Grazzano Visconti Christmas Market

Grazzano Visconti is a village of 389 inhabitants built from scratch between 1905 and 1915 in a medieval style, around a castle of 1395, 12 kilometres south-east of Piacenza, in the Nure valley. Its crenellated lanes, frescoed façades and craft shops provide the setting for the Grazzano Visconti Christmas market, Il Natale di Grazzano Visconti, whose 2026 edition is announced by the organiser from 14 November 2026 to 6 January 2027, at weekends then every day between Christmas and Epiphany. The Christmas market comes with a Santa’s village, an ice rink, choirs and a magic show, in a village that can be seen in full on foot. From France, you arrive via Milan and Piacenza, by train, or on the A21 motorway from Turin.

The Grazzano Visconti Christmas market in the Visconti village

The village owes its look to Count Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone, who between 1905 and 1915, with the architect Alfredo Campanini, had the rural houses surrounding the family castle rebuilt: crenellated towers, a square with a fountain and a terracotta well, painted façades, all in a neo-medieval style that the Emilia-Romagna region recognised as a “city of art” in 1986. In December, the market stalls open in these lanes, with, according to the organiser, themed crafts, Christmas bancarelle, Santa Claus in person, a Christmas choir and a magic show, as well as an ice rink.

The 2025 edition, organised by Tipico Eventi, gives the detail of what the 2026 programme will keep or change. The Villaggio degli Elfi, enlarged that year, grouped together the Casa di Babbo Natale, a Santa’s post office where children drop off their letters, an elves’ circus and cinema, and a Christmas theatre; a big spinning sledge, the taboga (a slide) and a jumping attraction rounded off the rides. It all spreads across a village of a few streets, which lets you see everything without rushing, and go and sit down at the Taverna del Castello or in one of the trattorias when it gets cold.

The visit is a loop. You enter by the main gate, on the car park side, and come out onto the village square, with its crenellated tower, its fountain and its terracotta well completed after 1915; the Christmas booths occupy this square and the lanes leading off it, between the gift, wrought-iron and wood shops set up in the frescoed houses. The church of Saints Cosmas and Damian, from 1650, stays open over the holidays, and the castle gates close off the back of the scene. Children go from one attraction to the next with the combined ticket, adults stop at the charcuterie and wine stalls, and everyone meets up at the ice rink, set up for the season. As the village is small, December Sundays get crowded in the middle of the day; the 10am opening and the last hour before 7pm, when the façades light up, are the most pleasant slots.

2026 dates, opening days and prices

The organiser has published the dates of the 2026 edition on its website: from Saturday 14 November 2026 to Wednesday 6 January 2027. The detailed calendar was not online as of 22 September; in 2025, the market opened at weekends from 8 November to 21 December, plus 8 December, then every day from 26 to 30 December and from 1 to 6 January, from 10am to 7pm. Entry to the village and the stalls is free; the attractions are paid, with a combined ticket or individually.

• Where: in the streets of the village of Grazzano Visconti, municipality of Vigolzone, province of Piacenza; the main entrance faces the car parks.
• When: from 14 November 2026 to 6 January 2027; in 2025, weekends then every day from 26 December to 6 January, 10am to 7pm.
• How much: market and shows free; in 2025, the Christmas Ticket at €12 from age 4 (free for people with disabilities) gave access to Santa’s house, the post office, the elves’ village and the Christmas theatre; ice rink €7 for half an hour or €10 an hour, slide €2.50, jumping €5, sledge €3.50.
• Parking: two large paid car parks, north and south, at €5 per car over the Christmas period (€2 per motorbike, €12 per campervan, with overnight stays possible in the north car park); a small free car park in front of the entrance, quickly full.
• Nearby: Milan Christmas market is an hour by train from Piacenza, Bologna Christmas market on the same line heading south, and Turin at the end of the A21.

The castle’s official website states that the village is accessible to people with disabilities and that the south car park reserves a free area for them; the streets are cobbled but level. Dogs on a lead are allowed. The 2026 attraction prices have not yet been published; check them on natale.grazzano.it before you leave.

Getting to Grazzano Visconti from France

Piacenza is on the Milan-Bologna line, and Milan can be reached from Paris by direct train. The Paris-Turin-Milan TGVs and Frecciarossas through the Maurienne have been running again since spring 2025, with a suspension from 11 September to 9 October 2026 for works at Mont-Cenis, so before the market opens; from Milano Centrale, frequent regional trains run down to Piacenza. From Piacenza station, SETA coaches serve Grazzano Visconti from Monday to Saturday, timetables on setaweb.it; on Sundays, the market’s busiest day, the castle website mentions no coach, so you need a taxi or a car.

The car is in fact the simplest way to come. From France, the Fréjus tunnel leads to Turin, from where the A21 Turin-Piacenza-Brescia runs straight east; from Mont Blanc, you join the A4 then the A1 at Milan. In both cases, take the Piacenza Sud exit, the ring road towards Podenzano, then the SP654 up the Nure valley to the village, 12 kilometres from Piacenza. A long half-day from Lyon, a day from Paris, on toll motorways; the car parks are at the foot of the walls.

The castle, the park and the tortelli of Piacenza

Grazzano castle was built in 1395 by Giovanni Anguissola, after his marriage to Beatrice Visconti, sister of the Duke of Milan Gian Galeazzo, perhaps on the remains of an earlier fortress; its square plan with four corner towers has survived. The Visconti di Modrone family still owns it, and the castle and its 120,000-square-metre park, planted with local and exotic species, can only be seen on a guided tour, with tickets best bought online. In the village, the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian dates from 1650, a small wax museum tells the family’s story, and the shops sell the wrought-iron and wood crafts the place is known for; the historical procession at the end of May is the other big event of the year.

At the table, the speciality is the tortello piacentino “con la coda”, a ricotta and spinach ravioli sealed with a plait, recognised as a municipal product, which local legend attributes to a visit by Petrarch; it is washed down with a wine from the Colli Piacentini, red Gutturnio or white Ortrugo, produced on the hills that begin south of the village. The mulled wine at the stalls is called vin brulé; we set out the recipes in the article on mulled wine and its variants. Allow two to three hours with children, a day if you add the guided tour of the castle and a meal in the village.