Why Everyone Is Traveling to Italy for Easter in 2026

With dramatic Holy Week processions, picturesque festivals and panoramic escapes, Italy is a top pick for spring holidays. In 2026, the occasion is even sweeter, as Easter falls on the first Sunday of April, when many museums open for free.

Counting down the days until your next trip? Here’s our selection of the most interesting travel trends for 2026 to explore Italy during the Easter holidays.

Easter 2026 is a great time to visit Italy. This year, it falls on April 5, so there is hope for early-spring mild weather to sweeten longer days and blooming landscapes.

The Easter weekend, from Good Friday to Easter Monday (known in Italy as Pasquetta), is a fortunate long break for exploring historic cities, lakes, and coastal towns without the summer heat.

Cultural events and traditional celebrations are practically everywhere up and down the boot, with daily options for art, food, outdoor activities, and movie-like processioni.

Holy Week 2026:

- Palm Sunday: 29 March 2026

- Maundy Thursday: 2 April 2026

- Good Friday: 3 April 2026

- Holy Saturday: 4 April 2026

- Easter Sunday: 5 April 2026

- Easter Monday: 6 April 2026

Celebrating Easter in Italy is suddenly higher on everyone’s radar. The art cities glow in soft sunshine, museums and galleries stay open through the holidays, and streets and piazzas are animated with markets, festivals, and local traditions.

Sure, iconic cities appeal, but so do more secluded destinations like Molise and Abruzzo, seaside escapes like Procida and Ischia, and mountain retreats where snow is still on the ground. 

We’ve rounded up

- the top cities to spend Easter in Italy for 2026

- the best Easter festivals in Italy 2026

- the must-try dishes on Easter Sunday 

- the underrated destinations for spring holidays in Italy

- the most instagrammable spots.

Rome is the beating heart of the Holy Week, a brilliant time to wander piazzas, enjoy outdoor lunches and take in spring exhibitions.

- Good Friday Via Crucis at the Colosseum – Friday 3 April 2026: a torch‑lit procession pressed over by the Pope. 

- Easter Sunday Urbi et Orbi blessing in St Peter’s Square – Sunday 5 April 2026 at noon: the Pope’s message and blessing from the central loggia.

- Top exhibitions: Caravaggio and the masters of lights (Museo della Fanteria); Robert Doisneau (Museo del Genio); Hokusai (Palazzo Bonaparte)  

Milan weaves spring energy into its Italian Easter mix. The fashion capital is a superb stop for art, rituals and aperitivo culture.

- Fiera dell’Angelo – Monday 6 April 2026: Milan’s historic Easter Monday market of flowers, plants, crafts and local treats around Sant’Angelo and Corso Porta Nuova. 

- Easter Week at the Duomo – 3–5 April 2026: Good Friday Via Crucis, Holy Saturday vigil and Easter Sunday Mass.

- Top Exhibitions: for Easter 2026, the Diocesan Museum is hosting an exhibition centred on Hans Memling’s Crucifixion.

Naples is a classic destination for Italians during Easter time, with a rich program of events that includes solemn religious celebrations and springtime fun by the sea.

- Thursday, 2 April 2026 – churches across the city display the "Sepolcri", intricate altar setups commemorating Christ’s entombment

- Easter Garden – until 6 April 2026: Mostra d’Oltremare hosts family‑friendly Easter activities and creative workshops.

 Sunlit piazzas, Renaissance sights, music, and a super-viral tradition are the ingredients of the Spring holidays in Florence.

- Scoppio del Carro – Sunday 5 April 2026: a more than 900-year-old Easter tradition in which a mechanical dove (the Colombina) shoots along a wire from the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore to a cart loaded with fireworks in Piazza del Duomo.

- Decibel Easter Festival – 4, 5, and 6 April 2026 at Mandela Forum: a day‑to‑night indoor electronic music festival with international DJs.

- Top Exhibitions: the major Rothko in Florence at Palazzo Strozzi. 

If you are planning to spend Easter 2026 in Italy, skip the postcard clichés and follow the processions.

It’s not just the faithful who turn up. Beyond the religious aspect, Easter festivals are powerful expressions of local culture that mix centuries-old devotion with theatre, music and a healthy dose of local pride.

Some of the most anticipated Easter festivals Italy has lined up for 2026:

- Misteri di Trapani (Friday, 3 April 2026): a 24-hour procession featuring elaborate sculptural groups depicting the Passion.

- Enna Good Friday Procession (Friday 3 April 2026): thousands of hooded confraternities march by torchlight in one of Sicily’s most evocative Holy Week rites.

- Corsa dell’Angelo, Forio d'Ischia (Sunday, 5 April 2026): a joyful race through the square where statues representing the Virgin Mary and the Angel "run" to announce Christ’s resurrection.

- Lunissanti, Castelsardo, Sardinia (Monday 30 March 2026): a haunting pre-Easter procession with hooded singers chanting ancient Sardinian hymns while walking to the countryside abbey of Nostra Signora di Tergu.

- Madonna che Scappa, Sulmona, Abruzzo (Sunday, 5 April 2026): an emotional Easter ritual where the statue of the Virgin "run" across Piazza Garibaldi.

- Processione Buia, Radicofani, Tuscany (Friday, 3 April 2026): the "dark procession" unfolds at night, lit only by torches and candles, in an intense and atmospheric journey through the medieval village.

- Processione del Cristo Morto, Chieti (Friday, 3 April 2026): it’s considered the oldest Good Friday procession in Italy, famous for its slow march and the soul-stirring Miserere performed by over 300 members of the choir and orchestra.

- Processione del Cristo Morto, Savona (Friday, 3 April 2026): a solemn Ligurian procession held every two years, where massive wooden Passion scenes are carried through the historic centre.

- I Perdoni, Taranto (Thursday 2 April & Friday 3 April 2026): hooded penitents walk barefoot through the night in one of southern Italy’s most powerful Holy Week rituals.

- Via Crucis, Frassinoro, Modena (Friday, 3 April 2026): a mountain village reenacts the Stations of the Cross with villagers in costume that transform the entire town into a live Passion play.

Related story: Easter traditions in Italy.

Easter is peak comfort-food season. Bakeries stack their shelves with glossy chocolate eggs (uova di Pasqua) hiding little surprises, and supermarkets display the fluffiest colombas, the dove-shaped cake that’s basically panettone’s springtime cousin.

As for the Easter menu, the rhythm is usually familiar, whether you’re dining in restaurants or enjoying a meal at home.

It usually starts with eggs, salami and cheese, then moves to rich pasta dishes like lasagna. After that, regional classics take over—torta pasqualina in Liguria, roast lamb across central Italy, casatiello and pastiera in Campania.

The next day, Italians pack up leftovers and head outdoors for a laid-back Pasquetta picnic. 

Want to try cooking some Italian dishes? We have collected the best Easter recipes. 

A ton of places stay blissfully under the radar during Italy's spring holidays.

In Urbania, Easter Monday hosts a wonderfully odd egg-tapping challenge in the town square.

For walkers, Molise offers quiet trekking routes along ancient transhumance trails.

Down south, Salento (Puglia) is dreamy before the summer invasion and you can cycle between baroque towns and empty beaches.

In the Alps, La Thuile still has late-season skiing and a children’s Easter egg race on the slopes.

In Italy’s small islands—Procida, Ponza or Isola d'Elba— spring sunshine arrives long before the crowds, and they are also among Italians’ favorite destinations for Easter holidays.

Upcoming Easter events:

- Urbania (Marche) – Punta e Cul egg-tapping contest in Piazza San Cristoforo (Easter Monday, 6 April 2026)

- Bormio (Lombardia) – Pasquali di Bormio, traditional Easter parades and decorated floats (Easter weekend, 4–6 April 2026)

- Tredozio (Emilia-Romagna) – Festival and Palio dell’Uovo, with egg games and competitions (Pasquetta, 6 April 2026)

- La Thuile (Aosta Valley) – children’s Easter egg race on the snow (Easter Sunday, 3 April 2026)

If you can’t resist snapping for the ‘Gram, historic palaces and residences like the dreamy Reggia di Venaria and Reggia di Caserta have the perfect Bridgerton-like vibes.

A little off-season but always wonderful to catch, the panoramas of north Sardinia are amazing in early spring, and the towns and villages host lots of events for the Holy Week. We’ve rounded up the main ones in our guide to Easter in Sardinia.

The Instagrammable events to attend and places to visit during Easter in Italy 2026:

- Misteri di Procida (Good Friday, 3 April 2026): at dawn, hooded confraternities parade through the pastel streets of Procida carrying symbolic floats.

- Galleria Nazionale & Teatro Farnese, Parma (Easter Sunday, 5 April 2026): special entry to the Complesso Monumentale della Pilotta.

- Isola Bisentina, Lazio (Easter Sunday & Monday, 5–6 April 2026): the small island in Lake Bolsena opens to visitors for the Easter holidays.

Yes, because Italy offers numerous cultural events and initiatives. Italians also travel a lot during this period, especially to cities of art. During the 2026 Easter holidays state museums, galleries, archaeological sites and parks will remain open.

The Italian Ministry of Culture has confirmed that state museums, galleries, archaeological sites, and parks will stay open throughout the 2026 Easter holidays.

Easter celebrations typically span Holy Week (starting Palm Sunday, 29 March 2026) through Easter Monday, 6 April 2026, with processions, festivals and special events across the country.