Holidays

On national holidays you may find information offices closed, museums open for shorter hours and public transport running a limited service. Be forewarned by checking the dates of your vacation against the list below.

(Note that Easter Monday is a mobile feast-day, and changes every year, while all the other holidays keep to the same date.)

• January 1: New Year's Day**
• January 6: Epiphany
• April 17: Easter Monday (in 2006)
• April 25: Liberation Day
• May 1: Labor Day**
• June 2: Anniversary of the Founding of the Republic
• August 15: Feast of the Assumption (also known as Ferragosto)
• November 1: All Saints
• December 8: Feast of the Immaculate Conception
• December 25: Christmas Day**
• December 26: St. Stephen's Day (Boxing Day)

(The dates marked ** are particularly difficult: practically all museums and monuments are shut and many restaurants too.)

As well as the above national holidays, each town celebrates the feast-day of its patron saint, which differs from town to town.
Dates for the major cities are as follows:

• Rome: June 29 (Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul)
• Florence: June 24 (Feast of St. John the Baptist)
• Venice: April 25 (Feast of St. Mark - but also Liberation Day and a holiday anyway)
• Naples: September 19 (San Gennaro)