South Tyrol
Merano Christmas Market 2026: Dates, Hours and the Ice Rink by the Thermal Baths
Merano Christmas market 2026: open 26 November to 6 January by the Kurhaus, hours for the craft and food stalls, 24 and 31 December, and the train from Bolzano.
Merano's Christmas market opens on Thursday 26 November and runs to 6 January 2027 by the Kurhaus.
About 80 exhibitors sell local crafts and food along the Passer promenade, from stalls built with ecologically sustainable materials, according to the Merano tourism board. The setting is the point. The stalls follow the river in front of the Art Nouveau Kurhaus, and on Thermenplatz giant Christmas baubles stand between the ice rink and the thermal baths.
It is smaller than Bolzano's market, and a regional train links the two towns, which makes them an easy pair. Merano also keeps longer evening hours at the weekend, with the food stands open until 22:30 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Quick answer
Dates: Thursday 26 November 2026 to Wednesday 6 January 2027. The market opens at 17:00 on 26 November.
Craft stalls: Monday to Thursday and Sunday 10:00 to 19:00, Friday and Saturday 10:00 to 20:00.
Food and drink stands: Monday to Thursday and Sunday 10:00 to 21:00, Friday and Saturday 10:00 to 22:30.
Christmas and New Year: 24 December stalls to 15:30 and food to 17:00, 25 December closed, 26 December and 1 January stalls to 20:00 and food to 22:30, 31 December stalls to 15:30.
Where: the Passer promenade in front of the Kurhaus, with the ice rink and the giant baubles on Thermenplatz.
Getting there: a train to Bolzano on the Brenner line, then the regional line to Merano.
The trap: New Year's Eve afternoon. The craft stalls close at 15:30.
Opening hours, stall by stall
Merano keeps two timetables, one for the stalls that sell crafts and one for the food and drink stands. The craft stalls open at 10:00 every day. They close at 19:00 from Sunday to Thursday and at 20:00 on Friday and Saturday.
The food stands stay later. From Sunday to Thursday they close at 21:00, and on Friday and Saturday at 22:30, which makes the weekend evenings the long ones on the promenade.
The holidays change the picture. On Christmas Eve the craft stalls close at 15:30 and the food stands at 17:00. Christmas Day is closed. On 26 December and on New Year's Day both run late again, the stalls until 20:00 and the food stands until 22:30. New Year's Eve is short: the craft stalls close at 15:30, and the food stands are listed until 17:00, with a note that they may stay open longer and that the exact hours will be announced in December.
The tourism board's list of markets in the area gives the start as Thursday 26 November at 17:00. From the next morning, the usual timetable applies.
The Passer promenade, the Kurhaus and Thermenplatz
The market stretches along the Passerpromenade, the riverside walk in front of the Kurhaus. Built in Art Nouveau style for the spa town's guests, the Kurhaus is one of Merano's landmarks, and at night its lit facade looks over the river.
Thermenplatz, by the Terme Merano spa, is the second stage. The tourism board's page on the markets around Merano places the giant Christmas baubles between the ice rink and the thermal baths, and lists daily concerts, children's entertainment, local customs and handicrafts across the season.
So a winter afternoon here can mean skating, a long soak in the thermal pools and an evening at the stalls, all within a few minutes' walk of each other.
Castles and a Christmas forest nearby
Three smaller events around Merano are on the same tourism board page, each with its own calendar.
Tyrol Castle, above the village of Tirolo, holds its Tyrolean Advent in the castle from Friday 27 November, opening at 11:00. Schenna Castle opens for its Advent on 28 and 29 November and from 5 to 8 December 2026.
In Algund, just outside Merano, the Christmas Forest runs from 19 November 2026 to 6 January 2027. It is closed on 23 and 24 November, so do not plan the trip for those two days.
Getting to Merano by train
Merano is on the regional line from Bolzano, and Bolzano is on the Brenner railway between Verona and Munich. Fast trains reach Bolzano from Rome, Florence, Bologna and Verona, and the DB-ÖBB Railjets come over the Brenner from Munich and Innsbruck. Our Bolzano Christmas market guide has the details.
From Bolzano, change to the regional train to Merano. The tourism board points travellers to suedtirolmobil.info for timetables, routes and tickets. If your hotel gives you a guest card, use it. The tourism board's transport page says it covers all public transport in the South Tyrol network.
From Merano station, the Kurhaus is within walking distance in the town centre, or a short ride on a city bus.
Where to stay in Merano
The old town between the Portici, the arcaded main street, and the Passer promenade puts the market, the Kurhaus and Thermenplatz on the doorstep.
The area around the station and Piazza Teatro is the practical choice for day trips by train, to Bolzano and further down the Brenner line.
Maia Alta, the villa district east of the centre, is quieter. Further from the stalls. Closer to the hills.
Or stay in Bolzano and come to Merano for the day. The train makes that easy, and Bolzano's own market opens in Piazza Walther on 26 November.
Bolzano and the other markets on the line
Merano is one stop on a winter circuit. Bolzano opens the same evening, 26 November, and Trento a week earlier, on 20 November. Bressanone fills Cathedral Square from 27 November.
All the dates, hours and trains are in our guide to the Christmas markets in Italy in 2026.
The mistake to avoid
Do not save Merano for Christmas Day. The market is closed on 25 December, and on Christmas Eve the craft stalls shut at 15:30, before the lights on the promenade come into their own.
The same goes for New Year's Eve. The stalls close at 15:30 that day, so a last shopping afternoon belongs to 30 December or to New Year's Day.
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