right around February. The price for their skating rink is 6 euros for adults, plus 2 euros for the skating shoes. Click here for more details.

4. Witness the Light Show at Ponte Vecchio

Enjoy the colorful light show at Ponte Vecchio. It starts the same day as the tree lighting, on December 8. From then on, it continues everynight for the holidays at 6pm. 

5. See the Christmas decorations in Florence

Just walk around Florence, and you'll see the different decorations. Every street has their own style of Christmas decorations. My favorites are the ones at Piazza Santa Maria Novella and Piazza di Santa Trinita. The Christmas tree at Piazza Santa Maria Novella is bursting with colors, and the lights at Piazza di Santa Trinita look like snow falling down on the cobblestones. 

I hope you will enjoy your Holidays in Florence. Well, I'm sure you will. Florence is really beautiful, Christmas season or not. Happy Holidays everyone! :)